Catch-Up Reading: A Review of Black Panther #3 and #4

written by Ta-Nehisi Coates
illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze
colored by Laura Martin

These issues are several months old, and anyone interested in reading this review will no doubt have read them both already (and indeed, they are included in the first collected edition of this volume of Black Panther), but I enjoyed reading them so much I feel I have to weigh in.

The uprising against T'Challa and his court continues as its protagonists, the renegade Dora Milaje Aneka and Ayo, and the mysterious shaman Tetu and the powerful sorceress Zenzi continue their onslaught on two different fronts. T'Challa confronts and defeats Zenzi but Tetu proves to be more than a match for him and his tech. Meanwhile the stakes are raised as the ruthless Ezekiel Stane joins the ranks of the would-be revolutionaries, with somewhat explosive results. T'Challa realizes that to win the war against his own people, he will have to take things to another level.

Coates and Stelfreeze wrap up the first mini-arc of this series on a decidedly grim note meant to press the story ever further forward. What interests me in particular about this title is how, even with the introduction of the distinctly super-villainous Ezekiel Stane, this book still feels distinctly "un-superheroic," and in fact dabbles tangentially in the concept of transitional justice as it discusses the fallout that citizens often suffer from the actions or inaction of their leaders.

What genuinely interests me about this book is how T'Challa's opponents in this story, four issues in, are, in defiance of storytelling convention, not bad guys. They don't fit the mold. They come closest to that description when they hook up with Stane, but even he is a bit more of a revolutionary than a strictly malevolent character, and is rather consistent with their own leanings. Not only are they not bad guys, but in truth as one reads the story one feels even more sympathetic towards them than towards the title character himself, especially the revolutionary Tetu, whose words strike T'Challa stronger than blows ever could. With this sort of set-up I am keenly interested to see where Coates can take this story in the months to come.

I'm also extremely glad Coates has, as his collaborator, the sublimely-talented Brian Stelfreeze, whose work actually looks better with each issue of the series that goes by. A highlight of his art was the fight sequence in issue #3, which was particularly striking. Even more remarkable is the fact that this book features quite a few talking heads, but Stelfreeze never misses a beat, and his characters are simply beautiful, full of so much more nuance than one usually finds on faces drawn by comic-book artists. This guy's work is really something special.

Coates' year with the King of Wakanda is almost half over, and I'll be darned if he doesn't have me hankering for the second.

9/10 (both issues)