Easiest "Who's There?" Ever

As I understand it, John Ridley's Black Panther run concluded with T'Challa having not only lost his title as ruler of Wakanda (which I think happened earlier in the title), but even losing his citizenship and being exiled. Because the council that was ruling the country was sick of all his secret plans and general bullshit fucking things up for them.

Wait, you're allowed to hold people in positions of authority responsible when they do stuff like that? Huh, that's news to us here in the U.S.

Where was I? I think T'Challa was assumed to have died stopping a threat he was responsible for. Either way, no more Black Panther. Except now there's another Black Panther running around Wakanda, fighting evil and speaking with sage wisdom. And to at least Wolverine's great surprise, it's still T'Challa! But how, he's not allowed in the country?! Also, he's supposed to be dead, but whatever.

Set aside that we, as readers, are not surprised they didn't kill him off. At this point, how would any of the costumed set in the Marvel universe be surprised? This is the character with apparently a ton of contingency plans. The character who, when told by the governing body of the country he aims to protect to not interfere and make things worse, went ahead and interfered in cleaning up his past messes and made things worse. When told by the Avengers he wasn't being a team player and to stay out of it, made his own team and stayed in it. A guy, like Tony Stark, always convinced he's the smartest guy in the room and so whatever he does is correct. Of course that guy would ignore the fact it's literally illegal for him to be in Wakanda's borders and keep being Black Panther? Who else could protect "his" country? Certainly there can't be anyone else, or a group of someones, competent or qualified for that role

Worse, he's wearing basically the same costume. He added a panther-face shoulder pauldron, and he's got some throwing knives in a bandolier around his torso. Maybe there's a cloak sometimes? But, come on. It's the same costume. This is on par with Wolverine thinking an eyepatch is a disguise (which, as others have noted, might explain why T'Challa he to assure him they knew each other. The healing factor doesn't repair concussions, apparently.) T'Challa doesn't act different, doesn't speak differently. How do you hear there's a Black Panther and not immediately go, "Welp, guess T'Challa's still alive"?

It got me thinking about the "Identity Crisis" story the Spider-books did in the '90s. Say what you will about it being a cheap stunt that only lasted a couple of months, when Spidey decided to avoid all the people trying to cash in his bounty, he went all-in. Not just four different costumed identities, but ones that looked wildly different from his Spider-Man duds. He emphasized different aspects of his powers based on the identity. Prodigy got around with Golden Age Superman-style leaps and bounds, and relied primarily on super-strength. Ricochet was all about the speed, agility and spider-sense. The Hornet identity was literally him wearing a suit of powered armor the Prowler designed. Not only that, he acted differently too. Prodigy was a square-jawed, "Halt, evildoers!" type. Like the Tick, but less of a moron. Dusk was eerily silent and morally grey. Ricochet was hyperactive, running his mouth like Deadpool or Impulse.

Now, Spider-Man had the advantage very few heroes at the time knew who he was. And the ones that did - Daredevil, maybe Nate Grey, if he was still alive, Black Cat but she'd keep a secret - weren't exactly keeping close tabs. Even the superheroes who don't work with the Black Panther much, probably know it's usually this guy T'Challa, who is usually the king of Wakanda. Which makes it all the more important to try and confuse the issue. If the costume is non-negotiable, and fine, it's traditionally a nearly ceremonial garb in addition to a battle suit, act differently! Use common slang, swear, make dumb jokes, something.

It would be funny if, with all the different things he's apparently very good at, T'Challa just really sucks as acting. Brilliant scientist, gifted tactician, eh, maybe just a mediocre leader, but less acting range than Jason Statham.

Black Panther

This was pretty good. Chadwick Boseman makes T'Challa seem like a very cool guy (the costuming helps, everyone had pretty cool outfits, but T'Challa in particular had some nice formalwear. I'd like to look that cool when I wear my nicer stuff), but the movie surrounds him with all these ladies who will bust his chops at every opportunity to keep him from seeming insufferable.

It's not the only thing they do, since Nakia and Shuri are both the ones who propose the philosophy of how Wakanda should interact with the world that ultimately is going to be followed, and Okoye's choice about which side to take is critical to the final battle, but it's an important role. Even as he's trying to be cool and in control, I'm the king, I'm the Black Panther, I've got this, etc., they all knew him when he was snot-nosed kid, and they know how to have a little fun at his expense. Keeps him from seeming too distant or aloof, and Boseman helps by playing T'Challa as someone who doesn't get sore about it, but mostly enjoys the jokes. He loves that Shuri will complain about traditional garb she has to wear right in the middle of his big ceremony, or flip him off about something.

Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), and Letitia Wright (Shuri) were all very cool, all in their ways. Okoye can be sharing a joke with Shuri one minute, and vowing to kill her lover if he doesn't stand down the next. Like, if she aimed a pointed weapon at me in real life, I might pass out. She projects terrifying very well. I like the contrast between her and Nakia. Nakia isn't as tied up in how things have been, which is why she's more insistent on Wakanda being proactive, but she tends to limit herself more, maybe. She thinks of herself as a spy, and is somewhat reluctant to go outside that role, even when she shows a knack for it. In some ways, she has a lot of confidence, but in others, less so. Shuri's a genius, but she's also the youngest, so a little sillier, more enthusiastic about things. Loves to show off all the cool things they've come up with, even if she maybe shouldn't be telling the CIA guy all this stuff. She's a nerd, in the good way, the person who loves to tell other people about the things that interest and excite her.

I do think it's a little strange that a country that is so terribly advanced still has trial by combat to determine their leader, and is otherwise a monarchy, but maybe that's going to change. The movie gives the feeling that even as Wakanda has continued to advance technologically, it hasn't stopped to consider if it needs to change its approach to dealing with the world or handling its business. The way it's been doing things has worked, so why change? By the end, T'Challa's been convinced they need to take a more proactive role, so I wonder if he's going to the last monarch of Wakanda. Shake up the system of government as well.

(The scene when Shuri and Nakia are getting ready to join the fight, and Nakia balks at wearing the armor because that's for Dora Mijae felt kind of similar. Like, only certain select people are supposed to wear that, and she's not one of them so she can. Meanwhile, Shuri's standing there going, "We're going into battle, it's armor, just wear it as protection." Don't get so hung up on the labels.)

I thought all the actors did a really good job. I think I've liked Michael B. Jordan in everything I've seen in him, and his Killmonger was no different. Although I was surprised at a few of his actions, not how ruthless he could be, but more how quick he was to just kill people. It made a certain amount of sense he would eliminate any opposition, but I thought he'd keep people around a little longer until his plans were further along. The "I don't need you anymore" then stab them them approach. Maybe he felt he'd hit that point faster than I did, or maybe once he actually got to Wakanda and got in control, the planning got overridden by the anger that they'd all been sitting in their secret, super-awesome tower, ignoring everything going on in the rest of the world.

(Are we supposed to assume Erik's mother died sometime before his father did? I didn't remember her being mentioned, other than being an American, and I was curious, if she had raised him alone from that point forward, what effect that had one way or the other).

I liked the sequence in the casino, kind of wish the fight had gone on a little longer there, but I guess the car chase set up the way Ross would get to be useful near the end. Chekov's Remote-Control Steering System. Klaue was a fun secondary villain, mostly because of how Andy Serkis plays him, this sort of maniac goofball, who seems to really enjoy being a scenery-chewing bad guy.

Winston Duke seemed to be having a good time as M'Baku, and I just enjoyed how he played that character. Not a bad guy, one who cuts through bullshit, and is ultimately concerned with his people first. The fact he doesn't take the Herb when it's offered, even though it would give him more power, was very surprising. I wonder if he just felt it wouldn't be fair, since T'Challa wasn't truly dead, or he didn't feel like confronting Killmonger himself. Not sure of his chances of winning, or not sure it's a smart idea to put his people in open conflict with Wakanda? Especially since it's unlikely Killmonger would honor any sort of formal challenge at the waterfall, so you'd have to just go to war.

I can't say if it's one of the best movies of the year - I haven't seen many movies from this year - but it's pretty good. Looks good, I liked a lot of the music selection. Like I said, everyone did a good job in their roles, most everyone got a chance to do something cool or badass.

I Did Not Expect This

I was looking through Marvel's solicitations for April, and I stumbled across one that rather surprised me. Black Panther #3 says that Morlun is on his way to Wakanda. And here I thought nobody was going to use anything from JMS' run on Amazing Spider-Man.

I have to give it up for Morlun, though. This is only his 3rd storyline, but he already appears to have mastered the antagonistic art of appearing to die, only to reappear later. First time round he was clearly not enjoying absorbing the radiation coming off that sludge Spidey injected himself with, then he was shot, and seemingly decomposed. Second time around, he was stabbed with stinger things and had his head bitten off. But here he is again, assuming this isn't the story where we learn there are actually a whole species of Morluns all of which look the alike. I can't imagine it would be a very abundant species though. How many totems can there to go around?

