Rise of the Black Panther #3 (2018)
written by Evan Narcisse & Ta-Nehisi Coates (as consultant)
pencils by Paul Renaud
cover by Brian Stelfreeze
Released at the same time of the 2018 movie, this miniseries attempted to retell the extended origins of Black Panther while incorporating some of movie’s looks and lore into the main continuity.
It is interesting that this was planned even before the movie proved to be a historic success.
This issue in particular is set shortly after Wakanda revealed the secret of Vibranium and of its advanced tech to the rest of the world, which is what gets Doom’s attention.
This is actually aligned to the original continuity, even if Doom wouldn’t meet Black Panther before Astonishing Tales #6 in 1971 (five years after Black Panther’s first appearance).
As a continuity insert, a lot of the details are sloppy… the Fantastic Four didn’t get a robotic receptionist until decades later, the S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms are too recent… but so far the stuff that matters mainly tracks.
Some Black Panther lore like the Dora Milaje, who had not been created until the 90s, are retroactively inserted into being a fixed presence throughout Wakanda’s history.
And overall, we ditch the original 60s conception of Wakanda… a literal jungle hiding advanced tech in the trees… with the advanced afro-futuristic city which had slowly replaced it in the 90s and 2000s and which the movie popularized.
While the involvement of the Fantastic Four in Black Panther’s reconnection to the outside world is a bit downplayed… understandably, this isn’t THEIR story… they’re namedropped.
Since we’re doing continuity insert, the Winter Soldier tries to assassinate T’Challa…
…and his sister Shuri is an integral part of the cast WAAAAY earlier.
While I like both the movie and the modern version, I kind of miss the completely insane Shuri of her earlier appearances… she had an edge that made her stand out from her brother.
A much clumsier insert is having the assassination attempt linked to Darkstar and her brother Vanguard. This makes practically zero sense considering this is taking place a long time before Darkstar’s original adventures with the Champions.
At the end of the issue, someone else exploits a weakness in Wakanda’s defenses…
…someone way more dangerous than the Winter Soldier.
That has got to be a Doombot. It’s sitting way too normally for Doctor Doom.
Rise of the Black Panther #4 (2018)
written by Evan Narcisse & Ta-Nehisi Coates (as consultant)
pencils by Paul Renaud
cover by Brian Stelfreeze
Doom demands the cover!!!
Doom’s reputation precedes him.
T’Challa blows him up, realizing it’s a Doombot.
See, what did I tell you?
T’Challa is already impressed with Doom’s technology, and notice that we’re still close enough to the main continuity to have him as he supergenius in the family instead of Shuri.
He decides to go to Latveria to repay the visit.
It is interesting to see that, despite doing his research, Black Panther has got Doom’s motivations wrong. I think in this case Doom is skipping knowledge and going straight for power.
The traditional Latverian welcome.
Kind of ironic for DOCTOR DOOM to complain about a king wearing a mask!
He’s also uncharacteristically okay with showing his face. It’s not exactly out of character for Doom to do this for another king, but still weird so early in his career.
Another classic Doom hypocrisy: complaining that “posturing wastes time”.
Of course when DOOM does it, it’s not posturing in his mind.
Their first meeting is kind of what you’d expect these two would talk about the first time they meet.
Discussing their differences in politics…
…and the destruction of the Fantastic Four.
Something I never thought we would ever see… Doctor Doom COOKING.
In particular, Doom is interested in the fact that Black Panther might have defeated the Fantastic Four if it wasn’t for their civilian friend Wyatt Wingfoot.
Meanwhile Shuri is being given a tour of Latveria. She doesn’t seem to have made as much research as her brother, since the seems to think Doom is of royal descent.
Despite Doom’s respect for other monarchs, he does consider himself intrinsically superior because he took power instead of inheriting it.
Well, aside from the millions of other reasons why Doom considers himself superior to anyone.
Extremely impressive for T’Challa to have tampered with the programming of the Doombots; even Reed has trouble with that.
She exploits this to check one of Latverian’s data centers, which are apparently geothermally powered!
To her surprise, there’s Wakandan circuitry there.
Meanwhile, Doom and T’Challa compare their mommy issues.
Over the years we’ve seen Doom casually using technology and magic for mundane things, but getting a drink is a new one.
Unsurprisingly, Black Panther refuses the proposal of an alliance.
Doom takes this WAY better than I expected.
T’Challa has to drop the conversation to help his sister.
Doom stops the fight, taking the opportunity to throw shots at the dissent within Wakanda which has been a subplot throughout the series.
He then proceeds to show that his intelligence services are way ahead of Wakanda’s.
They’re talking about White Wolf, Black Panther’s adoptive brother introduced in the 90s.
Who is the one responsible for the Doombot spotted at the end of last issue!
And Doom let him do that because he found it cute how Wakandans thought they’d get him involved to smear the name of their own king.
After a brief rant about rescuing Doom’s mother…
…Black Panther is not interested in a fight with him just now, so he wraps up this subplot.
Doom significance: 0/10
Doom plays no role in the rest of the miniseries. You’d think he’d take more offense at the Wakandans appropriating his technology.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Doom using science and magic to make himself a drink. Which according to Black Panther wasn’t even that good.
Does it stand the test of time: 8/10
Kind of the definition of unnecessary, but it’s fine. Nothing really groundbreaking, but it’s not what it sets out to do: the main purpose seemed to be streamlining various retcons made throughout the decades about Black Panther and Wakanda.
As far as the first encounter between arguably the two most important monarchs in the Marvel Universe (sorry Namor), it’s much better and far more nuanced than their first actual meeting.
Doom is very much in control throughout the whole story; while Black Panther does have some technology that can give him a bit of trouble, there’s just no comparison between the two here.
Which is the way it should be: I really dislike runs that make Black Panther more ridiculous than the Bat-God, but this stuck a nice balance.
Their conversation doesn’t break any new ground, but there’s nothing objectionable. Perhaps Doom is a bit too subdued, especially given this is supposed to be the Doctor Doom of the Silver Age, but I can accept the idea that he’s a bit more diplomatic in this situation.
At the very least we had what I believe is the only known panel of Doctor Doom cooking.