Take a look at the latest movie trailer to get a sense of what is to come to theaters on February 16, 2018.
One of the most memorable arcs with the Avengers was when T'Challa and the team confronted the Sons of the Serpent.
Later, the Black Panther would start headlining as a solo act in Jungle Action and his own title. The books took T'Challa to his homeland to battle a unique set of rogues and miscreants who wanted to ravage the wondrous land of Wakanda.
The character also spent some time in the United States and confronted issues of racism, prejudice, poverty, and crime. Marvel and the creative talents did not shy away from critical social issues. The Black Panther is truly a comic book hero that can confront modern injustices.
The Don McGregor written and Billy Graham pencilled works, however, were clearly magnificent. Take a look at one of their splash pages below. The words and art took it to a different level for their "Panther's Rage" epic. Not everybody is a fan of that story so I am curious what our readers think.
I am extremely curious what topics the Marvel movie with explore. I am excited to see action in Wakanda as well. The glimpses I have seen of the mysterious land have my interest piqued. I am also happy to see Klaw as a major protagonist. That villain has been a favorite comic book antagonist for decades, and he has been challenging the Black Panther since the hero's inception. I cannot wait to see that confrontation and for T'Challa to take down the master of sound.
The Black Panther had some further ongoing series, mini-series and specials in more recent years. Although I have more of an affinity to his Bronze Age classics, I did enjoy the Panther's Prey mini-series and the run under the Marvel Knights banner.
So what do you think about the Wakandan hero? Do you have any recommendations for particular issues, series, or arcs? What themes and stories did you find the Black Panther creators tackled well? Do you have high hopes for the movie? What has been lacking in T'Challa's portrayal in the books or recent film appearances? Let's Chew the Fat!
12 comments:
I first became aware of him in the Marvel Super Action reprint of the Sons of the Serpent story. Powerful stuff.
I also enjoyed the Christopher Priest run where he skillfully combined the Kirby stories with the other more serious version of the character.
King Solomon's frogs is an odd concept that I still don't fully understand.
I always found the Panther to be a compelling character. Unfortunately, I discovered his series in Jungle Action near the end of the run, so I missed out on the MacGregor/Graham collaboration. Will have to find the collected edition somewhere. I enjoyed the Kirby series, what I got to read of it. By this time, I had discovered that Kirby was marching to an entirely different band than the rest of the Marvel heroes, but he did do some interesting and entertaining stories. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. I like what they've done with the character so far in the series.
I only got a couple of his solo comics, but he was always a welcome guest star.
He looks fantastic in the MCU, the movie is a must see. Although I'm not sure I like the bullet proof uniform. I much prefer he use his guile, athleticism and prowess to avoid the bullets.
Oh yeah, there is a cool short story with him and Storm in Marvel Team-Up #100
Great character. I actually prefer the Kirby series more than the MacGregor stuff, which I find overrated - at least the narrative, the art is great.
The Priest series was very strange as well. He purposefully chose a white character as the narrator/framing device, that I am pretty convinced is meant to mock what he imagines the average comic book to be. I have mixed feelings about it.
I recently got my hands on a cheap copy of MTU #100 because I wanted the retconned story that has him and Storm meeting as young teens - but honestly I was not a fan of that development. It felt misguided for Marvel to marry off the only two African heroes (why should they necessarily develop romantic feelings - though Storm is amazing, so maybe I am wrong). That said, I have enjoyed in recent years how Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing their post-marriage relationship.
Love the character, and I'm glad he's getting his own movie.
Otherwise, I really like the entire McGregor run with the him, which includes the Panter's Quest story that was published in Marvel Presents, and the Panther's Prey 4-parter that's mentioned and pictured in the OP. In fact, in my head canon the McGregor solo stories are pretty much the only ones that count and, connected to that, I don't know why every other writer who got a hold of the character either ignored or downplayed the relationship between T'Challa and Monica Lynne. (Never read the stories, but I hate everything about the idea of him and Ororo being married - as Osvaldo pointed out, the thinking seemed to be: "hey, we have two African heroes! One's a man and the other's a woman! They should totally be a couple!" Huh?)
However, I'm really curious about the current series being written by Coates, just because I respect the hell out of Coates' writing and commentary.
I have several of the Avengers above in the long boxes. But my only real remembrance of BP was in issue Fantastic Four 119 where Ben and Johnny rescue him from an apartheid prison. Klaw figured into the story somehow.
I enjoyed the story even though I was around 10-11 years old and could not read nor understand the word "colored." I assumed it had to do with things being colored red. Ahhh... the things we remember.
I too don’t understand why they dismissed the Monica Lynne relationship. It was interesting on many levels including the cultural aspects of both Wakanda and the US, as well as the Avenger/ King and a “normal” citizen relationship nuances. And their story had a long development starting way back in Avengers 73 with many Jungle Action stories focused on their relationship.
The Storm relationship always seemed like a veneer thin marketing ploy.
Fascinating character; from his first appearances with the FF. Unfortunately I've not read the Jungle Action stories, a failing that must be rectified. But his Avengers stints were always welcome. And, the film looks terrific. Reserve me a ticket...
I think my first exposure to Black Panther was in the Avengers (around issue #161 I believe). I remember liking his costume a lot. I seem to have an affinity for monotone superhero costumes. I've always liked Daredevil, White Tiger, and Black Panther's looks a lot.
But I digress. I always dug T'Challa, but I never really liked the fact that he was the king of some improbable fictional country. I mean, for some unexplainable reason Wakanda has Star Trek level technology (and they fly around in hover cars, etc.) but the people still wear loin cloths and carry spears. I always thought that was pretty dumb. Plus why does BP wear a full face mask all the time when everyone already knows who he is? That seems like it would be really uncomfortable in the African heat. I never really liked the Phantom for the same reason. Wearing purple spandex in a jungle climate seems like a really bad idea.
I guess that's why I always preferred the Panther when he was in the Avengers. In those stories he just used his cool cat abilities to help the team fight bad guys, and he looked better doing it in an urban setting as opposed to a tropical rain forest.
William, some of the issues you bring up (the high technology juxtaposed with 'traditional' African society, the Panther costume) were addressed, to some extent, in McGregor's Jungle Action run.
First read about the Panther in some classic FF stories, then later on as a member of the Avengers. Great character, glad to see he's getting his own movie! Also glad to see Klaw too!
- Mike 'looking for a used sonic disruptor on eBay' from Trinidad & Tobago.
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