Black Panther #10 Review

Written by: Eve L. Ewing
Art by: Chris Allen, Craig Veung, Oren Junior, Chris Allen
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov, Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover art by: Taurin Clarke
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: March 20, 2024

Black Panther #10 brings Black Panther’s Burnin T’Chaka fight against Kivu’Ma to a close with a climactic battle to save the soul of the new leader of the Nkisu crime family.

Is Black Panther #10 Good?

Yes, this is the end. The title is canceled, and Eve Ewing is off the assignment, presumably to focus on the forthcoming Exceptional X-Men launch later this year. Did Ewing leave a memorable mark on the King of Wakanda’s time away from the throne? I’ll get to that.

When last we left T’Challa, aka Black Panther, he infiltrated the space station elite Kivu’Ma’s acolytes used to store the bodies of kidnapped people. Their souls fed Kivu’Ma and increased his power. By freeing the kidnapped citizens, Black Panther cut off the demon’s food supply, forcing the demon to fully inhabit Aliinya Nkisu and attack people on Earth, starting with N’Yobi.

Now, Kivu’Ma opens a portal bridging Earth and the space station to start sending fresh kidnap victims through, including N’Yobi. Black Panther arrives and leaps through the portal to try and rescue N’Yobi, who is encased in a stasis chamber without his soul. Black Panther calls on his galactic forces to free N’Yobi and any other fresh bodies, using the power of memories, incantations, and pictures of loved ones to force their souls back into their bodies. The issue ends with a climactic battle wherein Black Panther is captured and his soul removed from his body, but the spirit of Wakanda’s citizens helps him to recover and win the day.

If that sounds like a sprint to get to the finish line, Brother, you’re right on the money.

What’s great about Black Panther #10? Black Panther truly shines as a hero willing to fight with everything he’s got and more to save Wakanda from the forces (mystical and physical) that would feed on its people. Sure, there’s a cultural metaphor or two in the outcome.

What’s not so great about Black Panther #10? Rushed pacing and unresolved plot points. Ewing’s race to get to the finish, likely due to an unscheduled cancelation, shows in the final product. The arrival of T’Challa’s galactic forces comes out of nowhere, the process to restore souls to bodies comes off as poorly explained feel-good nonsense, and the underlying subplots (i.e. Birnin T’Chaka’s bubbling gang war) are left unresolved and dismissed.

In short, you get to the end, but it’s a sloppy, slapdash, unsatisfying ending.

How’s the Art? Generally, a large art team does not bode well, but in this case, it’s warranted due to the sheer volume of intricate detail used to depict Kivu’Ma in the action scenes. On the extreme end, some of the pages look so detailed as to come off as busy or noisy, but overall, this issue looks good.

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

Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Bits and Pieces

Black Panther #10 practically sprints to the finish line in T’Challa’s conflict with a soul-sucking demon. The art is intricate to a fault, and the broader plot points are quickly resolved, but the need to rush due to cancelation is apparent, leaving a slapdash and unsatisfying conclusion.