Black Panther #17 Review
Book 3: Two Thousands Seasons
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Penciled by: Daniel Acuña
Lettered by: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover Artist: Daniel Acuña
Previously on Black Panther…
There is a disturbance in the force, I mean, there’s an anomaly in Wakanda. The returned Wakandan King, T’Challa knows something is off and that there is a storm yet to come since the “defeat” of the galactic empire. So disturbed is the “Orphan King” that he and Shuri, consult his deceased mother N’Yami. And the remedy to the far-off empire would require a great sacrifice, that T’Challa must decide upon for the future of all of his nation. Simultaneously, the former Emperor and his symbiote take on new life inside Changamire and find new allies in the Wakanda Prime rebels, Zenzi and Tetu.

Battle ready
My Take
There are several moments that I liked in this issue. As usual the art and colors are stunning. I also enjoyed the moment where Storm and Nakia have a Barbara and Shirley, “Woman to Woman” moment. You really should listen to this song. It’s dope. I have no idea why, but I chuckled and I thought it was an entertaining moment. Lastly, probably my favorite part was only a panels long. It was when Okoye pops off and says there must be a spy. Not only did she change the whole tenor of the conversation but also, it was abrupt and showed a level of frustration with the situation that I shared. When are they going to find out what is going on?! Or rather admit what they think may be going on.

Woman to woman, this is how I feel…
A couple of annoyances related to our main villain and his motivations. This issue finds N’Jadaka, the former emperor of the galactic empire, thought dead, possessing Changamire and seeking out the original Killmonger’s body in Niganda. Ok. Why? What is his overall plan? Why does he need that body? And how did he know to go find that body? You can say, he merged with some of the folks he’s possessed and used their knoweldge but that doesn’t really explain anything. That’s an inference not something that’s been explained in the story. We are moving towards a battle between T’Challa and N’Jadaka but they haven’t even been face-to-face in the last 16 issues. Coates is well-known for building suspense and playing the long game. Well, I need to see some returns and know what’s going on. Thought you were going to find out this issue? Not today.