Black Panther: The Complete Collection Volume 1

I bought this at Boocup in the Kerry Center mall in Shanghai, China, last September.

Title: Black Panther: The Complete Collection
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2015
Writer: Christopher Priest
Penciler: Mark Texeira, Vince Evans, Joe Jusko, Mike Manley, Mark Bright, Sal Velluto, Joe Quesada, Amanda Conner,
Inker: Alitha Martinez, Jimmy Palmiotti, Mark Texeira, Vince Evans, Joe Jusko, Mike Manley, Nelson DeCastro, Bob Almond
Colorist: Brian Haberlin, Avalon Studios, Elizabeth Lewis, Chris Sotomayor, Brad Vancata, Drew Yackey, Matt Yackey
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft Inc.'s Siobhan Hanna, Wes Abbott, Jason Levine, Liz Agraphiotis, Sharpefond, Paul Tutrone
Editor: Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ruben Diaz, Tom Brevoort, Kelly Lamy, Frank Dunkerley, Greg Schigiel
Front Cover: Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti
Back Cover: Joe Jusko, Elizabeth Lewis

This trade paperback collects the Black Panther Marvel Knights run that started in 1998, covering the first seventeen issues of that series. It's all narrated through the eyes of hapless federal agent Everett K. Ross, who is in way over his head in just about every moment of every issue as he tries to do his job as T'Challa's US State Department liaison. Unfortunately for Ross, the King of Wakanda has lost his throne to an international conspiracy, and he is trying to solve a murder case in New York before he can return to Wakanda to set things there right.

The result is a wild and sometimes disjointed ride that involves a plethora of guest stars from Captain America to Luke Cage and Iron Fist to Hulk to Mephisto (!) to Hydro-Man to (no I am not making this up) Brother Voodoo.

The humor is snarky and fun, and the pacing is frenetic. There is a lot of political humor, some of it a bit dated at this point, but most of it still biting. The action scenes don't always measure up to the cleverness of it all, as a lot of the fight scenes get cut short for the sake of more cleverness.

MCU fans will enjoy seeing many of the characters who ended up as part of the Black Panther film, not to mention favorites from the Avengers films as well as the Netflix Defenders.

Several important elements are not resolved by the end of this volume and the cutoff point of 17 issues felt arbitrary.

Still, there is a lot to enjoy here, and as someone who had not read much Black Panther, this was a treat.

Rating: 7/10

Miracleman #1

A new comic! I picked this one up tonight at my local Newbury Comics along with the new Springsteen album. I've been trying to avoid buying too many new comics, seeing how many are still in the massive unread stack, but I had to pick this one up. I have a complete run of the original Miracleman, but I'm looking forward to rereading those classic stories with all of the extras that Marvel is throwing in.

Title: Miracleman
Issue: 1
Date: March, 2014
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: The Original Writer, Mick Anglo
Artist: Garry Leach, Don Lawrence, Mick Anglo
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Axel Alonso

Marvel's acquisition and reprinting of Miracleman is not without its share of controversy, a fact that is evident right on the first page where the story credit is simply listed as The Original Writer. Alan Moore refused to allow his name to be attached to this version of his classic deconstruction of the superhero myth. Moore has asked that his name not be used for any of his work that he does not retain ownership of.

Miracleman was originally the British version of Captain Marvel, and was printed under the name Marvelman in the UK in the 1950s. Originally created by Mick Anglo, and based on Fawcett's Captain Marvel character, the story featured a boy named Mickey Moran who had been given the secret to powerful superhuman abilities, which were activated by him speaking the word "Kimota" ("atomic" spelled phonetically and backward!). The stories from the 1950s were classic superhero fare with Marvelman fighting evil foreign agents, mad scientists, and invaders from outer space.

This book reprints Miracleman #1, with some additional material. The original comic started out with a classic Marvelman story and then moves to the present day, where Mickey Moran, now in middle age, married, and troubled by mysterious dreams, suddenly remembers "kimota" and releases the power that had been locked away from his memory.

Then he has to explain it all to his wife.

The storytelling is already powerful, especially the interaction between Liz and Miracleman when he comes home to her in his new form.

In addition to the material from Miracleman #1, this issue contains three classic b/w Marvelman stories from the 1950s. I love the transformation scenes, which consist of a small panel with a drawing of a mushroom cloud and the sound effect WOOF! These stories were goofy fun, with Marvelman taking on foreign spies (from Boromania!) and a mad scientist who steals people's reflections to turn them into evil doppelgangers.

A text history of the publication of Captain Marvel and Marvelman is also included, along with excerpts from an interview that Joe Quesada did with original Marvelman creator Mick Anglo before he passed away in 2011.

The original issues of Miracleman are hard to find (and you can't have mine!), so if you haven't read this, it's really worth it. Fans of the original will also find plenty of nice extras in this reprint.

Rating: 8/10