Black Panther Vol. 1: The Client

This is a pretty pimp comic, it feels cool and fresh. King T'challa and his entourage are pretty badass. I just wish we saw more of them. This would have been 5 stars had there not been a "narrator" and it was told in a more linear fashion. It almost felt as if the narrator was more important than the Black Panther, hell they had about the same amount of page time! Anyways the Black Panther comes over from Wakanda to look into the death of a girl that was just featured in his charity (it's a set up!). His American handler, a funny white dude, is also the narrator. He's the one that relays the story to the reader, he's recounting what happened to his co-worker (and friend with benefits) but he keeps jumping around all over the place. IT's funny, it's frustrating, I want more Black Panther! ( )

I originally picked this up because I mistakenly thought that it was written by the same Christopher Priest as the one who wrote The Prestige and The Separation. As it turns out this collects the first 5 issues of a very highly lauded re-boot of the Black Panther character by the American comic-book author. It does have a fresh, irreverent vibe and manages to both make the character cool and mysterious while using the supporting cast to provide humour and keep the tone of the comic light (especially the hapless Everett K. Ross, a Washington bureaucrat from the State Department who is liaison to the Wakandan King on his visit to the US). Overall this was an entertaining read, but I wouldn't say it was a great one. ( )