Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates Omnibus

Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates #1-9

by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Writer), Brian Stelfreeze (Illustrator)

Ta-Nehisi Coates' complete, acclaimed story of a king who sought to be a hero…a hero who was reduced to a slave…a slave who became a legend! The award-winning author confronts the Black Panther with dramatic upheaval in his homeland - first with a violent uprising, then the return of ancient gods! Meanwhile, T'Challa's sister, Shuri, makes a transformative journey through Wakanda's past, and Storm returns to the Panther's life! But in the far reaches of space, a new cosmic power emerges: the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda! How did this happen? What does its ruthless Emperor N'Jadaka have planned? And what difference can one nameless-yet-familiar warrior, with no memory of his past, make to the rebellion? The Black Panther - and Wakanda - will never be the same! Collecting BLACK PANTHER (2016) #1-18 and #166-172 and BLACK PANTHER (2018) #1-22 and #23-25 (A STORIES).

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga

1224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2022

About the author

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Between the World and Me, a finalist for the National Book Award. A MacArthur "Genius Grant" fellow, Coates has received the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, and the George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story "The Case for Reparations." He lives in New York with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Dan Solomon]

This is a lot of fun! It’s fascinating to watch Coates learn how to write for the medium—his early issues are a slog of too many words, too many characters, too much continuity—but things start to smooth out after the first hundred pages or so, and then he just keeps getting better. He wears his influences on his sleeve (especially early Claremont and Alan Moore), and seems to absolutely delight in the breadth of the universe he’s playing in—often when you have a superstar writer from outside comics come in, they’re interested in one character or idea and write it like a movie. Coates dives see into marvel lore, and just throws everything he can in there—Morlun, the Adversary, Klyntars, etc. i imagine if he’d done another year or two, he would have gotten to Fin Fang Foom and Sleepwalker. It’s not sprawling, though, it’s just deeply invested in being Marvel Comics in a way that is refreshing and joyful to read. By the second half, he raises his ambition even higher, with a single 25-issue story the likes of which I can’t remember seeing in a superhero book in a few decades, just thrilling stuff. There are parts that are hard to follow, but you have to respect the ambition, and also the number of times he delivers something special and insightful- questions of imperialism and monarchy and democracy run through the entire volume, and what a treat it is to have Ta-Nehisi Coates, of all people, explore those things through superhero comics.

[Mike Reiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s no doubt that the initial 11 issue run - as ambitious and at times impenetrable as you can imagine - is rightfully seen as a difficult read, though it’s an important one for Coates and Marvel. But the next three arcs, including a 25 issue galactic space epic - reconfigure the pace and dynamic of the comic while maintaining the rich ideas and themes Coates is known for. Overall this is a tremendous volume, well worth the effort it demands at times.

[goop · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most underrated big-two runs in recent memory. Coates goes over some BIG ideas in this run, such as the effects of colonization slavery on racial and community memories, what that loss of cultural historical identity does to societies, monarchies and their effects on leaders, and more.

People often malign the first couple issues of this run, and there are some valid points. It’s fairly clear that Coates had never written comics for the first 5-7 issues. He clearly was not used to having a visual representation of what’s happening, so he will often go over what Stelfreeze draws with narration which can be repetitive. Also, certain events which have BIG consequences are not given enough explanation so it kind of is surprising once they come up again as being catalysts.

But I think this gets ironed out fairly quickly and the run gets going and doesn’t let up. The amount of world and lore building for Wakanda and Wakandan history here is insane. Coates has such a good voice and understanding of TChalla.

And once this gets to the Galactic Empire of Wakanda part of the narrative is when it becomes an all timer to me. So many great moments, and tons of fun sci fi. And Acunas art is insane.

I will say, works better on reread. Can be kind of confusing your first time around because of the issues I discussed, and only on reread can you fully get the scope of what Coates was doing. Highly recommend

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wakanda Forever.

My first ever Black Panther omnibus, writen by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, Daniel Acuña and Chris Sprouse.

I love the character Black Panther, from the movies, and runs like Avengers from Hickman where t'challa has a big role . But i had never read a single run, untill now. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a stunning writer and he excels at making a vibrant and colorfull run full of culture. Just like that first movie, its just so different then your standard marvel comics.. The story is with lots of action, but also very different then i am used to, it involves heavy politics, and its first part is not the most easy. I do think it really excels when Coates goes all out with the second part of this book. The first part is drawn by Stelfreeze who is a great artist, and the second part mostly by Acuña, who blows it out of the water with The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, a wild story set in space with t'challa not knowing his past and being a slave. This is a very cool run !

