Comic Book / Black Panther (1998)

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Black Panther is a 1998 ongoing comic book series from Marvel Comics and the third volume centered on T'Challa, the titular Black Panther. Written by Christopher Priest, it features art by Mark Texeira with initial color work by Brian Haberlin; later issues brought in a variety of other artists.

The series is set in the shared Marvel Universe and part of the main Black Panther comic continuity.

The series is notable for shifting Black Panther's portrayal in the Avengers from a background role to a strategic, highly capable leader. Priest's run emphasized T'Challa's political skills, tactical approach, and Wakanda's culture, combining superhero action with political intrigue and social commentary, all while preserving continuity and established characterization.

The first issue was released November 01, 1998. The series ran for 62 issues, with the final issue released September 08, 2003.

Black Panther (1998) provides examples of the following tropes:

• Affably Evil: A lot of Black Panther's foes fall into this.
• Affirmative-Action Legacy: Played with, as the white Everett K. Ross is forced to briefly assume the mantle of the Black Panther.
• All-Encompassing Mantle: The Black Panther uses his cape (a formal add-on that he doesn't always include with his outfit) as a makeshift parachute, then gets asked by NYPD Sgt. Tork "How do you even move in that thing?" His reply: "Like this," after which he touches the clasp, causing the cloak to retract to shoulder mantle length.
• Anachronic Order: Whenever a story is retold by Everett Ross, he will often jump back and forth in time between events and the plot will reflect this. One issue revealed that he even writes his personal notes the same way.
  • This was hilariously lampshaded/justified when it was explained that Everett Ross, the character doing most of the narrating, absolutely cannot tell a story straight.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: In Wakanda, they hold a tournament where anyone can challenge the current king for the right to take the throne. This leads to Erik Killmonger briefly becoming the new Black Panther after killing T'Challa in combat, but (T'Challa got better).
• Badass Boast: T'Challa gives a very laconic boast when faced with Mephisto, Lord of Hell: When sidekick Everett K. Ross suggests calling in The Avengers or an air strike, T'Challa simply asks: "Why?"
  Ross: One of these times he's gonna say "Heck yeah! Call them puppies!" and I'll run for my life.
• Badass Cape: T'Challa wore one during the series, drawing some comparisons to Batman, especially in that it had varying lengths (the length is actually adjustable).
• Bash Brothers: The Dora Milage are Bash Sisters.
• Batman Gambit: Villains like to try this on Black Panther. It never, ever works.
• Betty and Veronica: This is done with Monica Lynne as the Betty and Storm as the Veronica.
• Body Horror: In issue #14, Black Panther uses electrolysis to make Hydro Man's all water body into composite hydrogen and oxygen molecules which are fused, making him useless.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: In Black Panther, the Call dresses up in a kitty suit and runs the most powerful country in the world. And will come and get you, even if you get reassigned to Antarctica. Even if you'd rather stay in Antarctica.
  • It was a really hard decision.
• The Cape: The future version of T'Challa from the story arc "Enemy of the State II" is very much this.
• Category Traitor: A group of impoverished black citizens claim Black Panther is an Uncle Tom due to his associations with the Avengers and Fantastic Four, as well as his general lack of concern for the well-being of black citizens.
• Character Development: Christopher Priest turned Black Panther from the token black guy in the Avengers into, basically, Marvel's Batman, only smarter and cooler. And he did it without messing with continuity or throwing established characterization under the bus.
• Close on Title: The storyline "Seduction of the Innocent" does this at the end of every part.
• Clothes Make the Superman: The Black Panther already has a host of other abilities, but from this run onward, he's worn a special vibranium-laced costume that deflects bullets and allows him to walk up walls.
• Companion Cube: Achebe's hand-puppet, Daki.
• The Cowl: Black Panther seems to, but deep down is one of the most caring and compassionate men on the planet.
