Black Panther #3: Wedding Crashers

Eve L. Ewing’s stint on Black Panther has been solid thus far, her voice for the character and sense of world-building for Wakanda, a fresh treat of reconstructive storytelling after years of deconstruction. Issue three is no exception to this; however, it finds itself mired in plot-driven storytelling that lacks any worthwhile development for our characters or setting, instead working to set up, at an excruciatingly drawn-out pace, story payoffs that’ll take place in the next issue. Regardless of this issue’s lackluster pacing, there are some merits to it that’ll be appreciated when read within the confines of a completed arc.

The strongest aspect of this issue, and possibly this opening story as a whole, is Christopher Allen’s art. Every panel is a painting in itself, and while the coloring sometimes renders his pencils as flat, it keeps each page of this issue that he illustrates dynamic and intricately detailed. Joining him in this issue is Mack Chater, whose anatomy work and character illustration are simply top-notch, but lack the same dynamic paneling that makes Allen’s work so great. While both artists are quite impressive in their own respects, they don’t necessarily pair well when transitioning from one to the other.

As for the issue’s plot, it’s broken up into three distinct portions, two of which exist solely to push the plot forward through exposition. In the case of the book’s opening, this is a justifiably necessary thing, as it doubles as further establishment for the newly introduced Besia. As the book goes on, it begins to feel like it’s dragging out its many conversational moments to leave the appearance of Deathlok at the end as a cliffhanger, making the whole arc perfect for trade pacing, even if its story doesn’t have enough to justify that sense of pacing. Majority of the dialogue feels devoid of personality or interest, simply here to fill the void. This especially doesn’t help with Charter’s art that doesn’t capture a sense of warmth or expression necessary to showoff how close T’Challa has grown to the characters that surround him in his new status quo. Overall, the issue is a bit of a slog to get through, even though Eve’s writing at a character level is still pretty great.