Marvels latest crossover may be the most interesting of all, however.
Excitement has been building for months.
Now the comics here, and its great.
Credit: Marvel
So lets walk through it.
From the beginning, he shattered stereotypes.
Wakanda is a wonder of both scientific advancement and mystical tradition, a combination embodied in the Panther himself.
Marvel
Thanks to its scientific advancement and fearsome protector, Wakanda was supposed to be invulnerable.
Recent Marvel crossovers likeAvengers vs. X-MenandSecret Warssaw the country attacked and devastated.
TChallas sister Shuri, who had temporarily taken over from him as ruler, was killed.
Here are other interesting takeaways.
After months of suffering cataclysmic outside attacks, Black Panthers greatest threat now comes from within Wakanda.
Aside from TChalla, this issue does not contain another prominent male figure.
Another compelling female character is Ramonda, TChallas widowed stepmother (and the mother of dearly departed Shuri).
Ramonda is just as weary of recent events as everyone else seems to be more death, TChalla?
she asks at one point.
More importantly, she steels herself into upholding a death sentence for Aneka, one of TChallas bodyguards.
This issue finds them finally breaking these boundaries, however.
Aneka receives the death sentence for killing a male chieftain who was raping his female villagers.
And so Ayo breaks her friend out, deciding not to beholden themselves to a single man any longer.
They become lovers and don awesome-looking Midnight Angel robot suits, leaving their old roles behind.
Its unclear at this point whether this feeling was genuine or created by the mysterious telepath.
His failure to protect his people from recent devastation is certainly causing everyone to rethink the Wakandan system.
Hopefully his citizens discontent wont be chalked up solely to telepathic control.
This story also touches on gender politics.
Itll be interesting to see how both these political themes develop through the rest of the story.
Coates connections
Up to this point, Coates various works have remained distinct.
His posts inThe Atlanticrange from quick hit blog posts to long-form investigate pieces rooted in history and reporting.
This comic is obviously different from those predecessors, in format and tone.
Itll be fun to keep an eye on this theme.
What does this mean for the movie?
Coates isnt the only creator working with Black Panther in the near future.
Artist Brian Stelfreezes futuristic vision of Wakanda, for instance, could survive the transition to screen remarkably well.
