Full Force Forward With Little To Grasp: Reviewing ‘Ultimate Black Panther’ #8

War has come to Africa as the forces of Wakanda and those of Ra and Khonshu collide upon the battlefield. Months of buildup have led here, a place with even more questions and less answers to offer.

T’Challa and company get one step closer to … something, in Ultimate Black Panther #8 from Bryan Hill, Stefano Caselli, David Curiel, and Cory Petit.

What is going on with Marvel Comics lately? More and more books spend more time building up “grand mysteries” and plotlines with very little character or engaging foundation upon which to stand. I’m not against building things out, some writers do it tremendously, but the current fashion just isn’t working.

We’re eight issues in (and many months have passed in universe) and I’m no closer to really feeling anything about these characters or their struggles.

At least Caselli and Curiel get to do some big action set piece stuff this time around.

Characters aren’t really standing around talking as much, so the art gets to bring big battles to life. Panels of characters racing toward one another, crying civilians caught in the middle, Black Panther cutting loose, and so much more. As I’ve noted before, Caselli has a style that is made for superhero style stuff and it shows in issues like this. Flashy, weighty, fluid, and swift in execution.

Plenty of flashy colors are found in these parts, alongside those that are more neutral or naturally toned. Curiel taps into the natural realm to give the outside spaces an authentic feeling, while still allowing Wakanda to feel bigger, grander, and more unique.

There was a bit of trippy to the dream sequences they got to bring to life this time. If it were a bit trippier, or included some colors that set it apart even more, it might have elevated the scenes a bit more. As they stand, they are great, but kind of feel just like the rest of the ‘real’ world stuff.

Some bits of emotional range come into play here, but the characters still feel like they are just going through the motions. Petit allows the lettering to smoothly cross the page and do what it needs to do. Finding ways to keep squeezing at least a tiny bit of water from this stone.

What Hill does with this issue isn’t bad or unwelcome. It does advance things with the Moon Knight stuff and where Wakanda stands. Even if it still kind of feels like the whole book is semi-standing still.

Plenty of characters and beats are only showing up so often, as the book uses the month time jump atheistic of the Ultimate Universe in a semi detrimental way. Instead of allowing us any room to learn or love these characters, they are just rushed forward like the mostly cardboard cutouts they remain. We get, like, a second of Killmonger and Ororo, who often feel like set dressing, on a dragged out quest leading to the sorcerer supreme.

Another one of these books that I want to like more than I do, but the actual book isn’t delivering something for me to grasp onto.

Ultimate Black Panther #8 is now available from Marvel Comics.