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BLACK PANTHER #36
"The Once and Future King Part 1 of 2"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Priest
Pencils: Sal Velluto
Inks: Bob Almond
Colors: VLM
Letters: Sharpefont & PT
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
There may be some mild controversy about this book, because it basically drops the storylines that ended in cliffhangers with #35 for two issues to do a future (possible? alternate? certain?) story about T'Challa, Ross and various other cast members for two issues. After reading this issue, I find that any mild frustration I might have had about that has gone away, because this issue was phenomenal, a treat for anyone who has been reading Panther for a while and anyone who (like me) loves a good possible future story. While I'm not as big on the 100-page Monster concept as I once was, largely because I often find the reprints uninteresting, the lead story in this book is well worth the cash, and despite some concerns about accessibility, I have to say that this would be a good book to hand to people wondering if all the buzz centering on Black Panther is justified.
Priest has a lot of fun here, playing with
the various members of Panther's rogue's gallery as well as relatives of the
supporting cast he has built up and establishing possible stories in the present
by showing us this future. Relationships between characters you never would have
expected, a look at Panther's kingdom as he settles into older age and begins
turning things over to children and an older Ross are all high points of the
issue. I also quite enjoyed the Batman riff we see, as the elder Ross seems to
resemble Commissioner Jim Gordon quite a bit, with Panther playing his Batman.
I'm thoroughly impressed with how quickly
Priest establishes and makes us care about these future characters. Panther,
Monica Lynne, Queen Divine Justice and Ross are of course all well-established
in the main series, but the Panther's children Faida and T'Charra, are built
into people we can care about, such that the surprising events that occur when
they come together toward the end have a real effect.
On the artwork front, after two guest art
issues, Velluto and Almond are back and in fine form. Their visions of a future
Manhattan and Wakanda are impressive, and I love the way they put the aging
makeup on various characters and extrapolate to create the look for descendants
of the characters we currently know. Usually future stories get by on novelty,
but this is one so well-established that I wouldn't mind reading a lot more
stories set in this timeframe, as it's just as visually rich as the modern
setting.
In addition to having a killer lead story,
this "100-page Monster" includes a nice little journal giving us Ross's view of
the Panther with beautiful sketches by Sal Velluto and reprints of several key
Black Panther stories, including his origin story and first appearance in the
Fantastic Four. With any luck, these extra pages of backstory and character
profiles will help new readers get past what could be considered an inaccessible
story. Because while this would seem an ideal jumping-on point, the story relies
on readers knowing the various characters pretty well to really understand
what's going on.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
