Written by David Liss
Illustrated by Francesco FrancavillaMarvel is pleased to announce that best-selling author David Liss and the acclaimed artist Francesco Francavilla will be launching the all-new Black Panther: The Man Without Fear this December! The smoke has cleared from the ruins of Shadowland and a new protector of Hell’s Kitchen is on the prowl. His name is T’Challa, the Blank Panther! In a city without Daredevil and a dangerous knew foe called Vlad the Impaler consolidating power in the underworld, the Black Panther must learn to become a new type of hero. Without his riches, his technology, and his kingdom can T’Challa truly be the man without fear? Find out in Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513!
I had no intentions of purchasing this book, but something about it made it completely irresistible to me. I’d like to say it’s because I’m generally a big fan of Francavilla, but there was something else that pulled me in. Either way, this was my big impulse purchase of the week. Was it worth the money?
Find out after the jump.
When I heard that T’Challa, aka Black Panther, was going to be taking over as Hell’s Kitchen’s protector, I met that announcement with a pronounced “huh?!” Why would that happen? How does that make sense? What’s going on? I need an adult!
In short, I was very, very confused.
Even with the preview in recent Marvel books, I didn’t really start getting interested until I was at the racks at my local comic book store. I picked it up (despite the Simone Bianchi cover) because when I glanced at it, I realized I was curious about what was going on with Black Panther all of these years (I was an avid T’Challa fan during Christopher Priest’s run), I wanted to know how Daredevil and Black Panther would weave together, and I simply adore Francesco Francavilla’s art.
The last point did not disappoint, as Francavilla’s noir-styled art is perfect for a street level book of this sort. The book is dark, with even the light in the book taking a darker hue than we’d typically expect, but it works incredibly well. Not only that, but Francavilla’s page design is provocative, especially in a montage half way through the book as T’Challa patrols the streets trying to find new villain Vlad Dinu. The way he weaves the images together makes the pages more exciting and energetic, and it’s a particularly great segment if only for that reason.
The story in itself works, as David Liss, the series writer, positions T’Challa as a man looking to find himself after the events of Doomwar (which I did not read). While I don’t exactly understand the answer to the question of “why would T’Challa go to Hell’s Kitchen to find himself?” I can say that the story works if you choose to ignore that. Liss handles T’Challa in a way that highlights the key aspects of the character, such as the quiet honor and the fierce intelligence. As a narrator, T’Challa roams amidst his new people, taking in his surroundings and finding hope all around him. One way or another, Liss gets the character, and that’s a good start.
The new villain he introduces is a great idea, as we know The Hood is off collecting Infinity Gems and The Kingpin is bending The Hand to his will, so there’s a gaping hole within the criminal community of New York City. Vlad, his new villain, is scary in his normalcy. The way Liss develops him, as a family man first and then as super powered ruler of the new Hell’s Kitchen, makes him first relatable and then terrifying. He feels like a perfect match for T’Challa, as his fierce intelligence and fish out of water nature pairs him very well as the opposite side of T’Challa’s coin.
That he also openly references not wanting to create an arch nemesis just makes him that much more cunning in my eyes, and he’s an exciting creation I look forward to reading more of.
I think one of the most troubling things about this book is the broken English nearly every character speaks in. While many of them are speaking that way because this book is filled with characters who recently came to America for one reason or another, it feels like the choice to do that in nearly every case (even Vlad’s heavies speak with Romanian accents) makes the dialog feel stunted and off rhythm. While it’s not a back breaker, it does throw me off a good bit.
With that said, this is a very solid launch to this new direction. Before today, I had no interest in reading this book, but now I feel solidly invested and like I’m excited to see where the book goes from here. Here’s hoping it does what “Incredible Hercules” once did on “Incredible Hulk,” and perform a shocking change of core concept without any drop in quality. Through one issue, I can say that this book looks like it could do that.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
