Creator(s)
Plot(s)
Ayo and Aneka arrive at a Wakandan city and find it ransacked. T’challa tracks down Zenzi and confronts her and Tetu. In The Djalia Shuri speaks with a mysterious woman.
My Reaction(s)
My main problem with the story so far is that the plot threads are not tying together well. So far in the series there are four main plot threads:
- Ayo and Aneka gather followers to defend Wakanda in Black Panther’s absence.
- Tetu and Zenzi gather followers to take down the current regime.
- Black Panther tracks down Zenzi for instilling the riot at the vibranium mine.
- Shuri discovering the mysteries of The Djalia.
On their own they are all interesting stories. But it’s frustrating because too much of each doesn’t involve the other characters. At the start we get a 4 page display of Tetu’s powers. Then there’s a scene where T’challa speaks with his mother and prepares for battle. Then Ayo and Aneka discover the ruined city. Then Shuri speaks with the woman in The Djalia. 10 pages in and none of the main characters have interacted with each other.
Once that’s done there’s a great scene where T’challa confronts Tetu and Zenzi. Here the issue starts to come together and reach it’s potential.
Favorite moment(s)
The reveal of T’challa’s War Dogs is pretty great. I like their design a lot. And Black Panther stands out even more than usual when fighting alongside them. Shame we don’t get much of them in the book.
Black Panther picks a baddie off the ground by the head and smacks another with him. Awesome.
Not-so-favorite moment(s)
The cover is everything I find frustrating about the issue. T’challa doesn’t confront Ayo and Aneka and it would be so much better if he did. At least it looks gorgeous just like everything else.
Final thought(s)
I don’t want to sound too negative. Stelfreeze’s art is beautiful and Coates’ dialog is crisp and punchy. The book is close to achieving greatness. The parts just need to gel together a little more.
Rating
B-
Norris On Comics 