Black Panther #10 - 13 - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Black Panther #10 - 13
By Kevin Scott
February 26, 2006 - 17:53

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Reginald Hudlin
Penciller(s): Scot Eaton
Inker(s): Klaus Janson
Cover Artist(s): Gary Frank, Mike Deodato Jr, Jae Lee

What type of man does a hard case like Luke Cage look up to? The kind of man who’s got the guts to speak the truth and the muscle to back it up. The kind of man who’s got all the gadgets to get the job done, a pair of sexy female bodyguards watching his back, and an entire kingdom at his disposal. That man is the Black Panther – and when King T’Challa asks for Cage’s expertise in solving a little problem, it’s got the makings of a serious team-up, with cameos galore from across the Marvel Universe.

Wild Kingdom was OK, but not as tight as previous Panther instalments. Never fear though true believers, cause “Sweet Christmas”, this was pure fire!!! When you know a story is going to involve sooooooooo many characters, there’s always the fear that it could feel forced. But the way the story enfolds is great and everything seems to fit perfectly. Cats have been clowning on Reggie & crew since the giddy-up. But this story really showed a perfect melding of what has been and what is. It really reminded me of issue #16 (Local Hero) & 17 (Uptown) of Priest’s run, when a lot of those characters showed up to help Panther defeat Morgan, Cottonmouth, Stiletto and Cockroach. I found myself smiling through the whole of this story, there were so many ‘just right’ moments and real on-point humour. This arc also did a real good job of leading into the ‘up-coming’ events that will not only shake Panther’s series, but X-Men and the Marvel Universe. The way the first issue of this arc (#10) didn’t feel contrived or heavy handed, it was like have Luke in the room telling you the story. So I have to say, I wouldn’t want to see Reggie pigeon holed (he’s knocked Spidey out the box, so don’t think it could happen), but the way he handled Luke Cage (and Blade & Brother Voodoo for that matter) really makes me think he’d kill on a Cage solo book.

He’s done the business on books such as, Sigil, Thor and Captain America. Well now its time for Scot Eaton to shine on Black Panther and bwoy does he shine! We start out with some real nice black & white pages (I’d buy a book like this, jus wanted to put that out there) depicting Cage’s past/origin. And when Dean White joins the party with his colour palette (checkout the opening scene in #12), things only get better. There’s a little bit of action in #10, but it goes completely nuts in #11 and Eaton does a fantastic job capturing the whole mêlée. Another nice thing to see was the use of Falcon’s holographic wings, which Panther designed for him during Captain America and Falcon. It’s not just the action though, Eaton really amplifies those moments Hudlin has peppered this arc with. Things like when Cage asks T’Challa to think bout turning down a date. Or when Panther is telling Cage about Shang Chi. We got some real nice covers throughout too. Gary Frank hit us up first, then we had two from Mike Deodato Jr. I was surprised that Blade looked different from his film persona on #12 (the Blade within the story though, he’s the one you al know). And then Jae Lee closes the show, with, I think my favourite of the four.

Report Card - B+

Koncise an out :)