I catch a lot of hell for liking Marvel’s black and white Essentials collection.
And, hey, I get it.
Really I do.
Without a doubt, the Essentials present a somewhat stripped down, augmented presentation of the original comics. And because of it, they ofttimes lack some of that amazing energy and vigor that made them Marvel Comics in the first place. There’s no denying any of that. In fact — and pun fully intended — that much is as clear as black and white.
What I don’t agree with or understand is the insistence by some that Essentials are inherently inferior and don’t offer anything. I’ve seen the Essentials compared to watching HBO on a black & white TV, and I couldn’t disagree more. The sentiment implies there’s something broken about the Essentials reading experience, but I see it as quite the opposite. Marvel Essentials, more times than not, create a altogether different reading experience, and provide a unique insight into the creation and production of some of the House of Ideas’ most iconic stories. Essentials are just about as close to the original line art as you’re ever going to get.
And the coloring that so many naysayers lament for? Well, that’s just about as broken as can be. Considering the Essentials pull from mostly the 60s, 70s, and 80s, so many of the source comics’ color is faded and tarnished or non-existent that there’s almost no way to create reprints from the originals. Getting the majority of these reprints would require major color touch-ups or — heaven forbid — recoloring. From a purist’s standpoint, that strikes me as an entirely different concern.
While it’s true that some touch-up work is done to the Essentials, at the end of the process you’re still getting something incredibly close to the artist and inker’s original work, without any kind of forced modernization or tweaking of the original colorist’s contributions. The way I see it, Essentials don’t actually remove the color from the comics, they just don’t add it.
That said, “Essential Black Panther” Vol. 1 is completely awesome!
Vol. 1 collects “Jungle Action” #6-22 and “Black Panther” #1-10, with the latter portion dedicated to Jack Kirby’s work on the Black Panther. And while I love the insanity of Kirby’s run, the real magic comes from writer Don McGregor and the various artists responsible for Marvel’s first true multi-chapter epic, ‘Panther’s Rage.’
‘Panthers Rage’ ran for more than a year in “Jungle Action” and told the story of the Black Panther’s post-Avengers return to his kingdom of Wakanda, and his struggle to reestablish his position among not only his detractors but his own people. McGregor’s story is sprawling and complex and heady in a way few comics had been up to that point, and can rest comfortably on any comics lovers shelf next to Jim Starlin’s Warlock work and Steve Gerber’s “Howard, the Duck.”
On top of this startlingly good story, is an art pedigree that’s pretty astonishing all by itself. With “Jungle Action” #6, legendary artist Rich Buckler opens things up with some of his most career defining work. Billy Graham does most of the heavy lifting from there, and if you’ve ever been a detractor of Graham, then you should give his Panther work a look. It’s open, and heavy all at the same time, and gives Wakanda an immensity that most artists still draw from today.
‘Panther’s Rage” was a game changer in terms of what comics could accomplish, and thankfully, now available in an inexpensive format that accentuates by the story and the amazingly talented men involved in its creation.
