A review by joshgauthier
Black Panther: World of Wakanda by Yona Harvey, Afua Richardson, Rembert Browne, Joe Bennett, Roxane Gay, Alitha Martinez, Ta-Nehisi Coates
4.0
Big picture, this volume continues so many of the things that are great about the current run of Black Panther. This brings together the influences of two very respectable writers - Gay adding her voice to the vision of Wakanda Coates has been developing - and the result is a politically and personally charged story with a delightful cast of diverse characters.
Unfortunately, on the smaller scale, the dialogue for much of this volume felt rough to me, detracting somewhat from the reading experience. Additionally, this volume is fairly dependent on knowledge of Coates's Black Panther series, making it feel less like a stand-alone story. However, since I have been reading Black Panther, it was easy enough to follow (despite numerous time jumps) and Gay does add some fascinating extra detail to characters from Black Panther - allowing the women of Wakanda to take the forefront.
So, overall, this wasn't absolutely everything I hoped it would be, but there is so much here that works that it's worth the read. And I hope that stories (comics and otherwise) continue to embrace a range of voices and characters because there are so many wonderful stories to be told.
Unfortunately, on the smaller scale, the dialogue for much of this volume felt rough to me, detracting somewhat from the reading experience. Additionally, this volume is fairly dependent on knowledge of Coates's Black Panther series, making it feel less like a stand-alone story. However, since I have been reading Black Panther, it was easy enough to follow (despite numerous time jumps) and Gay does add some fascinating extra detail to characters from Black Panther - allowing the women of Wakanda to take the forefront.
So, overall, this wasn't absolutely everything I hoped it would be, but there is so much here that works that it's worth the read. And I hope that stories (comics and otherwise) continue to embrace a range of voices and characters because there are so many wonderful stories to be told.