There are times when you have to jump head first into the abyss. As a monarch you have to be a leader and master manipulator. Being the first black superhero is no small moniker either. A black, African man with the only super power being his intellect is no small feat. And when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Black Panther they created the most dangerous hero in the Marvel Universe. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates has taken over the writing helm to further unfold the journey of a king who in the past has defeated Skrulls and dissolved his marriage to Storm, yes the mutant who can manipulate weather. Imagine being strong and brave enough to walk away from a woman who could give you a lightning bolt in the back. That’s the legacy being rebooted for a new generation.
Having been around since the late 1960s T’Challa, AKA the Black Panther has been the leader of the Wakandan people. This fictional African nation has been at the forefront in technological advancement for years. And as king T’Challa has had an uneasy go of it. Forces from outside and within have always threatened his rule. At several points he’s had to join up with the Fantastic Four and become a member of The Avengers to protect his country. The one constant is that he has always been the smartest person in the room. Knowing and understanding a situation comes from the trials he had to go through to become the Black Panther. And that straddling gives this king a perspective that Tony Stark or Steve Rogers will never have. Arguably, some of this comics best years was during the late 90’s, early 2000’s when T’Challa was in Washington with envoy/sidekick Everett K. Ross. Being shown through Ross’ narrow-minded prism the audience came to understand how Black Panther had become essential to the Avengers.
Though through holding the mantel of Black Panther infuses him with super-powered abilities it doesn’t make T’Challa impenetrable to death or grave injury. Nor does it make him immune to betrayal. In Coates’ world, he once again has to reclaim his people’s trust as they have been fractured by invaders, the latest being Thanos. At that invasion his sister is killed but there is no time to grieve. Instead the pieces must be picked up. In the meantime, there is yet another cue brewing from an unknown force that feeds on fear and pain.
The thing that Coates gets right is that T’Challa has to deal with humans, the supernatural and super villains while simultaneously attempting to decipher a mystery. He grounds T’Challa in family. The stepmother is invaluable and the sister he desperately wants to will back to life. When you strip him down, no matter how powerful and intelligent he may be, he’s still a man. What’s more the side stories interconnect and equally intriguing on their own. The Black Panther’s royal guard of trained women are also questioning their leader and their place in the world. These strong, black females are no joke and much of the action of this first issue centers around the uncertainty of their existence in their present form of protectors to the king. It’s an unapologetic, smart choice to have these storylines parallel.
No matter how good the writing Black Panther first issue would not be complete without the artwork of Brian Stelfreeze and his team. From bombastic, fighting scenes to panels so intimate that you feel as if you’re intruding Stelfreeze, Laura Martin ET. Al. makes this world come alive.
A king with a nation on fire, filled with anxiety and doubt is certain to be a ruler with no one to rule over. But you get the sense that T’Challa, like Keyser Soze from “The Usual Suspects†will have known all the answers from the start. The thing is having all the other players show their hands first. The only certainty for this ongoing series is that Coates will never let you see it coming.
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