Black Panther #13

Marvel Comics

Written by John Ridley

Art by German Peralta

Colors by Sebastian Cheng

Letters by Joe Sabino

The Rundown: T’Challa and his small band of allies run into powerful resistance on their mission to end a threat.

In order to end the threat of his rogue sleeper agent Jhai, T’Challa has no one else to turn to expect a small group of allies and former enemies that he takes into the field in order to coordinate their attacks on the data centers that have been taken over all over the world. As the groups make their way to the facilities, they discuss how they can trust Black Panther given his hand in the creation of this problem.

As the teams prepare for battle, they find their way blocked by unexpected resistance. Unexpected resistance in the form of the Avengers. Black Panther finds himself facing off against Steve Rogers who orders him to stand down and the resulting battle between the two heroes will reveal an unlikely ally with an agenda of his own.

The Story: I usually try to stay positive when I review comics. Every new comic is a new piece of creativity given to the world and opinions are subjective. With that in mind, I don’t like this storyline or this issue of it. It feels off on characterization, motivation and quality. You have a character who is a master tactician with resources that are at times unimaginable and yet is surprised by an attack from an Avengers team that he previously revealed he’s been studying for years (in the same arc mind you) to the point of knowing how they attack and how to stop them. The fight between T’Challa and Steve was laughably bad and even the surprise at the end can’t save a story that continues to limp towards the inevitable conclusion of sidelining T’Challa and elevating another character.

The Art: Peralta delivers great art in the issue. There are some visually engaging dramatic scenes in the issue, but even great art can’t save a bad story.