Let Out That Roar — Reviewing ‘Ultimate Black Panther’ #20

Wakanda has a rich ancient history. One so rich and mysterious even the current King isn’t aware of it’s depth. Until now, that is.

Welcome to a visual history lesson as Ultimate Black Panther #20 delves deep into the past and leaves T’Challa changed forever. The path to the end of this series continues to reveal itself under the care of Bryan Hill, Stefano Caselli, David Curiel, and Cory Petit.

The longer this series has gone on, the more I’ve generally liked what it’s been delivering. It was a rocky path at the beginning with a lot of issues to consider. From the rigid characters, to the plot being bloated, to it trying to rely too much on the 616 comics and movies for reflective reference.

Not anymore.

It’s clear this is the stuff that Hill was really wanting to get to. Essentially the meat of his overall plans for the character and his part in the Ultimate Universe. We get the god Bast detailing the history of vibranium and the connection to an older ancient space race that it came from. There is a lot to take in here, and its better to read than trying to really lay it all out there.

<<<SPOILERS FOLLOW>>>

Suffice it to say this is a narrative history dump that is still intriguing. Hill makes sure not to lose the reader and leave them hanging with the character. Hell, the ending we get with T’Challa going full Black Panther powerful King ready to fight off every colonizer and threat with power was damn good. Just behold this line: “If you need me…or if you see others who need me…do not scream in fear. Roar. I will hear you.”

That’s some badass shit right there.

This series keeps having amazing artists on board and any would work here, but it was good to see Caselli getting this one. Just the grandeur of the work and the very slick smooth bold nature works for this, as the panels shift and slide from standard to more amorphous spreads is fantastic. It gives the story that Bast is telling such depth and weight and power. This also lets us feel like it’s all actually unfolding before not just T’Challa but us the reader as well.

It’s just so dense and unyielding, while still falling into a very familiar house style sort of vibe. This is a style born to be connected to superheroes and it doesn’t shy away from that. That isn’t a bad thing at all.

There are a lot of dark hefty color palette choices happening in this issue. The tale being told is shadowy and really tonally leans on this aspect. Curiel really delivers here, keeping it uniformly dark and really ominous but also intriguing, bouncing off that are flashier more vibrant colors which play into the overall aesthetics but also work to hold hands gleefully with the darker tones. This increases as the story progresses and we reach the triumphant moments with T’Challa.

Keeping things engaging also comes from the text featured. Petit infuses the words with the right emotions and power. He also makes sure there is enough visual punch as they flow through the pages to keep it engaging that way. T’Challa is the only main figure here so his emotional range and depth is central. We feel and hear that through the whole of the issue, easily.

Ultimate Black Panther #20 is now available from Marvel Comics.