Panel Vision - Who Is The Black Panther

So, Ryan Coogler is going to be directing Marvel’s Black Panther.  That’s a big news story I’ve already pretty conclusively explored but it’s also given me a nice chance to dip into the Black Panther barrel of article material now that he’s momentarily topical.  We’ll probably come back to Black Panther again in the future given his movie won’t be here till 2018 so I’m saving the meatier explanation of his character history for future installments.  For now, this will just be a look at one of the best Black Panther stories of the modern era and a great introduction to the character for new readers: Who Is The Black Panther. 

Who Is The Black Panther was the first story arc of the character’s 4^th ongoing series, launching in 2005 as part of Marvel’s growing effort at the time to reassert themselves after coming to the brink of bankruptcy.  It’s a slick and stripped down modern retelling of the Black Panther’s origin story and is pretty much free from continuity for all new readers.  It’s the perfect intro comic for answering exactly what the title promises: who is the Black Panther.

Actually, Who Is The Black Panther goes a little beyond a nice friendly introduction to comics’ premiere black superhero as it also gives you a very clear and concise introduction to his nation: Wakanda.  The comic accomplishes this by wedding the story of our lead character to the story of his nation, a natural fit given Black Panther’s status as quasi-religious royalty.  The story opens with essentially the birth of the Black Panther as T’Challa, son of T’Chaka and crown prince of Wakanda, defeats his uncle in unarmed combat so as to claim the throne, as is the ancient custom.

 

Even though the sequence is illustrated and written as a kind of intricate religious custom by way of grand spectacle it’s framed within the story through its political impact IE as a regime change.  That’s actually the central brilliant conceit of Who Is The Black Panther, it’s not telling a superhero story so much as it is a political thriller where it just so happens the head of state the story swirls around wears a mask and cape.

The smart thing about this approach is that it helps Who Is The Black Panther immediately stand out while also affording the comic a very unique audience surrogate for a lot of the necessary exposition.  Much of the book’s opening is intercut with a meeting of American military and political advisers and analysts discussing the history of Wakanda, why they’re so dangerous, and what options America might have for dealing with Wakanda if they decide this regime change makes them a rogue nation.  These sequences are simultaneously some of the best in the comic while also being one of its weakest aspects. 

When the book is taking us through the history of Wakanda as a hyper-advanced African nation that’s resisted all attempts at conquest the war room setting works perfectly.  We fit naturally into the viewpoint of the American observers while the exposition is afforded more weight given that major military action is resting on what these characters do with that information.  Additionally it gives super star artists John Romita Jr. a chance to do some beautiful illustrations, including a wonderfully illustrated battle between Captain America and Black Panther. 

Conversely, this is also where the comic feels the most dated and topical.  This goes hand-in-hand with Marvel’s overall plan to try and turn their company around by re-grounding themselves in some of more adult realism that helped make them such a juggernaut when they first burst on the scene in the ‘60s.  To do this, Marvel’s big idea was that their books would reflect the socio-political malaise of the time, specifically 2005 which, in case you don’t remember, was a really terrible year nestled right in the heart of the Bush Administration. 

This was the same thinking that led to Civil War later that same year and, as such, the White House stuff in Who is the Black Panther feels oddly dated and more than a little tired.  The main Cabinet member involved in the discussions is literally named Dondoleezza Dice, in case it wasn’t clear how transparent this all was and of course there’s an Axis of Evil reference. 

Still, the stuff with the Bush White house is only a component of the overall story and hardly a major one at that.  The bigger emphasis is actually on the villains as they end up the ones driving the plot.  Our villains for the piece are a team of international mercenaries mostly just wearing the names and looks of other Marvel bad guys save for Batroc the leaper, a French mercenary who appeared briefly in Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Rhino, a classic Spiderman villain.  

The leader of the bad guys is Klaw, here a Belgium mercenary who killed T’Challa’s father and lost his hand in the process only for it to be replaced with a super advanced cybernetic one.  Klaw leads the pack but is the only villain whose driven more by vengeance than anything else, the others are mostly here for money like Batroc and Rhino and Radioactive Man, a Russian nuclear powered bad guy. 

The only villain who isn’t there for hate or money is the Black Knight, an English born descendant of Lancelot who acts as a holy champion for the Vatican complete with servo-armor, magic ebony sword, and winged horse.  It’s a weird little band to be sure but each bad guy plays a unique and welcome role in the overall invasion of Wakanda and none of them are boring, except maybe Radioactive Man who gets very little screen time. 

Their plan is a two pronged attack, using Rhino to punch through Wakanda’s defensive grid to allow their ground forces to swarm through while Radioactive Man turns Wakanda’s greatest asset against them.  See, for the longest time in comics’ Wakanda’s big deal was that they had Vibranium, a super metal that could absorb vibrations and turn them into energy.  Vibranium has always been a really big deal in the Marvel universe, acting as a sort of sister metal to Adamantium as its capable of engineering incredible technologies even without circuitry, like Captain America’s shield.  Here, the villains use it against Wakanda by having radioactive man alter its molecular structure to emit vibrations rather than absorb them, basically turning the massive amount of Vibranium the nation sits atop into a giant earthquake machine. 

I’m not going to pretend Who Is The Black Panther is a perfect comic but it’s a damn good one and a fine read for people looking for someplace to start with this character.  The entire book is incredibly well drawn by the great JRJR, one of the true heirs to Black Panther creator Jack Kirby’s unique visual aesthetic and a lot of the actions scenes are very well rendered. 

What’s more, the book really does get what makes Black Panther a compelling character, specifically his unique position as a ruler and the leader of Earth’s most advanced and most isolationist nation.  A lot of his strongest moments as a character come from balancing his personal abilities and role as his nation’s premiere superhero with the job of being Wakanda’s political leader, especially when the invasion gets fully underway and Black Panther has to split his focus between taking down the invaders and his personal vendetta against Klaw. 

A lot of this can end up casting him in a harsh light as he’s forced to weigh every decision he makes against the welfare of his entire nation but that just goes together with how perfect T’Challa is in the comic.  That might be a turn off for some, how much T’Challa is a perfect fighter, tactician, and politico in the story but that honestly fits pretty well with the basic conception of the character. 

The whole point of Black Panther and, by extension Wakanda, has always been that they’re legitimately excellent to the point of being absolutely flawless.  They’re meant as more of a fantasy than most Marvel characters but still a well crafted one, especially given how often African set superhero stories descend into white savior narratives.  The book actually subtly skewers that notion by having the Americans, the audience surrogate characters, try to send in a techno-zombie unit (yes, really) and get completely shot down and outclassed by Black Panther.   

Given that we’ve got a long road to Black Panther’s solo film in 2018 and he’s already set to appear later this year in Captain America: Civil War now’s a good time to get on board with this character and Who Is The Black Panther is really the best place to jump on board.  There’s no continuity holding you back and everything you need to know about Black Panther, his country, and his mythos are contained within the context of the book.  What’s more it’s well framed and steeped in a smart and honest take on the character that emphasizes the best aspects of Black Panther as both a power fantasy and a politically charged character.   


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