Follow the adventures of T'Challa, the Black Panther, his sister Shuri and the fantastic citizens of Wakanda in these middle grade friendly adventures!
Every 25 years, Wakanda's ruler trades places with one of their subjects to gain perspective on their kingdom. T'Challa's turn has come, and while working in a Vibranium refinery, he uncovers a plot to sell the priceless metal on the black market. Plus, when one of the Black Panther's advisers suffers an injury during an attack, the adviser requests the aid of a traditional healer over modern medicine. Shuri scoffs at the idea, but soon a curse forces her on an epic quest. Collects issues #4-6 of the Marvel Action: Black Panther series.
3.5 stars - Good/Good+ LOVED the illustrations in this. The artwork is why I picked the book up and part of why I enjoyed this as much as I did. Three stories here. I preferred the first two. (1) T'Challa does a job exchange with someone working in the vibranium refinery where he discovers corruption and Shuri (working with the women who is filling in for T'Challa while he does her job) finds ways to bring the voices of the people into the workings of the government. (2) Shuri mocks natural medicine and then thinks the healer has cursed her. (3) Bandits/terrorists steal tech from Shuri and threaten an ambassador.
T'Challa and Shuri learn that things in Wakanda aren't as amazing for the average citizen as they thought, Shuri learns that there's a thing or two to learn from the elderly and more traditional, and they both have their hands full when a terrorist group threatens the summit they are hosting.
A fun trio of adventures with T'Challa and Shuri. Both of them learn a little humility in this collection, and the value of listening to others and not just assuming things. I like that this collection was done with a younger audience in mind, and the king's guards are much more modestly dressed than in some of the more adult Black Panther comics. Also, Shuri rocks, and she may have stolen the warthog from The Lion King to be her personal pet. Recommended to middle grade Marvel fans on up.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some violence threatened and a couple punches thrown, but no one is seriously hurt.
This is easy to read, but still tackles important issues like the disconnect between the ruling and working class, how we treat previous generations, etc. It's accessible but that doesn't diminish its message.