Synopsis
A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates (BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME) takes the helm, confronting T’Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation tougher than ever before. When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt–but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl!
Source: Marvel Comics
Notes on This Title
Black Panther features a relationship between two female warriors, Ayo and Aneka. A spinoff prequel series, World of Wakanda, explores their relationship further.
This series depicts survivors of sexual assault and threat of sexual assault but not the act itself.
Awards
28th GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Comic Book
2017 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Graphic Story
Reviews
Starred Review: “King T’Challa faces unrest throughout his high-tech realm of Wakanda. Led partly by two renegade soldiers of the king’s elite female bodyguards, the people seek no longer to be governed by ‘one man’ but by elected representatives. Three-dimensional characters plus universal political and philosophical questions from National Book Award winner Coates (Between the World and Me) drive the plot in compelling directions. Stelfreeze’s beautiful art blends African elements with futuristic designs. Teens and adults.” (Source: Library Journal, vol 141, issue 19, p70)
“Coates could be the most socially relevant and timely comic book writing recruit ever, and he brings a great deal to this tale of the African monarch-superhero’s return to his tumultuous country to face intrigue, civil unrest, insurrection, and the heavy burden of the crown. Coates has created a seething sense of the fictional Wakanda’s sociopolitics, traditions, and history and offers a cast of dignified, complex African characters, including Black Panther’s sagacious stepmother and a pair of renegade female supersoldiers (who also happen to be lovers). Stelfreeze’s sleek, expressive lines and Laura Martin’s superb palette grandly portray the intensity of emotions and create a believable world off Marvel’s beaten path. What’s missing, unfortunately, is the dynamism so intrinsic to superheroes, lost in favor of dense dialogue and political philosophy.” (Source: Booklist, vol 113, number 6, p35)
“A Nation Under Our Feet is strong. It’s scary and it’s inspiring. It dives head first into a conflict without any preparation or introductions, much like any great work of fiction should – and much like any devastating event would. It comes when you are unprepared, and it comes out of nowhere. It comes when you think you are safe. It’s a book about calamity and oncoming war, about boiling revolutions, and a quest for peace. It’s a book about a nation and about a culture we are unfamiliar with, one that Coates spends a great deal of time detailing and adding new layers to. Under his pen, Wakanda has never felt so real a place, its world and its history fully realized, its customs and its people born from a world that feels palpable.” (Source: CBR)
Interviews
The Atlantic: “The Return of the Black Panther”
Marvel: “Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet” (video)