Black Panther #172

Meanwhile, Leonard Kirk has taken what has been a consistently lovely book and raised it to the next level. He's always been a strong artist when standing in for the likes of Brian Stelfreeze, but he has definitely left his own mark on this series with maybe one of the three best-looking books during the Coates era thus far. This issue has a fantastically scripted splash page, that (without spoilers) is guaranteed to be the profile pic for several long-time fans until we get a poster for Black Panther 2. Read Full Review

The actual end was more of a fulfilling ending than last issue could have been. The battle was what I had wished Klaw battle was going to be. Tales of suspense and prime illustration of the manipulative genius that is T'Challa. Nice conclusion, but the kind you don't want to end. Read Full Review

Black Panther #172 is solid and enjoyable finale to this run/arc of the series. Ta-Nehisi Coates brings ‘Avengers of the New World' home in an absorbing fashion, and Kirk, Deering, and Martin make the book look damn good. This one gets a recommendation. Check it out. Read Full Review

Coates has defiantly improved on his storytelling. I read the first three issues of his run on this title and it was not poorly written by any standards but the message that Coates was trying to convey was just slightly muddled and meandering. Having read this last arc I look forward to going back and giving the rest of this story a closer look.  I really have enjoyed Leonard Kirk's art it reminds me of 90's Green Arrow Art with its heavy shadowing and inking but with a much crisper coloring job over the top of it. I am really hyped to read Black Panther in Space next. Read Full Review

All of the essential elements of a superhero comic are in place and executed well enough, but this has proven to be a superhero comic capable of far more than monthly updates. Read Full Review

freemanlouis7

May 03, 2018

Keeping up the action, reveals and good pacing of the previous issue my hopes are renewed for this series.

RaisingBlack

Apr 20, 2018

Coates writes a really solid end to this arc before the Black Panther Fresh Start. Expect high action and a great spotlight on what has becomes the heroes of Wakanda-especially if you are a Storm fan. I enjoyed the end of this story and this entire arc, but I am unsure if should have been titled Klaw stands supreme considering that Klaw was not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. It almost feels like this story was meant to be longer and Coates and Kirk had to wrap things up in order to get ready for Fresh Start. That being said I like the (re)introduction of The Adversary as a BP villain and the larger mystery of where is Bast and the Gods of Wakanda is something I hope Coates gets to explore in the future. I like that Coates is coming into his own and starting to really get comic books. I also love his appreciation for the history of BP and how he is pulling those character into the now. As we begin the space epic coming to Black Panther I am interested to see how Coates writes a more solo focused BP story. He has built up many heroes in his current run and I am still holding out hope for a Wakanda ongoing series that can feature these characters as a team (fingers crossed). I am also interested in what Coates will do with Captain America and how he will manage the hate that is likely going to come his way no matter what he writes. My hope is that he can keep things light at moments and not jump right into the heavy questions. We shall see. Pick up Coates entire run on BP and get ready for Fresh Start more

Gizmo

May 03, 2018

Quite the high point to end this "season" on and a smart tact for Black Panther and Storm that doens't write any future authors into any corners. I can't say I'm impressed that the series will restart the numbering at #1 again, what the hell was the point of jumping the numbering up into the hundreds then? Make up your mind Marvel. I'm guessing the unexpected success of the Black Panther film had something to do with it.

CrazyforRAMU

Nov 10, 2018

The mystical aspects of Wakanda's troubles get solved in a mighty spotlight issue for Storm. It's a clean, forceful script that sets up parallel climaxes in both combat and character relations. The visuals live up to the potential of the story - just. Without being able to spot any giant weakness, I still get the sense that the je ne sais quoi that could take this from "good" to "great" is missing from the art rather than the writing.