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A review by 1_and_owenly
Black Panther Epic Collection Vol. 1: Panther's Rage by Don McGregor
3.0
This collection was problematic for me.
On the one hand, it is a precursor to modern comic book storytelling. It is a long form adventure where every issue holds a self contained adventure that nonetheless advances a larger plot. Furthermore, it is a comic with a heroic black protagonist and many positive black supporting characters, both male & female.
On the other hand, the book is just filled with ignorance and stereotypes.
I remember when the comics contained in this collection first appeared. I was a young boy, about six years old. I remember seeing some of the covers on the racks in pharmacies. While I was intrigued at seeing a black superhero, I was also repulsed. There was something about them that seemed ... off, even to my young eyes. I could not have told you what it was back then, but I knew in some way that could not begin to vocalize it that people reading this book might associate the jungle, the mannerisms, the dress, the wildness, and savagery with any and all black people. It made me uncomfortable, even though those thoughts were so deep within me that it would be years before I could express them.
Flash forward to today.
My feelings are even more turbulent.
This book has T'Challa, the Black Panther, fighting "the Clan" (an obvious substitution for the KKK) in a wonderfully empowering moment. And yet, it also has black Africans worshiping and dressed as apes ... seemingly oblivious to the fact that so many black people have been compared to them in an attempt to disregard our humanity and sometimes to justify eugenics. It attempts to create glimpses into different Wakandan societies, but falls prey to prejudices from 1970s America.
I like this book because it kept T'Challa in the public eye.
I like that for the time, the storytelling was not only progressive, but practically genius.
I like it as a snapshot of the past and how it inspired stories to come.
But I also hate it.
I hate how it made me feel.
I hate how it *makes* me feel.
It's complicated.
If I could give this rating 2 1/2 stars and split the love & hate down the middle, I would.
On the one hand, it is a precursor to modern comic book storytelling. It is a long form adventure where every issue holds a self contained adventure that nonetheless advances a larger plot. Furthermore, it is a comic with a heroic black protagonist and many positive black supporting characters, both male & female.
On the other hand, the book is just filled with ignorance and stereotypes.
I remember when the comics contained in this collection first appeared. I was a young boy, about six years old. I remember seeing some of the covers on the racks in pharmacies. While I was intrigued at seeing a black superhero, I was also repulsed. There was something about them that seemed ... off, even to my young eyes. I could not have told you what it was back then, but I knew in some way that could not begin to vocalize it that people reading this book might associate the jungle, the mannerisms, the dress, the wildness, and savagery with any and all black people. It made me uncomfortable, even though those thoughts were so deep within me that it would be years before I could express them.
Flash forward to today.
My feelings are even more turbulent.
This book has T'Challa, the Black Panther, fighting "the Clan" (an obvious substitution for the KKK) in a wonderfully empowering moment. And yet, it also has black Africans worshiping and dressed as apes ... seemingly oblivious to the fact that so many black people have been compared to them in an attempt to disregard our humanity and sometimes to justify eugenics. It attempts to create glimpses into different Wakandan societies, but falls prey to prejudices from 1970s America.
I like this book because it kept T'Challa in the public eye.
I like that for the time, the storytelling was not only progressive, but practically genius.
I like it as a snapshot of the past and how it inspired stories to come.
But I also hate it.
I hate how it made me feel.
I hate how it *makes* me feel.
It's complicated.
If I could give this rating 2 1/2 stars and split the love & hate down the middle, I would.