Black Panther #1 Review: A Nation Under Our Feet Part 1

By Marcus Flowers | Apr 9, 2016

Black Panther is on a journey readers have never seen him on before. Not only is he trying to bring order to his kingdom but he’s in a battle with himself.

Black Panther #1
Written by Ta-Nehisi Coastes
Art by ,,
Colored by Laura Martin
Published by Marvel Comics

One issue into the latest Black Panther run and it’s clear to see why Marvel already signed author Ta-Nehisi Coastes for a season two of the series Black Panther. The creative team of Coastes (Between the world & me, Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely road to Manhood) illustrator Brian Stelfreeze (Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Detective Comics) along with colorer Laura Martin and letterer Joe Sabiro have already placed T’Challa in a position he’s never been in during his 50 year career as a superhero.

The issue starts with Wakanda being in total chaos. T’Challa visits the vibranium mines, to let the miners know that their work does not go undervalued, but an evil spirit takes controls of the minds of the miners, urging them to revolt on their king. On the other side of Wakanda, one of the Dora Milaje broke a sacred code, sentencing her to death. T’Challa is literally in the midst of watching his kingdom crumble right under him and for the first time in his life, he does not know what exactly to do.

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Over the past few years, Wakanda has had to deal with war from multiple enemies including Dr. Doom and Thanos in addition to being flooded by T’Challa’s longtime enemy Namor. The nation felt abandoned that in their time of need their “King” runs off to play Avenger or be a part of the Ultimates. The people of Wakanda feel that T’Challa has brought this turmoil to their doorstep, if he weren’t their ruler then life would be easier for the African nation.

Throughout all of this, T’Challa is still in mourning due to the “loss,” of his sister Shuri. Many believed that Shuri died in battle, but T’Challa believes otherwise. While T’Challa is dealing with the situation involving his sister, the Wakandan prison is attacked and the former Dora Milaje escaped with the help of her lover.

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The Bottom Line: T’Challa has always been one of the most interesting characters in the Marvel universe. But somehow it seems that this creative team has elevated the Panther to an even higher standard. Not only does T’Challa have to balance being a hero of the world and ruler of a nation, but the Damisa-Sarki now has to handle civil war, militant rebels, and his own internal battles.

Coastes has ofted stated on his Twitter account that he wanted to create a T’Challa character that readers have never seen before and he does just that in one issue. Stelfreeze provides excellent art to go along with an amazing beginning to a fantastic story. There’s only one drawback, fans of this book will have to wait an entire month until the next issue.