REVIEW: Black Panther No.198

The first big takeaway from John Ridley’s “Black Panther” debut is that he would be the perfect shoe-in for the next Avengers run after this current one wraps up. Years removed from the most recent “American Way” saga, the opening pages show that Ridley still hasn’t lost his chops to tell compelling superteam stories, even after so many successful solo he’s recently been known to pen.
T’Challa’s world is hectic in this arc as he balances his Avengers responsibilities along with the duties he has to his country. With these matters at the forefront, friendships and family relationships take a backseat in T’Challa’s life, but they end up popping up like Whack-A-Mole under Ridley’s pen.

T’Challa in this latest stage of his life appears frazzled, barely holding himself together, and that could be seen on the way he practically snaps on Captain America, as well as one of the new royal dignitaries after the events of “The Intergalactic Empire”. All this culminates into an eventual break down after T’Challa gets the news that one of his friends died, though through the nature of the death, the responsibility falls directly right back on T’Challa’s shoulders, prompting him to add another course to his already full plate.

The intro to Ridley’s “Panther” contains elements of “The Manchurian Candidate” infused with action sequences and banter directly from “The American Way”, but despite the action this is still “Black Panther”, so expect this book to be put down a couple times as the word balloons will be stretched to their limits. Another Avenger with Alex Ross doing the main covers, after the most recent Hulk, Iron Man, and Cap books readers know this can only signal a prestige era for the Wakandian hero, one where it’s only right that Cabal brought the cape back, though Ridley’s Panther in introduction feels more like Bourne than Batman, which just so happens to be another book that Ridley is excelling at right now. Telling, as the hectic lives of both writer and character intertwine, Ridley adds another mystery to this superhero espionage book : will Ridley break before T’Challa? I dont think either will, given the flash forward at the end of the book, they better not either – because there is too much good stuff in store for T’Challa within this Ridley run to close shop now.

Score : 3/5

Writer: John Ridley

Penciler: Juann Cabal