Rise of the Black Panther (2018) #1 Review

With the release of the Black Panther movie in cinemas in February, Marvel have released a new six part series, Rise of the Black Panther.  Which acts as a perfect introduction to the comic book version, though new fans who maybe are only aware of him by what we learned in “Captain America: Civil War”, might be confused by some of the events, such as the death of his father and how Klaw lost his arm.  So it’s more of a modern retelling of the origin story, which as most comic book fans are aware, the basics stay the same but are told slightly differently.

Movies rarely follow Comic books events exactly, so this issue instantly seems a little odd as it is being promoted as a introduction, but I think it does a very good job in setting up who the current Black Panther and his father are.  And the majority of the story is focused on his father, King T’Chaka.  We also learn more about the Black Panther’s mother N’Yami, which adds more depth to the story plus the introduction of his future step-mum.

There are many little nods to the past, with scenes involving Captain America during World War 2, where we see him gain his iconic shield and also seeing Howard Stark helping out is always welcome.  Which helps set up the deep history of the character within the Marvel universe, giving new readers a chance to learn more about the “Black Panther” and the secret land of Wakanda.

The artwork is impressive, with lots of detail and a great use of colours to make it jump off the screen/page, though I felt the font that was used, seemed a little harder to read.  There is also plenty of action throughout the book plus little nods to other aspects of Wakanda that regular fans will pick up on.

OVERALL: For comic book fans who want to get a history lesson into the Black Panther, this is a good starting point and a great way of getting up to speed before the movie hits the screen.

REVIEW SCORE: 8 out of 10

Here is a look at this issue: