100 Days of Marvel: Road to Infinity War - Day 23: Black Panther, Book 1 from "A Nation Under Our Feet"

The world is waiting for Black Panther to hit theaters, and unlike many other lucky film critics (one day, y'all, one day) I was not awarded a purple carpet express to a velvety red-cushioned press screening. So, I have to see the movie with the rest of you nerds. Tonight, in honor of the film's release tomorrow, I decided to finally read a Black Panther comic book, something that I have never done before.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has a very interesting writing style. Unfortunately, as I have not read a Black Panther comic before, I was thrown into the story where this arc begins. There is a LOT about the character that I do not know and that, after reading this issue, still do not understand. The pacing in Book 1 is good, but it does feel a bit choppy. The story often jumps from one scene to the other that I was not used to, but this also goes to my severe comic book dehydration. It has been YEARS since I drank one, and you know how water tastes when you go back to it after weeks of drinking nothing but juice and soda? That is what this was like. In my adult life, I have watched more movies, played more video games, and read more novels than I have turned the pages of a comic, and unlike riding a bike I have forgot how to work this muscle - how to look at the artwork while reading. How to use my imagination effectively enough to fill in the lack of movement in the art.

Luckily for me, Coates tells a wonderful, albeit slightly boring, story. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, the artwork in this comic captures a country perfectly, especially in a time of civil war (and I am guessing civil war because I am still a little bit unsure). In this, T'Challa is King of the country of Wakanda. The story here takes place after a Thanos and Doom story, so we know he has already left Wakanda to do business as an Ultimate or as an Avenger (reminder, comic book Universe, not the MCU)  He returns home after the death of his sister, Shuri, and resumes the Panther-King Mantle in a divided Wakanda. Throughout the story, T'Challa struggles with what it means to be king, and how to be an effective leader.

If I was tree, and I was listening to the wind of Africa, I have heard the murmurs that the Black Panther film, while excellent, is a bit slow and lacking in action scenes. And I will say that is the case for this comic. It is beautiful, engaging, yet slow and not heavy with action. We don't see T'Challa become Black Panther very often here, and when he does don the mantle he doesn't do very much. I also don't feel any tension for the character - I never truly feel that he is in danger as the hero.

But that is not really what this story is, and this is why I am so glad that I got to read this book before seeing the movie (and tomorrow I plan to read at least the second one before going to see the movie). This book is all about the politics, and the tension is there. Leadership, and what it means, is at the forefront of this story. T'Challa must view the future by looking at the past and adding what he knows from the present, and must become the king that only he, and not his fathers, can be. His characters is faced with a new time - new technologies, new enemies and scopes of enemy, and he must learn, ultimately, how to be a king that "inspires" the Wakandans. 

I really dig the scenes with T'Challa and his mother. They were, for me, the strongest. Also, it was very cool to get some insight into the culture of Wakanda before watching the film. If you have time, read this, and maybe even all three comics in this series (if it is 3, I only own 3 but maybe there are more. I'll Google that later). Just know that you are getting into a political drama with SOME movement, and not a story of espionage. This is a true story of war, and not an over-the-top glorified one like we might see on the big screen.