3.5 stars

[Dalton Ham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I think it’s good! The first story arc, “A Nation Under Our Feet”, was a little rough and sometimes it lost my interest. You could tell that Coates was learning on the job how you’re supposed to write superhero comics. Not to say the first 18 or so issues were bad but there several issues where 85% of it is just characters standing around talking about politics and philosophy and I understand what Coates was going for but it just didn’t work for me personally. I’ll say though I do love the way that Storm is written and presented in this series.

The second half of the run is much more interesting and entertaining when we get to the “Inter-Galactic Empire of Wakanda” storyline which has a lot of fun action and cool sci-fi concepts and works really nicely within that genre. I Actually wouldn’t mind if Marvel Studios used that as the plot of Black Panther III

Overall I’d say it is praise worthy and I don’t regret buying this omnibus

[Megan Danvers · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was entertaining but it failed to give the villains much in way of motivations. Maybe they had appeared in previous comics where their motives were explained but in this villains like Zenzi were just there and it never really clicked why they were acting as terrorists. Then about halfway through the story takes a turn from the grounded terrorist plot into one about the Originators, the native inhabitants of Wakanda who were forced out ages ago and have returned just as the Orisha abandoned Wakanda only for that plot point to be abandoned in favor of the Intergalactic Wakandan Empire. The story was entertaining but felt all over the place like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a political, a fantasy, or a sci-fi epic.

[Martin Alfaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a run man. Coates keeps things moving and dynamic while still very much making his point. The art is truly incredible and matches the tone and setting perfectly. Every time it feels like Coates loses focus, he just locks in and beats you over the head with what he’s saying. This might be my favorite version of T’Challa, a flawed man who wants nothing to do with the crown but still tries his best to rule and be just. I hope Coates keeps writing comics because holy shit this guy can cook.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone interested in comics should pick this up. Coates contends thoughtfully with a wide range of themes and his command of Black Panther is among the greats.

However: if we take as a central premise that T’Challa/Black Panther is a story about duty, it is a story I find generally to be a snooze fest.

Thanks for the memories (Acuña’s work in the ‘Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda’ is breath-taking), but I will be making my way back to my beloved X-Men.

[Sinamile · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW/TW: death, murder, war, treason, violence, gun/gun violence, knife/knife violence, spears, weapons

The art is gorgeous, the story had me going "ooh, the drama" every few pages. I liked it for what it was and will likely read more even though I don't really know what's going on, which is probably why the rating is what it is.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a book that improves as it goes, with the first half being cluttered with so many characters and plot lines that jump back and forth unclearly, but the second half being a much tighter effort. Great art throughout and an amazing neverending cover gallery in the back.

[Gabriel R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first half chock full of great ideas that severely lack in execution, but a second half that is so unexpectedly incredible. The most satisfying character arc here is Coates slowly finding his voice as a comic creator.

[Ada]

***dinsdag 22 november 2022***
If I buy this omnibus I want the Direct Market Michael Cho Variant Cover. Which is also way more expensive...

[Tyler Haldeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking introduction to the BP mythos that invites you to dive deeper into the character’s history

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half was a slog. The intergalactic nation was some fun but still felt like an average read. Art picks up with Walker too.

[Samuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Marvel’s crown jewels of the 2000’s

[Amethyst · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was bored of it. I pushed through but I didn't care for the story. it felt like nothing ever truly happened in the story at all.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the Ta-Nehisi Coates run of Black Panther was pretty good. Wakanda is under threat, almost civil war. I can get behind that. But then it's Wakanda in outer space and I was over it.

[Jaz Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep and fun journey through various iterations of T’Challa and Wakanda. A wonderful and enjoyable ride.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gifted for classroom library and was curious. I don’t know anything about comic books. Making sense of it got easier the longer I read - one of the secrets of many genres, I think, is that if you just keep reading you figure out *how* to read it. That being said, I don’t think comic books will ever be my go to.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coates at the beginning is extremely heavy handed on the writing of dialogue, almost cumbersome but after the first arc or two it settles into a fun little story, mixing wider geopolitics, African culture, and superheroics. I greatly enjoyed the civil war aspect of the story in the early going. Having read this before the latest film was also fun as I caught some of the light touch influences to the latest film. The second half of the massive arc takes us to an almost alternate universe in space, a space epic almost Gladiator/Star Wars-esque. Initially I thought this clash with the original themes but as it went on and it all connected I enjoyed how it all came together. It's still superhero comics and massively quick paced and obviously ending, yet an enjoyable run overall. Probably the best of the minimal Black Panther comics runs I've read.

[Davide Pappalardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate it, but this run has its problems for sure. There are some sparks of brilliance, but the author forgets too easily he is writing a comic and not lecturing people. He starts here the annoying trend of undermining T'challa's role and integrity, too, which will become a progressively bigger problem, and outright ruin, for the franchise under future writers. The space-opera arc is quite bizarre and confusing, probably too ambitious for its own good, but entertaining, and the actual action delivers, when present.