Black Panther, Vol. 2: Power

Black Panther (2009)

by Jonathan Maberry, Will Conrad

Wakanda has been attacked on every front. Heroes have fallen, old alliances have been betrayed, the country is in turmoil. Now is the time for the new Black Panther to rise and make a stand against threats both foreign and domestic. "Power" is a bold new direction for the Panther, written by celebrated producer-director Reginald Hudlin and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry (Patient Zero, Punisher: Naked Kill). New game, new rules, and lots of surprises as the new Black Panther is set on a collision course with one of the Marvel Universe's most feared and powerful beings. Collects Black Panther #7-11

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime

122 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

This is one of those our-backs-are-totally-against-the-wall-so-there’s-no-place-to-move-but-forward story lines.

Wakanda has seen better days. T’Challa, the Black Panther, has been grievously injured, unbeknownst to him, by agents of Dr. Doom. His country is facing severe economic and inexplicable agricultural issues and some of the citizens of the country are gathering for rebellion. With this maelstrom of issues swirling about, Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, takes the mantle of the Black Panther.

Because it’s Doom, and he’s a bastard, he’s manipulating behind the scenes and pointing Shuri towards a showdown with his ex-buddy, Namor. Namor has been guilty of a lot of crappy things, but he’s an innocent here.

Jonathon Maberry does a reasonable job at not only looking at the intricacies of the cat-and-mouse games but also presenting the big Wakandan picture as well. The epic beatdown between Namor and Shuri is a highlight.



Tuna boy is going down!!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The new Black Panther, Suri (T'Challa's younger sister), charges head-on (and head-strong!) into her role as defender and ruler of Wakanda. With a little help from friends like Storm, the Fantastic Four, and Namor, she has to learn the hard way that all problems can't be fixed nor mysteries solved just by hitting them. It's a very good character-driven book, with plenty of action and intrigue. (I think it's also the first comic I've read by Maberry that doesn't have any kind of living dead characters.) It does a better job than many of Marvel's graphic novels of grounding the continuity at the beginning so the reader isn't totally lost if they haven't read previous volumes, but the end is just kind of a stopping place and doesn't give any good conclusion. The art from Will Conrad (with one section from Ken Lashley and Paul Neary), is bright, detailed, and most enjoyable.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall score: not worth the read.

It pains me to say it, but overall I did not enjoy this book. It suffered from the same problems as #1 in the series: it's too boring to make up for the good parts.

The majority of the book is politics and (fake) science talk. The writers used the trope, when talking science, of just stringing together smart-sounding words in order to show how smart a character is. This is fine for a one time joke, but it's easily a third of the entire book's dialogue. It's not interesting, it just takes me right out of the story.

Granted there was one cool fight, and the cliffhanger it leaves on seems like it could be interesting. The artwork is also fantastic. Overall, though, if #3 has the same issues, I don't think I want to put in the time to read it. I really wanted to like this series, but there just isn't enough to it to keep me hooked.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved seeing the Wakandan technology showcased in depth.

[jana (taylor's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Reka Beezy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I came across this comic was because on my birthday last year I went to the local comic book store and asked the dude if there were any black female superheroes other than Storm. He says yes, then proceeds to had me this. I was excited since I didn't know about this, nor many black superheroes, in general. I start to read, and I realize that these superheroes are based in Africa. (And Storm is still in this I might add.) *cricket, cricket* I guess I should've been more specific and said if he knew of any African-American female superheroes, but honestly, he probably would've looked at me like I was crazy because it seems that if you happen to have brown skin in America, then you're automatically black/African-American. Such is not the case. I shan't get too onto my racial soapbox, but I was disappointed to say the least. That doesn't mean this wasn't a good story, it just wasn't what I was looking for. However, I now at least have another female superhero with brown skin, instead of just being limited to Storm. *shrug*

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good. The only problem is the placement of the climax. It should have happened at the beginning of issue 11, but it really seems to happen after issue 12—that is, after this book concludes.

The "big reveal" of who was pulling the strings was not at all surprising because previous issues explicitly showed who it was. So when we get to the ending and that seems to be the last note of this song, it's not especially interesting.

The build-up is all pretty good, though.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was confused throughout most of this book, but that's my fault for jumping in right in the middle. I loved the characters and can't wait to go back and find more volumes in this line. The artwork was beautiful and I really enjoyed the way the women were portrayed. The book also gives great insight into the Marvel universe, which was an absolute joy.

[Richard Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection. Pacing could have been better as it only got really interesting towards the end. Always love it when intelligent characters are written cleverly.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

These aren't bad comics, but they feel like they're all a setup for the Doom War series. There's not a complete story here, and what we do have is only competently told, but nothing more.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Panther: Power collects issues 7-12 of the series written by Jonathan Mayberry with art by Will Conrad.

With T'Challa still recovering from his wounds and Shuri taking up the mantle of the Black Panther, Dr. Doom has launched an elaborate plot to bring Wakanda into turmoil and turn Wakanda against the royal family it has trusted for so long.

This books sounds like it should be interesting but I failed to get invested. I love Doom as a villain but all we got was him sitting in a thine room full of monitors watching events unfold. I thought Shuri taking up the mantle of Black Panther would be extremely interesting but it is actually extremely boring. There is a of techno babble nonsense and then the Fantastic Four show up and then *snoooore.* May be time for a break from Black Panther.

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say I liked this one better than the previous in terms of action in the story. The other was good in terms of character development, however, too much happened off set so to speak, which made the story somewhat confusing. But I am new to the whole premise of the stories of the Black Panther.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a very disappointing followup to the last volume. I enjoyed seeing Shuri on the prowl, but many people took stupid actions for plot, and details were fed out like bread crumbs to move things forward. Not organic, not engaging. The art also tended towards exploitative, with many, many panels showcasing women in the back-breaking boobs-and-butt pose.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me excited to see the movie

Great story. Characters are strog and well developed. Loved the parallel storylines of one panther discovering their power and the other rediscovering it.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shuri is a badass queen and warrior, and I love seeing her going up against villains on her own! Also a great satire of democracy/political unrest.
TW for violence, blood, grief, recovery from a major injury, political unrest, false arrest, rioting, threats of famine.

[James Staten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way to go

Continuation of a great story. This is when Shuri came into her own. Reginald Hudlin did a great job here

[ISMOTU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shuri is just beginning to come into her own as the Black Panther in this volume which ends by setting up the next big mega Marvel slugfest. I wish she had more of a chance to shine in this role.

[Luis Argudo · Rating 5 out of 5]

miss this type of comic

Very good, this is the good black panther. Can’t wait to continue reading to see what happens next. I recommend it.