This Is Not The Event: Black Panther #524 Review

And, as often happens, here’s one last review from last week before the comic store opens with this week’s new books…

The Big Two publishers often wonder why so many readers complain about Event Fatigue. Well, here’s the best example I’ve seen of a major self-dickstomping problem with event comics in recent memory.

Last month, Marvel released Black Panther #523.1. The “.1” is meant to indicate that the issue is a self-contained one-and-done tale, unladen by continuity. The “.1” is Marvel telling potential readers that the issue is a safe “jumping-on” point for the book; that if you start here, you can continue reading future issues without confusion.

Black Panther #523.1 was a tight little story about a street-level urban crimefighter and his partner working with, and sometimes against, the cops in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen to apprehend a costumed serial killer. It was dark, moody, and maintained the tone that writer David Liss has been infusing the book with since he took it over after last year’s Shadowland event.

Perfect jumping-on issue, right? Let’s say you read #523.1, liked it, and came back this month to see what happened after last month’s brutal alley brawl. You pull issue 524 off the shelf, hoping for a little of the pulpy action the last issue led you to expect and…

Huh. So Black Panther has six arms now?

If you’re not following Marvel’s Spider-Island event in a bunch of other books, this makes no Goddamned sense. And there is no explanation in this book beyond a panel on the first recap page saying that Manhattan is infested with Spider-Man powers, which by the way, do not include having six fucking arms.

I can’t think of a worse way to follow up a point-one issue. Particularly since if someone like me picks up the book, he’ll see six arms without any preamble and think, “Huh… maybe this is a natural mutation to deal with growing two extra dicks?” and Marvel’s on strike two right from the cover.

Further add to that with the fact that if you look at this cover for more than five seconds, you start thinking, “Wait… where did he get a costume with six fucking arms? Does he live near the world’s crappiest T. J. Maxx? Did he sew it? How did he manage to sew it with four extra arms floating around and getting in the way? Did he keep three arms occupied with his hydra-groin of multiple penises?” Boom! There’s strike three. Many readers you might have picked up from the point-one book put this one down without even opening it, and you’ve lost all your momentum.

Which is a Goddamned shame, because this is a good comic book.

The nuts and bolts of the story are that a hired goon named Overdrive (Think Jason Statham in The Transporter) attacks The Kingpin’s house, steals something, and Black Panther gives chase. Kingpin sends Lady Bullseye after the stolen thing, and mayhem, plot twists and teasers ensue. But the execution is exquisite.

Other than the Spider-Island exposition sprinkled throughout the book, this story is almost the epitome of what Amanda constantly moans: “Show me, don’t tell me!” We’re involved in the chase by the end of the first page. We’re told Overdrive’s name, but we learn what his M.O. is and what he’s about by seeing his jacked-up sports car and what he can do with it. There are maybe three pages in this book that aren’t packed with action, and two of them are the conclusion that teases the next part of the story – not a cliff hanger, but a tease. This book has a satisfying and logical conclusion. It’s like an old-school one-and-done, where you tell people there’s more story next month while giving them their money’s worth this month.

And speaking of giving people their money’s worth, I love Francesco Francavilla’s art on Black Panther. He’s got a very David Mazzucchelli-like style – thick, almost abstract lines with excellent use of shadows and a handle on action storytelling. There were a couple moments where I lost what Francavilla was trying to tell me – I wasn’t sure if a ramp that Overdrive used was deployed from his own car, and at one point I couldn’t tell if Panther was breaking off a street sign or if he’d intercepted a fired arrow – but generally, his action is clear, exciting and compelling. And the guy decided that, if he was gonna be stuck with a Spider-Island book, he was gonna make all the panel borders spider webs. J. H. Williams is doing this kind of stylized shit in Batwoman and getting fanboy handjobs for it. If you like it there, give Francavilla’s stuff a shot in Black Panther. Handjobs are, as always in this life, optional.

After all is said and done with this book, yes, the Panther has six arms, and Lady Bullseye has 4,000 spider eyes, and people talks about this spider thing that’s happening to them… but you could pull all the Spider-Island shit out of this book and not affect the story one Goddamned bit. This book has nothing to do with the greater Spider-Island plot, and feels very much like Marvel EIC Axel Alonzo deceeded that Black Panther would cross over, so Liss said, “Fine. Hey Francesco: do everything in my original script, just throw a couple extra arms on the Panther.”

Black Panther sells somewhere around 20,000 copies a month. Marvel had a golden opportunity to increase readership with their point-one issue, and has tried very hard to piss it away by trying to tie it into some event it has nothing to do with. Which is a shame, because Black Panther has been a rock-solid read since Liss has been writing it.

Thankfully, Liss and Francavilla have done their best to make sure that you do not need to follow Spider-Island to enjoy this book. Pick it up. Just ignore the possibility of multiple wangs. If you can.