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A review by smitchy
Black Panther Epic Collection Vol. 1: Panther's Rage by Don McGregor
3.0
This was an interesting collection of 21 early Black panther comics. Starting out with the extremely camp Fantastic Four story that introduced Black Panther to the Marvel universe. The stories then get progressively better as they go along.
The first introduction of Black Panther made me cringe and laugh at the same time. Fantastic Four are just so daggy and so very dated now! They are cliched and stilted. Basically they get an invite from an mysterious stranger. This turns out to be a trap set by the Panther in order to test his skills against the "best". The Fantastic Four are caught pretty quickly and only mange to escape with the help of a random friend of Johnny's (the human torch) who just wanted to tag along for funzies. Turns out this friend is quite the athlete and saves the day. If I was one of the Fantastic Four I'd be rethinking my group's name after that disaster.
When the tables are turned and Panther is trapped he explains how he wasn't going to kill them he was just testing his skills and look at that he's pretty damn good, now let's all be friends. Everyone heads off for a beer and a tour of Panther's high-tech palace. The best thing about that comic was it was very fast paced. So the bar is set pretty low from episode one.
I didn't have high hopes for complex characters or stories after that. So I was pleasantly surprised when the the next story arc dealt with T'challa's (Panther) struggles to balance the needs of his people against the new high-tech world he has created to keep them safe; the resentments of older population against the change in traditions; his retainer's resentments of T'challa's activities (with the Avengers) that take him away from his people. Another source of resentment is Miss Monica Lynne, T'challa's American girlfriend. She is a singer he met while, presumably, in the States for Avenger business, and T'challa's retainers think she's the pits. She gets attacked and framed for murder while he is off hunting bad guys. Of course there are ridiculous villains with nonsensical motivations and fights that take up half of each comic. And the Panther manages to come back from certain death every time he has a fight but that is par for the course with this sort of comic book. My major issue with this part of the book is that T'challa is prone to long bouts of introspection / regret / self-doubt that gets a bit on the nose after the first page or two - although it may be more interesting for the teenagers this book is aimed at.
The second half of the book changes story-line with Monica Lynne and T'challa going to Monica's home town after Monica's sister is murdered. This story arc deals with racism in the USA, the Klan, and the treatment of slaves. Deep issues for a comic book. In this part we hardly ever see T'challa without his Panther suit on (even while shopping in the supermarket) which seems a bit weird - this is one comic book hero who doesn't seem to care who knows who he is - even the other characters comment on it.
The last part of the book is a collection of rough drafts, story ideas, and sketches along with information about the writers and the way the story and characters were developed.
The first introduction of Black Panther made me cringe and laugh at the same time. Fantastic Four are just so daggy and so very dated now! They are cliched and stilted. Basically they get an invite from an mysterious stranger. This turns out to be a trap set by the Panther in order to test his skills against the "best". The Fantastic Four are caught pretty quickly and only mange to escape with the help of a random friend of Johnny's (the human torch) who just wanted to tag along for funzies. Turns out this friend is quite the athlete and saves the day. If I was one of the Fantastic Four I'd be rethinking my group's name after that disaster.
When the tables are turned and Panther is trapped he explains how he wasn't going to kill them he was just testing his skills and look at that he's pretty damn good, now let's all be friends. Everyone heads off for a beer and a tour of Panther's high-tech palace. The best thing about that comic was it was very fast paced. So the bar is set pretty low from episode one.
I didn't have high hopes for complex characters or stories after that. So I was pleasantly surprised when the the next story arc dealt with T'challa's (Panther) struggles to balance the needs of his people against the new high-tech world he has created to keep them safe; the resentments of older population against the change in traditions; his retainer's resentments of T'challa's activities (with the Avengers) that take him away from his people. Another source of resentment is Miss Monica Lynne, T'challa's American girlfriend. She is a singer he met while, presumably, in the States for Avenger business, and T'challa's retainers think she's the pits. She gets attacked and framed for murder while he is off hunting bad guys. Of course there are ridiculous villains with nonsensical motivations and fights that take up half of each comic. And the Panther manages to come back from certain death every time he has a fight but that is par for the course with this sort of comic book. My major issue with this part of the book is that T'challa is prone to long bouts of introspection / regret / self-doubt that gets a bit on the nose after the first page or two - although it may be more interesting for the teenagers this book is aimed at.
The second half of the book changes story-line with Monica Lynne and T'challa going to Monica's home town after Monica's sister is murdered. This story arc deals with racism in the USA, the Klan, and the treatment of slaves. Deep issues for a comic book. In this part we hardly ever see T'challa without his Panther suit on (even while shopping in the supermarket) which seems a bit weird - this is one comic book hero who doesn't seem to care who knows who he is - even the other characters comment on it.
The last part of the book is a collection of rough drafts, story ideas, and sketches along with information about the writers and the way the story and characters were developed.