• Creator Thumbprint: At least as of his Black Panther run and onwards in other comics, Christopher Priest likes to use Title In panels with black backgrounds and white letters with the same font.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Subverted, as Killmonger plans to take over Wakanda via the economy. It works, too.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Ross' coping mechanism to all the crazy involved in handling T'Challa.
  • White Wolf. So much.
    White Wolf: C'mon, T'Challa... Let me kill him. Please.
    Killmonger: You!? Kill me?!
    White Wolf: In a heartbeat. On my lunch break.
• Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Everett Ross spends a good chunk of time of the story arc, "The Client", sitting in his living room on his couch next to Mephisto on a flaming throne of skulls.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The story arc, "The Client", begins with T'Challa kicking in a door, knocking out Mephisto with one punch, and then tearing out his heart. And then he tries to interrogate him. Of course, this doesn't perturb Mephisto in the slightest.
• Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: T'Challa, being The Chessmaster he is, pulled this off with Mephisto. The Black Panther pledged his soul to Mephisto in exchange for Mephisto agreeing to depower an enemy of the Panther's that he had given great demonic power to. Mephisto lived up to his end of the bargain, and so did the Panther... but when Mephisto tried to claim the Panther's soul, Mephisto found that it was linked to the souls of the Panther God and every single previous Black Panther warrior in existence, whose sheer goodness threatened to destroy him. Mephisto requested that the Black Panther agree to release him from the pact, and the Panther agreed.
• Die for Our Ship: Malice attempts to enact this in-universe.
• Disguised Hostage Gambit: T'Challa's ex-girlfriend Monica ends up captured by a Reverend Achebe. The twist is, Achebe tapes Monica's mouth shut and dresses her up in a remote-controlled exoskeleton, making it difficult for T'Challa to stop the plot without hurting or killing her in the process. Effectively, it's this trope crossed with a Human Shield.
• Even the Guys Want Him:
  • Ross toys with it regarding T'Challa: "Cripes, you believe that guy?" *beat* "Magnificent, isn't he? Huh! What a man. I tell you — if I was black — and gay — well, there you go."
  • Namor shows up in his usual attire, which combined with having apparently just come out of a body of water and being soaking wet, causes resident This Loser Is You sidekick Everett K. Ross to narrate: "...homina... homina..."
• Evil Counterpart: Magneto is called out as this in-story.
• Fantasy Pantheon: Averted, as the series revealed the Panther God to actually be the black cat goddess Bast of the Egyptian pantheon.
• Femme Fatale: Malice.
• First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Everett K. Ross is the narrator for most of the series, which have superhero Black Panther as the main character.
• First-Person Smartass: Everett K. Ross.
• Future Me Scares Me: One long-running story had a sort of subversion and played straight with. The future Black Panther was an intentional throwback homage to a Silver Age characterization by creator Jack Kirby during Panther's original solo series, which was more light adventure than his at the time serious personality. The problem was that said future Black Panther was at the final stages of a fatal brain aneurysm ailment, losing his mind, and Panther at the time himself was just starting to get the same symptoms.
• Gambit Pileup: Constantly, as almost every story arc involves at least five or six would-be Chessmaster types trying to Out Gambit each other. At one point, Panther, Stark, Hunter, another Panther, and another Stark are all trying to outwit one another.
• Gambit Roulette: The series's portrayal of T'Challa resorted to this trope several times during the course of the series.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Near the end of the series, New York City Police officers all repeatedly say "spit" instead of "shit".
• I Know You Know I Know: Iron Man sums up his understanding of the Black Panther's highly convoluted plot during the "Enemy of the State II" arc in a section aptly titled "And You Know I Know You Know".
• In Medias Res: Christopher Priest loves this technique, and once opened a issue this way, along with a caption that said, "in medias res: Latin for 'not boring'."
• Instant Armor: The Black Panther's suit gains this ability. A memorable scene from the first issue had T'Challa change from a business suit into his Panther gear in the time it took from him to cross from underneath one streetlight to another.
