Ultimate Black Panther #1 Review

The brand new Ultimate Universe is upon us, and with it comes Ultimate Black Panther, the first of its kind, and I truly couldn’t have been more excited for this book. This new universe continues to prove that it is a fertile ground for rich reinvention of characters without them feeling too unfamiliar. Ultimate Black Panther #1 is no exception to this: T’Challa is already King of Wakanda and Black Panther, the Dora Milaje are present, Okoye was a former general, Shuri is an engineer, and Wakanda is still very much the technologically advanced country that it is known to be. You’re dropped into the middle of things, but you don’t feel lost. 

Bryan Edward Hill, Stefano Caselli, and David Curiel reinvent Black Panther for this universe by using an amalgamation of different takes of the character and world of Wakanda. There’s elements from Christopher Priest’s celebrated run, Reginald Hudlin’s run, Wakanda visually looks very similar to how it looks in Ta-Nahisi Coates’s series, but still very unique in its own right, and you even have some inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Panther. All of these interpretations of Black Panther and the World of Wakanda come together to bring you a book that feels familiar, but is so unequivocally brand new to the character. As T’Challa says, “Traditions must change.”

The premise of this issue is as follows: The Maker’s council of super villains are still enforcing their power over the world. In relation to Wakanda, Ra and Khonshu rule the entirety of Africa, and the only way for them to be stopped is if the Black Panther steps in. 

Up to this point, T’Challa has had spies all over Africa monitoring Ra and Khonshu’s actions. Ultimate T’Challa is characterized very well here. He’s methodical and calculated, he understands that as much as he’d like to stop the killing being done by Ra and Khonshu’s forces, he knows Wakanda has the upper hand since they’re still unknown to the world, and starting a war and outing themselves wouldn’t be the best course of action, but ultimately his hand is forced and he must go into battle. I won’t spoil what that is, but you can probably guess because this is one of the elements that draws similarity to the MCU’s Black Panther.

We also get a new addition with T’Challa seeking aid with the Vodu-Khan. Whereas in previous incarnations T’Challa had been influenced and inspired more by African gods and his predecessors, here his dreams play a much bigger role. It’s fascinating, it’s a nice little nod to Dune and helps keep this Wakanda feeling fresh, and even a little more fantastical than previous ones had felt.

This universe’s Killmonger and Storm make their entrance, and not only was it beautiful, but it also signifies how different this series will be. They’re a freedom fighter couple looking to liberate the continent of Africa, whether Wakanda wants to help or not, and they’re quite the formidable duo. It’s very clear that Killmonger will be a different take from how the character was in the main marvel universe, he doesn’t seem as radical. Storm’s place also harkens back to her younger days in the main Marvel universe being viewed as a goddess helping the people of Kenya. Bringing these two characters together under the banner of liberation is honestly the most unique thing you can do with them while, again, still making them feel familiar.

On another note of familiarity, you have T’Challa and Okoye who are King and Queen, and it’s very reminiscent to how the Dora Milaje used to be wives in training for T’Challa, except they were very clearly much younger in that interpretation. Here it’s a more evolved take on that, Okoye is very much her own person, and they are married by ceremony, not romance, as they even sleep in separate beds. T’Challa really upholds a noble image here, he believes he and Okoye are equals and treats her as such even if she knows the country doesn’t view it that way.

Then you have the art. Stefano Caselli and David Curriel are such a great pairing. The main cast look wonderful, I love the designs of the attire they’re wearing and it again is doing this thing where it feels very familiar, but they’re doing something different that sets this series apart from what you know. The Black Panther costume overall is very cool. I’m not a huge fan of the open-mouth piece but it bothers me less everyday and it doesn’t look bad at all in this issue. Killmonger’s design is so unique and looks great under Caselli’s pencils and though we don’t directly see Storm yet, we have seen her designs so I can’t wait for that debut in this book. Caselli is a fantastic artist, and David Curriel’s colors continue to be some of the best at Marvel and they come together to make one of the best looking Black Panther books in a long time.

This issue is wonderful and so quintessentially Black Panther, I honestly think that’s what the character needs right now. I’ve been loving Eve L. Ewing’s run on the title, and I loved Ta-Nehisi Coates’s run and Priest’s run, but every Black Panther series feels like they do a lot to the character and world in order to etch their own place within it, and that’s not necessarily a problem, I think it’s great to make your mark on a series, especially for a character as monumental as Black Panther, but it doesn’t allow for a prototypical Black Panther series, and since it’s in an alternate universe, it has the potential to be that kind of series that Brian Michael Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man was for the character, a true reinvention for the modern age. Outside of Christopher Priest’s run, we don’t really have that and even his doesn’t really count since it was also the first major run for the character. 

I don’t believe Ultimate Black Panther will be bland or predictable by any means though. The inclusion of Ra, Khonshu, Killmonger, Storm, and even the Vodu-Khan all present unique elements that the world of Black Panther simply just hadn’t been able to toy with because the main Marvel universe doesn’t allow for it, but now they’re on the table and I am so interested to see how these things play out. It feels very similar to the approach that Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1 took in terms of reinvention, and it just echoes why that issue works so well while also very much doing it’s own thing. These are masterclass examples of re-inventionism that truly celebrate the characters.