Comic Reviews by Walt

Writer: Bryan Hill
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Color Artist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Artists: Stefano Caselli & David Curiel
Design: Jay Bowen
Assistant Editor: Michelle Marchese
Editor: Wil Moss
Editor in Chief: CB Cebulski
Cover Date: April 2024
Cover Price: $5.99
Published By: Marvel Comics

It seems like a long time since I reviewed any "current issue" of a comic, let alone a Marvel comic. I’m far more keen on facsimile editions and non-"current year" stories these days than current stuff coming out from most publishers. And then this issue is riding all sorts of hype and speculation, apparently, between skyrocketing prices of even the "A" cover of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and a distributor reportedly losing thousands of copies of this issue’s "A" cover, and of course the USUAL (modern-day) speculation crap involving constant first issues and umpteen variant covers that exceed the number of story pages for a given issue, and so on.

I bought all four issues of Ultimate Invasion last year, though when the series was announced, I’d planned to stay away from it. I vaguely recall actually READING the first couple issues, but I’m not sure I read the latter ones, as yet. Based on what I was hearing about Ultimate Spider-Man just before its premiere issue came out, I snagged that one, and waffled on Black Panther…wavering still on whether or not to "embrace" this new Ultimate Universe, even if only for nostalgia of the original. Given the hype on this issue, I elected to visit a second shop when the first was sold out, and snagged a copy, leaving behind 2 copies.

I hate that it seems so many modern comics are "about" the speculation, variants, and pretty much anything but the story inside the covers; and I’m frequently reminded that even as a young teenager I had speculated that publishers could simply polybag a bundle of blank pages behind a cover and call it a day, and probably few would even notice. So let’s dig in here on the actual story.

The issue opens on the apparent slaughter of a village, while two shadowy figures prepare to report what they’ve seen to their king. We then cut to a just-awakened T’Challa conferring with his wife Okoye after a bad dream. Reflecting on how traditions must change, T’Challa visits with his father T’Chaka, former king, who counsels that he listen to what the Vodu-Khan have to say about things. T’Challa later meets with his sister Shuri (woman-at-arms) and the spies we saw at the beginning as T’Challa learns of the attack. Though Shuri and T’Challa clash on response, T’Challa elects not to leap into war based on reports…though he intends to act in some form. Elsewhere as another attack unfolds, a new figure–Killmonger–appears on the scene to defend against the Ra/Khonshu invasion. Finally, at an annual Celebration of Life gathering in Wakanda, suicide bombers appear, and T’Chaka shoves his son off the building just before the explosion. Arriving at the ground in Black Panther mode, T’Challa–The Black Panther–declares that the enemy is Moon Knight and Wakanda is at war.

I think the best part of this issue for me is the art. I really liked it, at least in and of itself. I don’t know that it’s such that I would have flipped this open and chosen to buy it due to the art if I wasn’t already interested in buying it…but for reading it, the art fit, I liked it, and in whatever subjective way I interpret "art," it worked for me.

That said, I’m less thrilled at the overall issue (and sure, the art gets as much blame as the writing, I’m sure) feeling so "cinematic." This came off very much like the adaptation of something from a tv show, to me, more than being its own original comic. Having barely a dozen words on a 2-page spread SCREAMS "cinematic" to me, and remains a "cheat" on pagecount/story in my eyes. Even though this was an extra-sized (and extra-priced) issue, it read very much as a standard-sized one, which isn’t horrible but isn’t good, either.

Much of what I take from characterization is a combination of interpreting this as an alternate reality, and drawing on what I recall of Priest’s 1998 Black Panther series from Marvel Knights, with a certain influence from the MCU films that had T’Challa, T’Chaka, Okoye, and Shuri.

With only this single issue to go on, I’m definitely inclined to pick up the next issue and perhaps keep on with the series, assuming it’s more than a "stealth mini-series" at this point. While I understand this to be in the same Ultimate Universe as Ultimate Spider-Man, I do hope the titles stay pretty much self-contained, and with that they should be good companion books free of loooooads of other continuity things making so many modern comics unappealing to me.

I’m glad I got this issue, particularly to READ, and that I enjoyed it juuuuust enough to "justify" the price. I have a hard time recommending someone spend $6 on a single-issue of a comic, but you could definitely do WORSE than this one…though it’s not exactly all that meaty. It’s some fresh air from main Marvel continuity stuff.

Filed under: 2024 Posts, 2024 Reviews | Tagged: Black Panther, Bryan Hill, C.B. Cebulski, comic books, Comic Reviews, comics, Cory Petit, David Curiel, Jay Bowen, Khonshu, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Michelle Marchese, Moon Knight, reviews, Stefano Caselli, Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate Invasion, Ultimate Universe, Wil Moss |