Black Panther

I’ve been wracking my brain tonight for a standout Black Panther story, and I can’t come up with one.  Granted, the three I read tonight cover the majority of my exposure, so very small sample size.  But I can’t think of a Black Panther appearance in any other title in which he shines either.  

Black Panther 1-6

Everett K Ross is clearly the star of Priest’s early Black Panther issues.  The first couple issues are amusing enough with Priest’s humor and time-jump storytelling, but a running gag involving Ross’ lack of pants (and later acquisition of devil pants) can only mask the lack of anything of substance for so long.  (Mark Texeira’s distinctive style provides excellent cover as well.)

The character might be boring, but Texeira’s art sure isn’t.

T’Challa exists as a plot device more than a character, and pitting him against Mephisto (who also doesn’t have a good storyline in him) doesn’t help either.  Texeira oddly chooses to go with Romita Jr’s depiction of the demon, instead of the more traditional human-faced representation.

Romita Jr.

Texeira

Joe Jusko's version of the more common look.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Black Panther 50-53

I got these because I love the visual of Black Panther dual-wielding pistols.  

Jorge Lucas art.  I'm also a sucker for a guy in a trenchcoat, apparently.  Probably originated with Gambit.

That was enough to give it a four-issue trial before I decided I didn’t care at all about Kasper Cole or his predicament as a cop struggling to stay afloat in a corrupt NYPD.  (Dan Fraga gets the credit as his co-creator.  Haven’t seen his name in ages, since his time at Extreme with Rob Liefeld.  I’ve had a soft spot for him ever since he gave me a tour of the studio when I was in middle school.  He only draws issue 50, and then doesn’t return to comics for another 13 years.)  

Interesting to see that Priest brought “noogie” over from Quantum and Woody.

A pretty big deal when this first came out.

Didn't expect it to cross over from Valiant to Marvel.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Black Panther 1

Ta-Nehisi Coates starts as the writer.  A huge deal considering his not-comic work before this, so I gave it a shot.  This was boring.  Zero interesting, an immediate drop.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Boring