Black Panther Book 8: The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, Part 3

The space opera action continues in this volume and shifts to a new setting:  Earth. There’s still some business to take care of in Empire-space, however, as Emperor N’Jadaka makes his move to crush the Maroons once and for all.  Unfortunately he gets more than he bargained for, and his failure allows T’Challa to finally be reunited with his family, and lover, Storm. Much to its king’s surprise, Wakanda has thrived in his absence, suggesting that the gods have finally returned to the country.  The thing is that the Empire is still out there and as it recovers from the blow that was struck against it, it’ll be coming for the man who struck it. This would be a big problem for everyone, except that there’s an even bigger one in the offing as an old enemy of T’Challa’s prepares to return to the spotlight.

I’m still digging writer Ta-Nehisi Coates’ current storyline, even though this and the previous volume haven’t quite captured the spark of the one that kicked it off.  This one sees the writer move around a lot of pieces in the story in advance of the next arc, which will be the writer’s final one on the title.  It’s all done in a fairly dramatic fashion, with artist Daniel Acuna being up for delivering big splashy space combat action, or more sinister, personal struggles as the villain on the ground makes his move.  The action may move a bit too slow in parts, but that’s a minor issue because it feels like Coates has a plan and he’s working towards it. That makes this a solid volume overall and one that has the series in good shape as it moves towards the finale.