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BLACK PANTHER #39 (Best of the Week!)
"Return of the Dragon Book Two of Three: Silent Stone"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Priest
Pencils: Sal Velluto
Inks: Bob Almond
Colors: Jennifer Schellinger
Letters: Sharpefont
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $2.50 US/$3.75 CAN |
Honestly, I
had expected this title to suffer worse than almost any other from the "'Nuff
Said" month. Not because I lack faith in the creative team, but because the
book's style is one that is heavy on dialogue and often very complex, and it's
difficult to make that work without any words. Priest does cheat a little, using
a few notes instead of dialogue to get his words in, but there's definitely a
sense that the creative team built ahead, planning for a silent issue, and the
majority of this issue, a fight between Iron Fist and Black Panther, works very
well in silence.
That's the main event this issue, a knockdown dragout fight between Black Panther and Iron Fist. The energy patterns that emanate from Fist's enhanced powers or Panther's light daggers serve as nice visual flair, reminiscent of a lightsaber duel in Star Wars, where the colors are a cue as to who is
striking and who is defending. There's some terrific motion in the fight as
well, which goes from underwater to the streets of New York and incorporates not
only a solid depiction of martial arts battle but also the use of improvised
weapons, including a yellow cab.
Although the fight is
definitely the main event, there are plenty of trademark characterizations as
well. Ross's deliberations on what to change into with his powers, or his
cartoonish drawings, are brought to very humorous life through the work of the
artists. Queen's scene of going off to think for a while is also heavily
emotional, and conveys the entirety of her story in one short page.
As always, Black Panther is one of those books that could really use a "what has gone before" page. Although Priest, Velluto and Almond do an admirable job of conveying backstory, but without any text clues it's going to fly over the head of most new readers. However, I was surprised at how well the usually verbose Black Panther worked without any dialogue at all. His
stoic manner is easy, but getting across his compassion and intelligence as well
is tricky, and I have to praise Velluto and Almond for their work in conveying
those elements of Panther, even when the story is focused on the big fight.
I've been praising Velluto and Almond pretty regularly, and this issue is a sterling example of why. Their storytelling is excellent, and you definitely get a feel for the action and the fluid styles of the two martial artists going at it. Put your Matrix soundtrack on in the background when you're
reading this one.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
