A Union Of Strange: Black Panther And The Agents Of Wakanda #1 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Agents of Wakanda serve as an intelligence-focused extension to the Avengers. Under the direction of Okoye of the Dora Milaje and the Black Panther, they also serve to handle the threats outside the purview of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Right now, that includes the Wasp and John Jameson stopping a group of thieves calling themselves the Scavengers, Ka-Zar hunting beasts, Roz Solomon spying on the actions of rock trolls, American Eagle quelling an outbreak of Cyttora, and Broo and Gorilla-Man upgrading the satellite grid. After Wasp and John finish their mission, they join Fat Cobra, Okoye, and the Black Panther to investigate a strange energy reading in Oklahoma that quickly turns into a battle against mind-invading demonic entities.
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1 kicks off this new Avengers companion series with some action and a somewhat meandering introduction that leads to a battle in the streets of a small town in Oklahoma. It opens with the battle against the Scavengers (pronounced Sc-Avengers), focusing on the Wasp and John Jameson. Worry not Man-Wolf fans, we do get to see him unleashed.
From there, we get a quick introduction into what this team is about, and the pacing slows down quite and we learn why half the team isn’t in this issue.
I’m being a bit cynical, but, despite some missteps, I did find much of this comic charming. Most of the cast is obscure even by my standards, and Fat Cobra gets to be the scene-stealer through most of the second half. Plus, it’s always nice to see Janet van Dyne get some love.
All that said, the cliffhanger ending is what really sold me on coming back for at least a second issue.
Lan Medina is a talented artist, and it’s nice to see him on a high-profile book like this. This comic looks quite good, and the Agents of Wakanda uniforms look pretty damn cool. That said, there is a weird lack of shadow in many scenes, especially in close-ups on the face, and that did throw me off at times. Marcio Menyz’s color work almost looks too bright at times due to the lack of contrasting shadow.
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1 is by no means a spectacular comic, but it’s also far from being a bad read. It’s team is charmingly strange, they interact in interesting ways, and the ending is a hell of a cliffhanger. Plus, Medina and Menyz are a solid artistic team. All in all, this one still earns a recommendation. Feel free to pick it up.
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1 comes to us from writer Jim Zub, artist Lan Medina, color artist Marcio Menyz, letterer VC’s Joe Sabino, cover artist Jorge Molina, and variant cover artists John Buscema with Dave McCaig; Inhyuk Lee; Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho; and Yoon Lee.
Final Score: 6.5/10