• Instant Costume Change: The Black Panther can do this thanks to having a very high-tech costume starting with this run.
• Interchangeable Asian Cultures: Lampshaded in one issue, where Christopher Priest threw in a dig at the then-recent Iron Fist/Wolverine mini-series. When briefly recounting the ending of the mini (which saw Iron Fist becoming the protector of a group of mythical dragons from K'un Lun that had become stranded in Tokyo), Everett Ross asks why would they leave Chinese dragons in Japan.
  • In a much earlier issue, Ross tries speaking in Cantonese while ordering some Chinese takeout. The owner is completely flummoxed by the order, which causes T'Challa to state that Ross must not realize that the owner is actually Filipino.
• Jewish Mother: Ruth Cole. Christopher Priest designed her as an Expy of Aunt May from Spider-Man if May were a stereotypical Jewish mom.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • In the very first issue, Ross dismisses the Black Panther as one of the second-string Avengers and questions just how dangerous he can be, which Priest has said was a deliberate reference to the way that prior to the 90s, many fans didn't see the character's worth.
  • Nikki constantly berates Ross for his jumbled narration and inability to stay focused on one story-thread. This was actually an early criticism of Priest's run.
• Legacy Character: Kasper Cole becomes the new Black Panther for a time.
• Legacy Launch: The series temporarily retired King T'Challa, the original Black Panther, and passed the mantle to a more "relatable" character named Kasper Cole. The final arc of the series saw T'Challa reclaiming the mantle and Kasper becoming the new White Tiger instead.
• Meet Your Early-Installment Weirdness: Future Panther is right out of Jack Kirby's Black Panther run. Compared to the contemporary Black Panther, he speaks a lot more bombastically, has the ESP powers that he very briefly had during that run, and is drawn in a style right out of the '70s.
• Mighty Whitey: Subverted masterfully to create the Panther villain White Wolf.
• My Future Self and Me: One long-running subplot involved such, although in a number of ways the Future Self was a throwback to earlier characterization. Essentially, the future self was the "Jack Kirby" Panther, and the then-current version was Priest's interpretation. Hudlin's interpretation is somewhere in between the two, and Liss' is completely disconnected from both.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Future Panther (and his former companions Abner Little and Princess Zanda) are drawn in a distinctly Kirbyesqe style.◊ Other characters are drawn in a more modern style, highlighting how these three are in a very different world.
• No One Could Survive That!: Black Panther faces off against a mind-controlled Iron Fist, and takes multiple Iron Fist attacks. Kind of a subversion, as the attacks did cause a fatal brain aneurysm that would have eventually killed Panther had Priest stayed on the book. Hudlin never addressed it in his run, and it appears forgotten.
  • The same story arc had him swallowed by a dragon soon after that and then claw his way out.
• Only Mostly Dead: In issues #20-22, Black Panther was once killed during a battle with Erik Killmonger. Though his friends were able to (just barely) resuscitate his body, it took Moon Knight venturing into the afterlife to actually bring his spirit back to the realm of the living.
• The Plan:
  • Constantly. T'Challa still pulls them off occasionally, though they tend to be less complex/convoluted these days.
  • T'Challa was far from the only one doing this. Hunter, Killmonger, Tony Stark, Black Dragon, Achebe, Mephisto, Junta, and even Man-Ape all tried their hand at the gambitting. Some of them were better at it than others. Panther was still better at it than they were.
• Power Perversion Potential: The character Vibraxas: Master of Vibration, which is a bit of a Running Gag during the series, and lampshaded by his girlfriend Queen Divine Justice after she first heard the name.
• Put on a Bus: At one point, Queen Divine Justice literally puts The Incredible Hulk on a bus to get him out of the story.
• Remember the New Guy?: The Dora Milaje didn't exist before the series, and yet are still featured in flashback stories dealing with the previous Black Panthers.
