Earlier this week, we got a proper trailer for the upcoming Black Panther movie, and it showcases the MCU version of Namor in his full glory (among other things). Today's weekly read in anticipation for Wakanda Forever has nothing to do with that, but don't worry; once we're much closer to the movie's release, I have something prepared that will tie into that reveal. BACKGROUND:
I've only read the first issue of this run, and even back then, the concept was wild to me. I was interested in reading more from that moment on. SUMMARY: T'Challa finds himself with no memory of his past in deep space, and he's been taken as a slave by a powerful empire. What's strange is that this empire appears to be one started by a group of spacefaring Wakandans long ago and has since expanded to span five star systems. There's a lot to unpack there, but we'll get into that later. Although he doesn't remember anything (save for a vision of his love Storm), T'Challa's fighting instincts and heroic spirit endure, and he manages to liberate himself from his captors. He is then recruited by the Maroons, a rebel group taking the fight to their oppressors. The rest of the comic is T'Challa fighting alongside the Maroons, but during the latter portion of the volume, a tragic loss forces the rebellion to go into hiding. After a healthy dose of self-doubt, T'Challa steps up to become the hero he's destined to be, setting up nicely for the next volume. I was so intrigued by how the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda could exist at all but also have aspects of it reference present-day Wakanda. Everything about it seems completely anachronistic, as despite the empire having seemingly existed for millennia, figures in the empire (who I assume are completely separate from their more familiar counterparts) share names with established characters (this includes, but isn't limited to: Nakia, M'Baku, and N'Jadaka), locations within the empire are named after relatively recent Wakandan historical figures, and even T'Challa's name and exploits (which are known adventures like his battles with Klaw) are treated like legend. I wanted to keep reading the series just so I can get to the explanation as to how all this could exist without it being some sort of alternate universe. Another fascinating aspect of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda is how different it is from the Wakanda we know on Earth in terms of overall philosophy. Whereas the familiar Wakanda (which is known as Wakanda Prime in this comic) serves as the massive what if of an African nation that thrived outside the ills of imperialism, its cosmic counterpart ends up being the oppressors themselves. These Wakandans believed conquest was the best course of action to defend themselves from invasion and they ravaged and enslaved entire alien civilizations in service of that mindset. That is far removed from the Wakanda that has existed for decades in stories, who never instigated wars and fought against the oppression that was rampant in their home continent wherever they could. How could these supposed group of Wakandans go on quite the 180-degree turn on their values? Again, I wanted to read more to find out why. T'Challa isn't explicitly the Black Panther in this comic, but the panther motif is still alive and well across the empire. The Maroons wear outfits reminiscent of the classic panther cowl, and the emperor himself N'Jadaka (as far as I can tell, no connection to the main Killmonger) wears a different version of the suit. And speaking of N'Jadaka, he's empowered himself with a very familiar source of power in the Marvel Universe, and I thought that was super cool. This comic series seems to address dangling plot threads I encountered throughout my months-long journey of reading Black Panther comics every week. First, this comic seems to explain where T'Challa went when he disappeared into space (which happened in the Shuri solo comic; more on that here). The more fascinating bit to me is how this might end up being the explanation as to why the gods of Wakanda disappeared completely during Vol. 2 of the 2016 series (I talked about that here). It's awesome to see such loose ends resolved, even if it's in a completely separate series. There aren't many references to other corners of the Marvel Universe apart from what I've already mentioned, but one of the few that I found really cool was the tie-in to the character Manifold. I wasn't expecting it at all, so it was a really pleasant surprise (and yet another mystery I want answers to). What I noticed a lot with the art is the prominence of texturing or detailing that looks like it was done with crayon, and that really made elements like smoke or T'Challa's hair stand out to me. I also found the variance in shading (which can go from super subtle/almost nonexistent to high contrast) and linework to be notable. Overall, the level of detail can vary from panel to panel, but the style leans more towards realistic on average. VERDICT: While the main story itself is nothing I haven't seen before (where else might you have heard of an apparent chosen one becoming a prominent member of a rebellion against an oppressive space regime?), the fact that the empire T'Challa fights against is none other than an offshoot of his own home makes everything fascinating to me. I wanted to know how the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda came to be despite the seeming logical inconsistencies of its very existence, and I found its unrelenting imperialism a hell of a contrast to the Wakanda we are more familiar with. With the addition of other plot threads I find intriguing (from the involvement of the Wakandan gods, the mystery of Manifold, the inevitable showdown with N'Jadaka, how T'Challa may react once his memories are restored), I am absolutely hooked. I'm very glad to have planned to read more of this arc throughout the month of October. If anything about this completely different take of Wakanda is remotely interesting to you, I think the first volume of this storyline may hook you as well as it did me. So far, its story doesn't hinge on any prerequisite knowledge of other story arcs (apart from the broad strokes of who T'Challa is and what Wakanda is all about, of course), and thus I think even people who've only seen the movies can get into this one no problem. However, you may run into my same dilemma where the first volume doesn't answer nearly enough questions, and you find yourself itching to read more to get to the bottom of things. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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