Black Panther #2 (2023) Review

Written by: Eve Ewing
Art by: Chris Allen, Craig Yeung
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover art by: Taurin Clarke
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: July 19, 2023

Black Panther #2 (2023) hunts for the mysterious Beisa in Birnin T’Chaka while one of the five most powerful family’s in the city unveils a special weapon to wrest control for themselves.

Is It Good?

Black Panther #2 (2023) has excellent art, interesting action, and plenty of Wakandan tech to distract your eyeballs, but the one thing it doesn’t have that hurts the most is an engaging, energetic story. Put another way, Black Panther #2 (2023) is just plain dull.

Eve Ewing’s script centers on T’Challa’s humbling mission to patrol the streets of Burnin T’Chaka to get back in touch with himself and the lower classes of one of Wakanda’s forgotten Industrial cities. In the last issue, T’Challa’s patrol crossed paths with a limber thief called Beisa, who styles her burglary outfit after a white oryx (it looks cooler than it sounds). Now, T’Challa draws closer to catching Beisa to find out what she’s secretly after. Meanwhile, one of the wealthy families of Birnin T’Chaka managed to capture and reprogram Deathlok to be used as an enforcer.

After reading that description, it should be obvious that this is a Black Panther comic in name only. Swap out the naming conventions and the Wakandan aesthetic, and it becomes clear Ever Ewing is writing a Batman comic in disguise. Why? Who knows. But if this comic is written like a Batman comic with Wakandan skin, it’s a pretty boring Batman comic.

The idea of getting deep into the roots of Wakanda’s highways, byways, and back alleys has a ton of appeal. Rather than getting to know Wakanda only through the eyes of the royal family, this series is an opportunity to give the fictitious country more depth and texture than a single viewpoint could provide. Unfortunately, Ewing defaults to the cities you already know by populating the lower levels of Wakanda with blasé shops, subways, inner city angst, mob families, and all the too-familiar trappings of a typical American urban center ala New York or Gotham. By showing more of Wakanda, Ewing somehow paints a picture that makes Wakanda less special.

In terms of the plot, it’s unclear and not moving in any particular direction. T’Challa crosses paths with a costumed burglar who may or may not be looking for something specific, and the Deathlok/Mob Family subplot is barely given more than a page or two to develop on the side. What little plot there is lacks focus and forward momentum. Consequently, there’s a lot of reading, lots of talking, lots of T’Challa’s brooding, and not much else to show for it.

Allen and Yeung’s art is fine for what it is. Plenty of thought went into capturing a street-level version of the Wakandan aesthetic, so that’s something, but in a story where not much is happening, the effort is wasted.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Black Panther #2 (2023) continues the deep exploration of Wakanda’s street-level life, but the more texture Ewing gives to the picture, the more it looks like Ewing is writing a dull Batman story in Gotham with a thin coat of Wakandan paint. The art team is doing their best to keep the visuals interesting, but the story is too slow and too boring to hold your attention.