I completely agree with your review! Hickman gets all of it right, from the spiritual to the super science aspects of T’Challa–and I am thrilled that he is not only upping T’Challa’s technological weaponry, but his physical attributes as well. I love all the weird science meets the supernatural stuff–there is no other character in comics who stalks both realms!
For years writers have de-powered T’Challa until, as one mean fan letter once stated, “he was just a guy in a kitty suit running around.” And these same writers wonder why the character never got popular! NOBODY WANTS A WEAK SUPERHERO. The Black Panther must be formidable if he is ever to catch on–the way he was back in the FF, the way he was when he fought the Inhumans, single-highhandedly, to a standstill.

The Lion God, who appeared just one time in the Avengers, said T’Challa was the “possessor of the Panther Power” and T’Challa himself has said that taking the heart-shaped herb (along with secret tribal rituals) gave his body ” a newfound strength and resiliency” that he’d never known before that made him “unstoppable, unconquerable.” Obviously, he was never meant to be just a “man in a kitty suit.”

I hope Hickman follows through on the upping of BP’s physical strength and speed, and also brings back his stealth and hyper senses. I want to see a Black Panther who is physically formidable, with weaponry on a par with Iron Man–but BP’s weapons should be more subtler and more about brain power than fire power (like the weapons used by Shuri in Doom War).

Fans right now are debating who is going to win in the coming battle between BP and Namor–and I am putting my money on T’Challa. While BP, even with a power-up will never match Namor’s strength but he doesn’t have to. T’Challa should be so quick and agile that Namor can’t lay a hand on him, and I hope Hickman shows BP’s brainy side by using a weapon that dehydrates the Sub Mariner before he even realizes it’s happening. I hope this kind of strategy, along with the Panthers other weapons, will weaken Namor to the point that T’Challa can trounce him with his bare hands. I like the arrogance of Namor’s character, but it does make you want to see him taken down a peg or two.

Love this new Avengers run!!

Thanks,
Atheist/Scott

You’re right. There’s not much more logic keeping them together other than tradition or longevity, so call me a traditionalist. But I agree with you. I’m also a realist. I know there are many other stories that can be told without the bond, and really they should be told – but, much like the New 52 Superman, it’s just not really my man of steel.

Thanks for reading, man, it’s appreciated. Keep coming back.

Forgive me, a question that I’ve often posed to Superman and Lois pairing fans is: Lois and Superman belong together why again? Let me guess….Because of the “70 + years of history” between both characters. Just because it’s something we’re so used to seeing and we’re unable or unwilling to consider anything else does not equate to the characters destined for each other.

Another reason that I find amusing is the “she grounds him to humanity” argument. I guess he did not grow up in a farm but on mount Olympus where he often looked down on us mere mortals before Lois came along and taught him how to be human and what it meant to be humble, to work for a living, etc.

The argument for Lois and Superman “belonging” together has become so predictable that I tend to no longer take it seriously. And it’s not because I’m more of a Superman/Wonder Woman pairing fan, but it’s because one can already tell that there’s more of a “that’s what we’re used to and we want nothing else” fixation than what I’d consider as worthy of a strong and friendly debate.

Bottom line, DC is in the business of making money. Stories sell comics. And they could not do much with the Superman and Lois pairing after a while.