Black Panther #167

Ta-Nehisi Coates' take on Wakanda in Black Panther #167 will undoubtedly prove divisive; his pursuit of political realism muddies the beautiful image that longtime fans have come to love. In doing so, Coates, along with artists Leonard Kirk and Laura Martin, have not only created perhaps the best executed issue in the series, but have now positioned the titular hero such that he must make a choice about the fate of his kingdom and people. Will he act as a hero or as a king? Read Full Review

Coates has written an engaging and entertaining story in both Klaw's journey as well as T'Challa's search for the truth. Worth reading. Read Full Review

Bottom Line: Coates has big plans for Black Panther and those plans are starting to come into focus thanks to a smart script and top notch artwork. This is the kind of afrofuturist mythos the character needs this close to his first film: All New All Different Wakanda 101. Read Full Review

Leonard Kirk, Laura Martin, and Matt Milla hammer home the sentiment that Wakanda is a grand nation like no other. The culture, drama, politics, and unique appeal are easier to digest and carry a major weight of importance thanks to art as competent as the script. Read Full Review

All of that English major pontificating aside, Black Panther #167 is a good and thoughtful read. The Thunderball subplot is good, and TChalla and Shuri are great leads under Coates. The art of Kirk, Martin, and Milla is solid. Its message seems confused and muddled, and it doesnt advance the plot all that much. However, its still an engaging read, and it is thought-provoking at the very least. I still recommend it, and you should hop on the Black Panther train. Read Full Review

The underlying plot is compelling. Its his exposition and dialogue thats hurting his well-intentioned epic. Thats what makes this issue just your average, dull and run-of-the-mill comic book. Its saved, though, by the sharp, polished artwork from Kirk, Deering, Martin, and Milla. Read Full Review

RaisingBlack

Dec 21, 2017

Coates is really putting in some solid work on Black Panther. This issue was a joy to read. Coates has really gone to school on Black Panther and the level of lore that he is teasing out from the history of Wakanda is the best I have read in years. Coates does an excellent job of balancing Black Panther the ruler, hero, and person. Coates continues to make Wakanda a big star of his book and making Africa as a place more viable for future work. Marvel's hero universe can be so New York focused that another great city in Wakanda could support more heroes. The Art continues to shine in this book. Wakanda the technical marvel and Wakanda the wild African wasteland both get their moment in this book. Klaw was a big part of the last issue and this issue really brings the spotlight back to Black Panther and gives a nod to readers who have been following Coates on this book. We also get a tease of Wakanda's future in space that was used in the Marvel legacy one-shot. The future looks bright and possibility abounds. Perhaps a new Black Panther 2099 book is in order. Pick this and the last issue up if you want to jump in, but Coates is best enjoyed from start to finish so picking up all previous issues or checking this out in Marvel unlimited is very worth it. more

Gizmo

Apr 15, 2018

Whoa, what a gut punch to Wakanda's proud history! Everyone's got skeletons in their closet, well done Mr. Coates.

CrazyforRAMU

Jun 09, 2018

T'Challa and Shuri fire the Chekov's Gun #16 put on the mantel in the shape of Dr. Eliot "Thunderball" Franklin. He's put to work puzzling out the science-y side of Klaw's threat while T'Challa takes a heavy dose of mythology in the Djalia. This issue delivers lots of impressive content and balances smoothly between plot progression and world-building. Overall it's highly satisfying (the visuals in particular are superb), but there's a bit of pretension to some of the language.

Lucas

Dec 29, 2023

Great issue. Beautiful colors.