Ultimate Black Panther vol. 2: Gods & Kings

The African continent is wracked by war!  On one side are Khonshu and Ra, who make up the force known as Moon Knight which sits at the Maker’s table.  On the other is the continent’s secret power, Wakanda, and its young king T’Challa who is determined to put his opponents in the ground.  Standing in his way is the mysterious element at Moon Knight’s command that acts as some kind of vibrant counterpart to vibranium, which is the other thing that’s dragging him down.  While Wakanda was built on this miracle metal, they’ve never fully unlocked its secrets and it seems that T’Challa is going to pay the price for that.  That is, unless his friends Killmonger and Storm can rustle up some, shall we say, Supreme help in this matter.

Vol. 1 of “Ultimate Black Panther” was a perfectly cromulent Ultimate Universe title.  It told its story well enough and with quality art, but it did so without any real surprises for anyone familiar with the title character’s history in the comics or the movies.  Vol. 2 doesn’t exactly fix that, but it is a step in the right direction.  Writer Bryan Hill introduces an interesting subplot about vibranium that I haven’t seen done before, which adds something to the “Black Panther” story being told here.  We also get the addition of a new Ultimate character that also looks to add some style and surprise to this series as well.

Which is good because I’m still not that invested in the Black Panther vs. Moon Knight antics on display here.  T’Challa is satisfyingly conflicted, but he’s up against some bad guys who like to preach and pontificate, but display precious little style while doing so.  Additionally, the good stuff here comes as something of a slow burn, which means that the opening of vol. 2 is a bit of a slog, but gives every indication things will catch fire next time.  Here’s hoping it does, and that it gives the already good team of Stefano Caselli and Carlos Nieto stuff that’s truly worthy of their talents to draw.