Written by: Bryan Hill
Art by: Juan Ferreyra and VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 2, 2019

While I wasn’t totally onboard after the first issue, Bryan Hill and Juan Ferreyra made me a believer in this Killmonger mini after the last issue. To be honest, I really didn’t know much of the character outside the Black Panther movie, but the kick-ass action sequences and the cool characterizations got me excited for this issue. Ending with Bullseye didn’t hurt either! So, am I still in after this middle issue? Let’s find out…

We open with a rooftop fight between the Chess Club (yea, I’m sticking with that) and Bullseye and it’s bloody, brutal and pretty awesome. Hill makes sure to show that Erik and the rest would easily be dead if it wasn’t for King which sets up the rest of the issue and series.

The team is done and they split up…kind of. King takes off but Knight and Erik head to a safe house for some sexy time. I don’t know how I feel about this. It really made Erik look bad after the setup of the past two issues, but I’m guessing there is more at play here than we realize.

Besides Erik thinking with something other than his head, though, we get some pretty good sequences that set up what he plans to do about Black Panther and Wakanda…that is, after he escapes!

Escapes? Yep, Knight kind of takes a bad turn here and joins up with a pretty cool character (I almost forgot this mini takes place in the past) to turn on her former teammates. She does show a soft spot for Erik and he in turn, has big plans for her…maybe too big? Again, it feels like something else is going on here that is hinted at a couple of times.

This issue is the bridge between the first big act and the finale and so there is a lot of setup going on. I liked it enough, but it’s one of those issues that feels like you have to wait for the payoff to really appreciate. I love the art (which is never a problem for me on any book Juan is on) and will continue to read the series…I just need something big to happen next issue to get me as excited as I was at the end of the last one.

Final Thoughts:

I still give Bryan Hill and Juan Ferreyra full credit for getting me interested in Killmonger, but I wasn’t as fired up at the end of this issue as I was after #2. Hill slows things down a bit to set us up for the last two issues so I understand why, but I just hope he comes out of the gate hard next issue and gets me fired up again! Yea, I am selfish and it is all about me!

6.5/10