Still, it's not a bad idea. It seems like the idea of the Black Panther being a representative of the Panther God has been fairly prominent in his run on the title*. That sounds like a totem to me, and Morlun has to drain the life of a totem every so often to keep going. While the Black Panther probably isn't the easiest target, she likely is the most easily found one, being a head of state and all.

Should be a diiferent sort of challenge for Morlun, going from hunting Spider-Man, the guy who fights alone, to someone who theoretically has an army at their disposal. I say theoretically for a couple of reasons. One, I'm sure the Black Panther is expected to lead the charge, so she won't really be throwing a wall of bodies in between herself and Morlun. Two, I'm not sure whether the people are going to be totally supportive of their new Black Panther. I don't know that they won't be, but this is the Marvel Universe. If all her citizens loved her, that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

* Though I haven't really read his run, just going off general impressions I have.

Weird How Things Work Out

It really is. As an example, I present this:

- Tuesday, I asked you about what makes a death in comics work. In the comments, Gabesummers mentioned that one of his problems with DC is that most of their deaths seem to be so they can remove an old version of a character, and put in a hip, new one. I'd argue that these days most deaths at DC are Geoff Johns (and other writers) trying to show us how eeevil the bad guys are (Geoff, we get it. They're Nazis. You don't need to have them slaughter a family picnic.), but that's neither here nor there.

- I responded that it'd be nice to see new versions of heroes (or villains now that I think of it) arise in different ways, for example, the current version and the newbie slugging it out for the title (non-lethal combat, naturally), with the new kid proving themselves better (though you'd have to be careful not to do it in a way that humiliates the current version, or you'd really honk off their fans, and the new character is dead in the water before you begin) and claiming the title.

- Nothing Stops the Blob then wondered whether there had ever been such a situation.

- I remembered it happening in reverse, when Hal Jordan pummeled Guy Gardner and took his ring because, well, Hal Jordan is a dick (he's just sneakier about it than Guy, which is why he doesn't get called on it as much). Storm took down the more experienced Cyclops to claim leadership of the X-Men (without powers!), but she had prior experience running the team, and Cyke was distracted by thoughts of his wife and their kid (which is a way of making his loss more palatable to his fans I'd imagine.

- This morning I remembered that T'Challa lost the Black Panther title at one point during Priest's book, but I question how much that counts. I was reading the book, but I doubt that T'Challa suddenly became a background character, with the new guy getting all the focus and interacting with Reed Richards and the Avengers. T'Challa was still the star, just in a different identity (I think. Correct me if I'm wrong). Then, as I was reading the blogs this morning, Ragnell provided another possibility, when she mentioned that the third Star Sapphire defeated Carol Ferris to take the title (and her boyfriend). It does sound a bit like T'Challa's situation though, where Carol was still more of the focus than the person replacing her, but it's worth considering. And that brings us to now.

So I ask those of you who know the story better, do you think the Star Sapphire situation would meet the criteria? What about the Black Panther story? Are there any other examples you can think of? As for me, I'm leaving town to visit my board game playing friends again. Later.

It Can't Just Be Me, Right?

Boy, there's nothing like the old "Check Engine" light coming on to bring Annoyance and Agitation back from their vacation. They ditched Anger, but must have picked up Fretful at a emotional mixer somewhere. Naturally, they weren't too happy to see Mellow, so that poor bloke got thrown out on his butt. So things are pretty much back to normal.

So last week I was in the store, glancing through an issue of Black Panther that had shown up on Thursday. It's the one where he and Storm get to America, and stuff starts happening, and Iron Man acts like a jerk, and so on. I thought that wasn't supposed to show up until the end of December, but there you go. As is usually the case with Civil War-related comics, there was a moment that kind of annoyed me.

Stark tells Storm to not throw lightning at him, because that would just make him angry. Personally, I think Storm could throw enough lightning to do more than that, provided Stark is even in the armor, and not controlling it long distance like the freaking pansy he is. But assuming he's right, it sure is a good thing Storm couldn't oh, I don't know, create a hurricane to pick up a house and drop it on him. What's that you say? Oh, well, whatever.

Of course, T'Challa loves his wife, so he's not going to stand for anyone threatening her, and he leaps into the fray, defeating Iron Man with the Invincible Ebony Blade. The same one Dane Whitman is swinging around right now in New Excalibur. You know me well enough to see where I'm going with this, right?

Now, in the interests of full disclosure, I have to admit that Reginald Hudlin wrote his story where the Black Knight helped invade Wakanda about 18 months before Frank Tieri had Whitman time travel with Excalibur, so he does have seniority. However, I tend to think that the fairly out of character portrayal Whitman received in BP (which I previously griped about here) cancels that out.

