King T’Challa’s father was assassinated in the name of the Moon Knight, and the Black Panther must find out who betrayed Wakanda. Find out more in Ultimate Black Panther #2 by Marvel Comics!

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #2

Writer: Bryan Hill
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 13th, 2024

Previously in Ultimate Black Panther: In the wake of the Ultimate Invasion, Khonshu and Ra have begun a campaign of violence across Africa, stirring dissent in Wakanda over whether they should fight back. Initially, T’Challa refused to start a war, but after T’Chaka was assassinated, he had to make another decision.

THE WORST METHODS

Ultimate Black Panther #2 shows T’Challa’s reaction to his father’s assassination. He has enlisted his military to imprison people and conduct interrogations that are causing the Wakandan people to lose trust in him. The Vodu-Khan are telling him that a woman of light will bring him an heir, which T’Challa assumes to be his wife. Wakanda’s armies fight the forces of the Moon Knight. T’Challa reveals to his inner circle that someone is betraying him and feeding Khonshu and Ra information. His forces also believe they know where the Moon Knight forces are based, and T’Challa decides to go in alone.

As he nears his location, his ship is shot down, and he is ambushed. As he is battered by Moon Knight forces, he is saved by a woman made of light, Storm.

NOT SURE WHAT TO THINK

The start of this story was engaging to me, and it felt like it had a lot of possibilities. But when I opened Ultimate Black Panther #2, much of the content felt very predictable. I knew the woman of light would be Storm after she was hinted at in the previous section. I had a hunch that T’Challa would lash out against his people to find out how the assassin got in. Thus, nothing really engaged me within these pages. I think they could have emphasized the villain’s perspective more to give me something to engage with. However, the art on the page is elegant, and I like the brushstroke tools used for the characters. And Storm will always look amazing in all of her iterations. Great work here.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT ENJOYING THE DIRECTION

Ultimate Black Panther #2 has many good things going for it, and there is something to say about having Spider-Man, Black Panther, Storm, and a Japanese X-Men team running around as your main heroes. But this didn’t hit the things I would want from my comic book. This writing and narrative arc didn’t do anything wrong, but it isn’t up my alley now. I’ll still follow the series closely, but I’m not sure I can recommend this one yet. I’ll give 3.5 out of 5 stars for Ultimate Black Panther #2.

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