I have one more Black Panther read in my pocket, and I saved it to coincide with Wakanda Forever's premiere on Disney+. BACKGROUND:
I read the first volume of this series a while back (talked about it here) and thought it was a fine all-ages story. I expect this to be more of the same. SUMMARY: Each of the three issues of this volume focuses on a different story, but in all of them, they reference an upcoming diplomatic event taking place in Wakanda. Said event is covered in the last issue, but we'll get into that later. In the first issue, something called an Exchange Day takes place, and that sees T'Challa trade places with a common Wakanda worker for a day. While T'Challa works a shift in a vibranium refinery, a woman named Toyin gets to go around the palace and take part in royal duties. During this exchange, T'Challa experiences a bit of culture shock as he witnesses workplace toxicity firsthand. Ever righteous, he stands up to the abusive supervisor giving the workers grief, and in the process, T'Challa learns that he must take greater efforts to listen to his people to avoid similar situations in the future. Meanwhile, Toyin shares her experiences with Shuri, allowing the latter to come to the same conclusion. Next, a battle with Batroc the Leaper and his goons leave royal aide Zuri injured. Zuri seeks traditional medicine for treatment, which Shuri scoffs at for not being as reliable as science-based treatments. The old healer administering the treatment takes the scathing remarks in stride, but after a string of bad luck befalls Shuri, she immediately assumes that the healer has put a curse on her. Shuri then seeks out the healer to both apologize and to undo the curse, at which point she's instructed to procure ingredients in the wilderness. After a fun little adventure, Shuri is then told that there is no curse, and that she just needs to not work herself to the bone all the time. Having learned not to dismiss the perspectives of others and to also relax from time to time, Shuri returns to the lab refreshed and more open-minded. Finally, we get to the day of the summit, but the event is interrupted when a group of dissidents steal a dangerous piece of tech from the lab. T'Challa and Shuri take the fight to the goons, and after questioning one of them, they learn of a plot to attack the dignitaries visiting Wakanda. T'Challa confronts the would-be attackers, who turn out to be against sharing Wakandan resources and knowledge with outsiders. Being the wise king that he is, T'Challa calmly explains the value of seeing other people as equals and the good that can come from sharing what you have, which causes one of the attackers to reconsider. The event takes place without a hitch afterwards, and the lessons learned from the previous issues are called back to in a great speech from both T'Challa and Shuri. Though there are points where T'Challa and Shuri suit up to fight bad guys, the action takes a back seat to both characters having their preconceived notions challenged. T'Challa's assumption that the commoners work as harmoniously as he assumed was proven to be incorrect during his stint as a refinery worker, and Shuri's string of misfortune makes her realize that her way of thinking isn't necessarily superior to the old ways. The day of the summit is a bit of an outlier since it's T'Challa imparting the wisdom to the dissidents instead of the other way around, but the speech at the end affirms that both T'Challa and Shuri have taken the lessons they've learned to heart. The art style definitely feels like a Saturday morning cartoon with its bright colors and overall simplicity. I don't have much else to say about it other than it's nice to look at. VERDICT: As far as all-ages comics go, this volume of Marvel Action: Black Panther impressed me by having T'Challa and Shuri deal with more adult situations (hostile workplaces, having your field of expertise questioned, an oversimplified take on the classic isolationism vs. globalization debate) and learn more than they fight. They may not get to kick ass in the stories a whole lot, but I enjoyed how the siblings were put into situations where they didn't know everything and grew from the experience. The situations themselves might not be as complex or nuanced as the other Black Panther comics I've read, but I think they work more than well enough for kid-friendly stories. While I don't think readers my age would be blown away by what this comic has to offer, I do highly recommend sharing this comic to young readers who like the characters from the movies. Both the lessons themselves and the fact that two heroes were depicted as people who still have room to grow seem like the kind of thing kids should be reading about, though I don't know if they'd be upset about the lack of superhero fisticuffs. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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