Budding Insurgency: A Review of Black Panther #2

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

T'Challa tracks down the mysterious telepath who has been stoking the anger of the Wakandans against him, only to find out the true, terrifying nature of her powers, while two of his rogue Dora Milaje free oppressed women in another district of Wakanda, and start sowing the seeds of discontent among his subjects as well, as they firmly believe that no one man should wield power over the whole country. Meanwhile, T'Challa's sister Shuri may not be as dead as he thinks she is.

Two issues in and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has me hooked on this story of internal struggle in Wakanda on two fronts. I'll admit I'm a little concerned that T'Challa's primary antagonists are all women; as I'm not really keen on supporting a misogynistic story, but what's fascinating about how these characters are all described so far is that, especially in the case of the two Dora Milaje guardswomen, their anger against T'Challa appears to be coming from someplace righteous. This makes me quite keen to see how all of this will shake down eventually.

While there are only two main sequences in this story, Coates paces his action well, and gives us the Black Panther martial arts sequence he had to have known readers were eager to see. There is at least one other sequence squeezed in as one of T'Challa's advisers talks to a former student of his, but it feels more like a quiet interlude. It was gratifying to see T'Challa in action, something Coates scrimped on a bit last issue. This not only gave the chance for T'Challa to cut loose, but artist Stelfreeze as well.

Speaking of Stelfreeze, his work has actually improved since the already impressive art he turned in last issue, probably because Coates shifts from talking heads to action sequences this time around. I really love it when an artist picks up steam with the succeeding issue; it makes it even more exciting to look forward to the next issue. The sequence in which T'Challa learns just how his enemy's power works (she has more in common with Dani Moonstar of the New Mutants than Professor X), is a spectacular collaboration between Stelfreeze and colorist Laura Martin and is easily one of the best-illustrated sequences I've seen in some time.

Coates is telling a genuinely fascinating story on his own terms, without (so far) a gratuitous cameo from a Marvel Universe regular. I truly hope he can keep up this standard of quality storytelling, because this is a character that truly deserves it.

9/10