Superheroes Reconsidered

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For this week, I read Black Panther (2016) written by Ta-Nehisi Coates drawn by Brian Stelfreeze. The protagonist of the story is T'Challa who holds the title of Black Panther. T'Challa is the leader of an advanced African civilization called Wakanda. He consumes a mystical heart shaped herb that gives him the power to see his ancestor, in addition to increased speed, dexterity, stamina, and strength. The Black Panther is a cultural hero originally created by Stan-Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. What sets Black Panther apart from other superheroes is his position as the King of a Clan, which makes much of the story driven by political narratives. He is both a superhero and a politician. One observation I had was that the comic focuses on the world building instead of being character driven by T'Challa. I find that this creates an immersive world, however it does leave me feeling a bit detached because there is no single character to follow. The art is realistic and the characters are bold, but what creates the fantastical immersion are definitely the colors. The colors are vibrant, especially switching from Wakanda to the outside world you go from a primal, rich color palette, to more dulled down tones. I have watched the Black Panther movie prior to this, and I think the costume and lighting department did a great job of translating that same mythical fantasy tribe feeling to the screen. The comic book, dives a lot deeper into the background of the world, and I can see even in the early chapters that the story is setting up for major plot points later on. There are multiple layers of narratives that tell stories within themselves. I feel like the authors are trying to cover a lot of different topics that are current, whether it be in politics, sexual identity, cultural identity etc. Black Panther is certainly trying to take the superhero narrative in a different direction than before by showing off the versatility of the format. 

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