Black Panther, Vol. 7: Back to Africa (2024)

Finally T'challa is back in Wakanda and he faces Erik Killmonger so that was good,but killmonger's death was a little bit anti climatic for me.
Shuri's appearance was the best part of this,the way she is drawn,her attitude her clothes is just wonderful and I cannot wait to see more of her as the comics progress.

Black Pather: Back to Africa collects issues 35-38 and Annual 1 by Reginald Hudlin with art by Francis Portela, Ken Lashley, and Larey Stroman.

Black Panther and Storm finally return from their interdimensional adventure with the Fantastic Four to Wakanda. Political tensions are high in the country after princess Shuri is kidnapped and Killmonger returns. In the Annual we get a look at a possible future where Wakanda is a global power and T'Chala and Ororo's oldest son is about to get married.

It is a definite improvement to the last two volumes (Though I did really enjoy the Zombies arc) but I think those two volumes did their damage as I struggled to get invested in these issues. A lot of these issues feel uninspired. I was hoping to really dive more into Wakanda politics, culture, and technology with this series. We do get some of that but beyond the first arc, nothing new or exciting is provided. I'm not sure if that is a limitation of the author or that his run on Black Panther has been riddled with major events and crossovers (House of X-Men, X-Men cross over, Civil War, The Initiative, Fantastic Four crossover, and Secret Invasion) to the point he can't establish any long term storylines.

Reggie Hudlin's patchy run on Black Panther ends with "Back to Africa", a story that has some good ideas but still somewhat lacking in execution. One of the Panther's great enemies makes his return here - Killmonger. The arc is fairly brisk and the dialogue is less dragging than in previous entries, but the ultimate showdown between Panther and Killmonger isn't quite as epic as it was promised to be. Nonetheless, this arc does end on a stronger note than the previous few arcs did.

The annual is a decent issue is as well, though disconnected from the main arc. It features a flash-forward to look at the lasting legacy of Black Panther and Wakanda on Earth, as seen through the eyes of children of T'Challa and Storm. It's got some strong ideas, but also feels way to separated from every other bit of the run to really feel all that impactful.

Meh.

It was decent but I've been spoiled by Christopher Priest's Black Panther series. He seemed to be better able to capture the confident, regal, wise- beyond-his- years nature of not only T'Challa but of every Wakandan character. They fancy themselves a better breed of human than the rest of the world and all bias aside, one can see why. But in Back to Africa, the only one with any awe inspiring behavior is Storm... for the 5 or 6 pages she's even around. Overall, an entertaining read but I won't be continuing this particular story arc.

Feels like the series is back on track with the return of Killmonger and all the fight being back in Wakanda!
TW for violence, racism, mentions of poverty, guns, kidnapping, fear of invasion by foreign armies.

An improvement.

Kilmonger returns. As always.

This is a fun and interesting story to read. My favorites in the Panther series of Hudlin when T'Challa is the Black Panther. It contains a four part story and the first Black Panther Annual. In "Black Panther: Back to Africa",Black Panther goes back to Wakanda in order stage an invasion of Niganda and deal with Killmonger. The story has great action and political intrigue. The ending of the story was not what I expected. I am surprised that this Black Panther story is not as well known or talked about as others. This story is like a sequel to "Who is the Black Panther". I enjoyed the annual as well. I believe the annual adds well to the Black Panther mythos and especially, Wakanda. Both stories, I believe, do a good job of presenting Afrofuturism and the resources of Wakanda. I give the TPB a 4.5 out of 5 (So I rounded to 5)

Finally the series is starting to turn around. The Killmonger storyline was a strong one. In general I think stories of Wakanda's interactions (or lack thereof) with the outside world are really good. They have all this technology, peace, and prosperity so it seems like they should share it but it's not as straightforward as that. The Black Panther and the Wakandans seem to get that even if others don't.

I like seeing T'Challa return to Wakanda and fight against a rival such as the Killmonger. I really like to see his sister Shuri fight and want to read about some of her solo act as the Black Panther. I actually liked the annual more than the main story, to bad with recent events in Marvel it will not happen.

Black Panther goes back to Africa to try and stop a war. Killmonger is being used by the Americans to gain power over Wakanda. A decent story, it introduces Black Panther's niece.

One of my favorites in the Panther series. Two powerful figures together, gotta love it.