• Retcon: The Dora Milaje flat out didn't exist before the series, but are treated as though they've long been part of Wakandan tradition.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: T'Challa fought the likes of Hydro Man and Alyosha Kraven (son of the first Kraven the Hunter, who was still dead after Kraven's Last Hunt), both of them being Spider-Man villains.
• Running Gag:
  • Ross was assigned to keep an eye on Panther for four days. Four. Days.
  • "My loyalty is to Wakanda." "And its king?" "Him too."
  • "No, I am the king of a small African nation."
  • "But of course, as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself."
  • When Ross is unsure of another character's origin story, he claims that they fell into a (sometimes radioactive) vat of Cream of Wheat. He does this several times in quick succession in issue #17.
• Scandalgate: The Wakandan consulate sponsored a children's charity which was later revealed to be involved in embezzling and drug-running; one of the charity's wards ended up mysteriously dead. The resulting scandal was dubbed "Wakandagate".
• Screw Destiny: Queen Divine Justice tries, and fails, to get out of her role as a member of the Dora Milaje.
• Soap Opera Disease: T'Challa's brain aneurysm was this for a while, causing him to have hallucinations and a deteriorating mental state, until he got better. Amusingly, even delusional Panther is a badass. He beat up a (probably) imaginary Magneto, using his usual "super smart and over-prepared" tactics.
• Sold His Soul for a Donut: In the first story arc, Everett Ross accidentally sells his soul to Mephisto for a pair of pants.
• Spin-Off: Priest's next project, The Crew, could be considered this, as two of the four main characters (Kasper Cole and Junta) were created during his Black Panther run, as was the primary villain, Triage.
• Strong as They Need to Be: Christopher Priest mentioned this when writing the series. Depending on the Writer, Panther can hold his own against the entire Fantastic Four and even trade blows with The Thing, or be overpowered and beaten unconscious by random muggers and Mooks. What makes it worse is that the Black Panther's costume is lined with vibranium (the same stuff Captain America's shield is made of), which means he should be able to shrug off blows that would wound or knock out a normal man.
• Token Evil Teammate:
  • The trope was all over the series, and applied at various times to Nakia, Erik Killmonger, Henry Gyrich, and Nightshade.
  • Killmonger was briefly this to the Avengers.
• Tough Act to Follow: Christopher Priest basically redefined Black Panther in every way and to this day the series is considered by many to be the greatest book Panther has ever had. He was followed by Reginald Hudlin, whose work was immediately hit by the this trope in full force. His run initially outsold Priest's by quite a bit, but as time went on, sales fell sharply. A relaunch stunt involving T'Challa's sister Shuri taking over as the lead didn't do much better, and the title was eventually cancelled under new writer Jonathan Maberry.
• Unfortunate Names:
  • Vibraxas: Master of Vibration! Lampshaded by his later girlfriend Queen Divine Justice after she first heard the title.
  • Ross makes fun of more of the goofy superhero names that appear than not. Special mention for Man-Ape.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: You can make a case for this with a lot of the villains. Killmonger's a pretty well-meaning guy when it comes to absolutely everything except T'Challa. Magneto and Doom are both presented this way when they show up (and more than a few parallels are drawn between Panther and Magneto). And even Man-Ape only wants what's best for his people.
• The Western: One story late in the series involved Black Panther and most of the supporting cast (including crazy future Panther) being sent back to the old west to team up with Marvel's Western Characters, and all the Asgardians (disguised as cowboys) against Loki.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • T'Challa and Hunter definitely feel this way about each other, as do T'Challa and Killmonger. For a while, this was how T'Challa and Tony Stark saw each other was well. T'Chaka and Captain America started out this way, but quickly became friends. There was even a little bit of this starting to show between Killmonger and Kasper, but the book got cancelled before it could really blossom.
  • Triage feels this way about Kasper, but the feeling is very much not mutual.