Behold The Bloody King — Reviewing ‘Ultimate Black Panther’ #12

When a king fights a god, does anyone actually win? Whatever the answer, it’s not likely good for the people.  

At long last the leaders of the colliding armies face off in Ultimate Black Panther #12, the issue that marks the end of the first year of the series. Delivered by Bryan Hill, the returning Stefano Caselli, David Curiel, and Cory Petit.  

For what it is, this is a fine conclusion to the series inaugural year.  

Not that it’s something that is grand or really has much to say, but the fight and the stakes presented are pretty solid. We learn a bit more about the Vodu-Khan and their desires to see T’Challa give into the desires of the Vibranium and meet his “destiny.” The mystery around them has been teased for too long, but at least we’re getting some crumbs. That’s more than some of the stuff we’ve been left hanging on.  

For once, the lack of character work doesn’t really hold the issue back, because it’s centered on T’Challa’s struggle and the fight. So as a whole it’s a better issue than most of the series. 

Despite my overall feelings, one of the issues of this series continues to nag. That being it’s usage of the line-wide each issue matching the passage of real-time (more or less). The climax sees the return of Storm, Killmonger, and Sorcerer Supreme Inan who were last see traveling to Wakanda back in the 8th issue of the series, which in Ultimate Universe time was three months ago. Where the hell have they been going for three months when we saw Inan use her portal to supposedly get them to Wakanda faster.  

It’s just another way that this series uses the gimmick very poorly and has many gaps in the story. Losing time that could have been used to develop characters and move plots faster.  

It was good to have Caselli back in the saddle for this outing, to close the first year out strong.  

These big bold moments are where his artwork shines a ton, really capturing the epic nature of what is going down. As well as the variety of emotions that are playing out, letting even the masked faces tell us so much about what the men are going through as this fight occurs.  

Paneling choices don’t get talked about enough. It’s not enough to just make the imagery epic. The way it’s delivered can really heighten things. Caselli makes some solid and informed choices here in how each page is laid out, shifting from more standard to more out of the box panel styles. This gets us in closer and further away, centering various moments, and giving things a deeper feeling than expected at times.  

Darkness and starker colors help sell the dramatic nature of the story, attaching to the artwork and strengthening that aforementioned depth. Curiel has mastered handling these types of stories over the years, really delivering a color palette befitting the mood and tone. Allowing things to fit in a more middle ground for much of it, eschewing the more vibrant colors usually seen in both Wakanda and superhero related stories. Until the very end, when they come in to highlight the bombastic entrance of T’Challa’s allies.  

With the singular focus there is a bit more room for Petit to inject some feeling into the words, which has been harder in some of the previous issues. Overall, many of the characters are still blank slates, but with T’Challa’s current situation there is a bit more fire and depth with him. That’s reflected in the words and their placement really helps with the dramatic tensions.  

Ultimate Black Panther #12 is now available from Marvel Comics.