Written By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Art By: Brian Stelfreeze
Publisher: Marvel
Rating: T+
Price: $3.99 Each
Since this will be my first time doing a review for a Marvel book on this site, I decided not to include spoilers. The pics will give you an idea of how the book looks as well without giving any key points away. This is the first comic series that Ta-Nehisi Coates has ever written, and I was interested to see how it turns out. I remember the first time Kevin Smith wrote Daredevil, and looking back on those issues I can say that they are not as good today as they were when they came out. For those not familiar with Coates, he is an accomplished and award winning writer, but how will he write the "funny books"? Let's find out as best we can without spoilers!
These panels give T'Challa's armor an organic feel.
Stelfreeze does a great job conveying the feeling of Black Panther using his abilities.
The book picks up right away focusing on Black Panther and gives us insight on his state of mind, and what he is looking to do for his people and his country. The art stands out right away, and reminds me a bit of the DC Milestone team that worked on Icon (I really miss that book!). Brian Stelfreeze has a very interesting style to say the least. His panel layouts are traditional, but seem to stand out more than other artists currently working on Marvel titles. I also like that each character has a unique face, something that many DC artists need to learn.
This is how each title page looks. It's simple but it stands out with Stelfreeze's art in black and white.
In issue #1, it is near the middle of the book giving it that cinematic feel.
After page five we do not see T'Challa until the last page, and I didn't even notice this on my first read through. The story was so well paced and the characters were portrayed in a way where I was interested and not just waiting for some action or splash page to get wrapped up in. By the time the last page came up I was chomping at the bits for issue two!
So a month later I snatch issue two and read it before my DC books (Don't tell Jim!), and it picks right up from last issue. It has a character description page letting you know who the main players are and we do not have all that cheesy dialog most Marvel books have explaining what just happened only one issue ago. That is a pet peeve of mine, and I think it is interesting that for someone who never wrote a comic before did a great job transitioning between issues without being redundant, This issue has three plots running throughout and does a great job going back and forth. I also found it interesting that in a book about Black Panther, who is one of my favorite Marvel characters, that I was more interested in the characters called the Midnight Angels. I want to go in more detail about them, but not in the spoiler free review. I will more than likely need to do a spoiler review for issue three, but you guys should be up to speed by then. The character development between them was done so well that when we got back to seeing T'Challa, I was wondering what would happen to them. This was what impressed me most about Coates, he has me interested in his overall story and not just Black Panther. This is a book that I enjoy reading and hate when it's over since I have to wait a full month before getting more. I try not to read solicits to avoid spoilers myself, so I am not sure how long Coates will be on this book, but I hope it is for a long time. I can see him giving this book a solid run like Bendis did on Ultimate Spider-Man, especially since he writes supporting roles so well.
Here is a good example of the art in a fight sequence.
Since I am covering both issues, I will give them a combined score. Both books did a great job setting up the story and the characters, but issue two really set the tone for me with the Midnight Angels and combining story and action. I would have to give these issues a 9.5/10.
Issue #1 Hip Hop variant cover.
Issue #2 second printing. I had to buy this one as soon as I saw it.
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