The Panther And The Thief: Reviewing ‘Black Panther’ #2

How does an exiled former King blend in amongst the people of his country? Simple, invent a classic secret identity.

Superheroes have been employing that very concept pretty much since their inception. Along the way, though, tons of heroes have either revealed their identities or spent little time in their regular lives. Truly that is something that I miss about comics. Seeing Peter Parker (insert other heroes) spending time with a great supporting cast before swinging away to save the day. Big hero action, understandably, has taken more of the bandwidth in bigger books over the years.

T’Challa not only took on an identity but gave it a backstory and has a job with the start of a supporting cast. This made my nerdy little heart sing.

There is more to this issue than T’Challa and his new hidden life, but it all centers around Eve L. Ewing’s character-focused writing style. It would have been easy to do a story focused on Black Panther just as a vigilante with no time for character/smaller stuff. That’s not Ewing though. As much as the first issue was overall about Wakanda, Birnin T’Chaka city to be precise, this one is heavily about T’Challa.

It was smart to introduce this new part of Wakanda, and the people that make it up as the Black Panther is like a ghost story vigilante for the most part. Here though we get more of what he’s going through, and what Shuri is dealing with, and we get to fully meet the thief/vigilante/something more Beisa. I don’t like to compare such things but conceptually, with some major differences, I was getting a heavy Catwoman & Batman-like vibe with Beisa/Panther.

They are nothing alike in who they are and what they are doing, but the sort of playful banter and different side of things between her and T’Challa felt similar. Not saying it’ll be anything the same with flirtation or anything, I know Ewing will bring surprises. It just had that similar feel and it’s natural for us to equate things to things we know at times.

Chris Allen, Craig Yeung, and Jesus Aburtov are creating such a unique look for this series. Playing within a space of Wakanda that is different than the royal city or the open space we always see helps a ton. They are able to create a whole new atmosphere that really changes how Black Panther works and how we see him. Again there are shades of various other heroic vigilantes going on here as Black Panther now has streets and spaces to stalk rather than a palace or big Avengers stuff to do. It creates something so unique and fun to look at and experience.

There is a depth and heaviness to the pencils and inks from Allen and Yeung. It’s essentially a real city on the page as it feels like the reader can just walk into the place on any given panel. Allen’s style is one that has all that depth and detail but wouldn’t fit into the ‘realistic’ or ‘photorealistic’ realm of comic book artwork. It’s rough around the edges with very whimsical energy to it as well. It’s in that middle space where it feels real but also isn’t afraid to color outside the lines at times.

Speaking of colors, they occupy a middle space as well. Various elements are allowed to be more vibrant on the page while others are quite toned down. Doing so helps elevate that sort of real aspect that the artwork is aiming for. We can see the browns and grays and other colors that tell us these are ‘real’ buildings and spaces. Bright vibrant colors are also real, but there is a different level at times when it comes to superhero books. That vibrancy is kicked up ten notches, like everywhere is Times Square or the Vegas Strip.

Aburtov provides colors that are smooth and slightly slick but incorporates some of that roughness from the artwork. They seamlessly connect with the art on the page and pump up the overall energy already being provided in the series.

As a former King, T’Challa is a vigilante that is full of more words than others. Plenty of energy and personality are evident in all the words on these pages thanks to Joe Sabino. Plenty of characters have tons to say here but Sabino makes sure it never gets overwhelming in the bubbles and said bubbles just gel together perfectly. There are also plenty of little flairs that bring fun to how the words are presented.

Take the caption boxes for example, where those for T’Challa are white on black with some regalness to them still.  Compared to the black-on-white with yellow borders that are seen for Beisa. It speaks to how different they are and fits their opposing-colored costumes. Sure, all the boxes could be the same and certain words could be used to tell them apart, but this is just better. It’s got far more personality and fits what makes comics a fun medium.

Black Panther #2 is now available from Marvel Comics.