Anyway, I pointed this inconsistency out to Jack, and he responded that more people probably care about Black Panther more than New Excalibur. I haven't looked at non-Civil War inflated sales figures, but he's probably right. New Excalibur has this rep as the book Marvel puts out because it knows Claremont sells books. I do get the feeling sometimes that I'm the only person reading this who isn't doing it because Claremont was the writer. The fact the sales have declined since his health issues tend to bear it out.

OK, so I'm not the only one reading it for other reasons. There's Kalinara and all the other Pete Wisdom fans to consider. They are legion, you know. But the concept of reading a comic based on the creative team seems a bit odd to me. There isn't any writer that could make me pick up Batman, not even John Ostrander, who I owe so much to for GrimJack. Of course, to those who operate that way, reading a comic because you think a team with Dazzler and the Juggernaut on it sounds interesting, probably seems pretty weird, too.

Because He's The Only One Who Can

We need Cable and the Black Panther to meet up. This should happen naturally within Black Panther, seeing as T'Challa is on his "visit important rulers" field trip, and Cable runs two countries now. And they should very naturally fight, since that's happened pretty much everywhere the rulers of Wakanda have gone. I haven't heard about that happening in Black Panther anytime soon, so I guess it falls upon Cable/Deadpool to do it. And honestly, that would make it so much better.

That way, when the inevitable fight starts, Deadpool can say something about how "nobody can beat the Black Panther." From there, it can go two ways:

1) As Cable is losing - because even technology from centuries in the future is no match for the Black Panther - Deadpool can amuse himself by hitting on Storm, who will cause a huge distraction by making Lightning Roasted Deadpool, allowing Cable to get in a cheap shot and win the day.

2) Cable and Black Panther don't fight. They are, after all, reasonable men. But on the way out, Deadpool - probably out of boredom - picks a fight with T'Challa, shouting "Reginald Hudlin's not here to save you now!" The fourth wall breaking will confuse the Panther long enough for Deadpool to get in some shots, before Storm - with a look of extreme annoyance - creates a whirlwind to toss Wade up in the air, and dump him unceremoniously in Providence's waste areas several miles away.

Ah, Deadpool, you're such a useful outlet for fan frustration.

Feel. . . The Power Of Love!

A big hand for Huey Lewis & the News, people!

You know, Black Panther #19 just won't let go. The more I think about it, the more I realize Hudlin missed an opportunity with the Doom/T'Challa fight.

I think having Ororo and T'Challa hand Doom a double-team beatdown would have sent such a better statement. These two people are supposed to be deeply in love, to share a deep emotional connection. What better way to demonstrate that, than by showing them working together to beat someone that neither one should be able to beat one their own?

Hey, I like Storm and the Black Panther, but we're talking about Dr. Doom. This guy beats the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, steals the power of nearly infinite being. He's a serious player, and it should have required a team effort to teach him a lesson.

And think about the message. These two people, reunited after so long apart, work in harmony together, can draw on each other's strengths to persevere and win over an opponent who has no one, who holds himself apart from everyone. Doom doesn't have that connection with anyone, he doesn't have anyone that he can lean, who can pick up for him in those rare moments he stumbles, or when he just can't get the job done by himself.

Think about it, the two of them, struggling against Doom. T'Challa can't beat him down, and Doom's suit resists what Storm's throwing at him. But then she whips up a blinding snowstorm (or fog), so Panther can get close enough to break down some of the armor's defenses (he's a clever guy).

Just a thought. Now I want to figure out what inspired this: Devon's post, or me seeing that Simpsons' episode where Homer eats Guatemalan Insanity peppers and winds up on a quest for his soul mate.

I'm Going To Make This Quick

I know what Reginald Hudlin is trying to do with Black Panther.

He saw what Grant Morrison did with Batman in JLA, turning him into a one-man force of annihilation, capable of defeating anyone, merely with his awesome brain.

And Hudlin has decided, anything Grant can do, he can do better.

So you know what's coming. All those times, that comics writers would say "Batman could beat Galactus, if you gave him enough time.", Hudlin's going to make it a reality.

Any time now, Galactus (in a clear show of ignorance of Annihilation continuity, which places Big G in deep shit out in space) will show up on Earth, and T'Challa is going to single-handedly send him packing.

He's not only going to devise a means to defeat The Devourer, he's going to implement it all by his lonesome.

Because Black Panther is the baddest man in Marvel Comics.

On a sadder note, Storm wil probably be left doing nothing for the entire story, other than foolishly insisting that she could somehow help defeat this cosmic menace.

Silly wind-rider.