Here comes the Man in Black!
- This trade picks up right where the first leaves off, with T’Challa dealing with a Wakanda coup led by Achebe and his step-mother.
- Everett Ross’s recollection of the book’s events returns as a framing device.
- That narration continues to keep some humor in an otherwise dark narrative and to mythologize T’Challa as a Batman-esque master strategist and monster who skulks in the night.
- We also meet the Black Panther’s ex-fiancee (whom I assume a previous run introduced); she largely wants him back out of her life because getting kidnapped and nearly blown up is a bummer—in other words, she ain’t no T’Challa-back girl.
- Where issues #6-8 continue in a style similar to the beginning of the series, the “Enemy of the State” arc (#9-12) leans into a style that looks a lot like Batman: The Animated Series, which is cool.
If you have read the beginning of Priest’s Black Panther and are debating whether or not to keep going, here’s your answer: keep going. It’s a little wordy in spots (usually at the beginning as issues recap), but it continues to build out from his first arc.
Collected in
- Black Panther, Vol. 2: Enemy of the State (#6-12)
- Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 (#1-17)
Credits
Writer: Christopher Priest | Penciller: Joe Jusko (6-8) w/ Amanda Connor (8), Mike Manley (9-10), Mark Bright (11-12) | Inker: Joe Jusko (6), Jimmy Palmiotti w/ Vince Evans (7-8), Mike Manley (9-10), Nelson Decastro (11-12) | Colorist: Avalon Studios (6), Drew and Matt Yackey (7), Brian Haberlin (8), Chris Sotomayor (9-12) | Letterers: Richard Starkings & Comicraft | Managing Editor: Nanci Dakesian | Editors: Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti