Review: Black Panther #1
Marvel Comics has another winner on their hands.
Author/journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates and veteran artist Brian Stelfreeze have teamed to tell the new adventures of King T’Challa, better known as Black Panther.
The debut issue, which hit shelves today, opens with a recap of what’s happened to our titular hero and his homeland of Wakanda in recent months, including a flood, a coup masterminded by Doctor Doom and an invasion led by the Mad Titan known as Thanos. It hasn’t been a good time to be the king, or queen in the case of T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who ruled in his stead until her untimely death defending her homeland against Thanos.
With T’Challa returned to the throne, he must first quell an uprising amongst his people, miners whose thoughts have been corrupted and made to rebel against the monarchy. Rage is the prevailing emotion coursing through the citizens of Wakanda. Our hero is not immune to the power of hate, and confides in his mother that he wants to kill the inciter of his people. Her reply is my favourite line in the issue, and perhaps my favourite written in a comic all year: “Then do what you must, T’Challa, but don’t lose yourself. You are not a soldier. You are a king. And it is not enough to be the sword, you must be the intelligence behind it.”
Coates and Stelfreeze have combined to deliver not only my favourite issue of 2016 to date, but they’ve also produced the best iteration of T’Challa I’ve ever read, and I’ve been reading the character for close to 40 years. What makes it all the more impressive is this issue marks Coates’ debut as a comic writer.
If the first issue is any indication, T’challa and those who read his exploits are in fantastic hands. I give Black Panther #1 9 out of 10 and my strongest possible recommendation.