Again, it had potential but it's all over the place. OVERALL GRADE: C plus to B minus.

Gorgeous art, ambitious theme, a nation fighting for its freedom, a king struggling to find his role, warring factions, stunning women and men, a celebration of African heritage. This is a lovely volume to look at and ponder, however the story is scattered, the writing is heavy and vague. I will be continuing the series, but I wish I would not have to read everything three times in order to follow the story.

http://www.un.org/en/events/africande...This book is the second trade paperback of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Panther and finally everything is starting to click in the right direction creatively. We find T'Challa on the back foot as the rebellion against him on two-fronts is no longer manageable by him-alone. He makes a further bad gamble that his enemies capitalize on and use to further undermine his legitamcy with the Wakandan people. Luckily, being an Avenger has its perks. At the same time, th...

This actually has two different portions --- one written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and an older story line originally written by Stan Lee. I found the portion written by Coates to be rather slow-moving with the Black Panther being given to long-winded soliloquys and too much introspection. It made me think of Hamlet if he was an Avenger. To be honest, I'm new to the Black Panther stories, but, from the Avengers: Civil War movie, I've been under the impression that Black Panther is a man of action so I...

Black Panther takes Ezekial Stane out of the equation, brings his "Crew" of black heroes in briefly, and lots of boring stories between Shuri and her mom before T'Challa goes to get her back.The Good: Chris Sprouse's art is very good. I've been a fan since his Legion of Super-Heroes days.The Bad: Coates continues his glacially slow pacing. I don't understand how this award winning artist can write such stilted dialogue.The Ugly: This is one of the most boring ongoing books I've ever read. Also i...

Really digging his style! (would be 5 stars) The only thing that really beefs me is that this volume was only 3 issues!? Some might argue that they provide older issues to supplement the lack of issues, but I don't know. To me it seems like Marvel has no problem donating money to an ethically bankrupt administration and charging nerds to cover the bill..

Book 2 is more action-packed than Book 1. We've often been told that the Panther is a king, but this series is the first time I can recall where we've actually gotten a sense of what that means. Coates gives us a sense of the real responsibilities of kingship, what it means to the people of Wakanda to have their leader off on adventures with the Avengers and so on. I think my favorite scene in the whole book was the confrontation with Zeke Stane ...The book is rounded out by some classic reprint...

Great potential in the story here - such a cool world - but the storytelling and pacing continue to be a challenge for the reader.

Considering that it's been four years since I read and reviewed Vol. 1, I think it's safe to say that I stumbled pretty hard on continuing with this storyline. I picked up Vols 2 and 3 immediately, but just couldn't hack them. Making sense of Vol 1 was a lot of work, and a lot of it was propelled by loving Stelfreeze's art, so the fact that he steps back on this volume is a letdown. This is also the book where Coates just starts adding Marvel Universe characters without a ton of explanation why

Still not sure about this. There are things that I like: the Panther's "voice", political problems in the kingdom. Right now the theme seems to be about leadership and ruling: how do you keep people happy? How do you deal with rebellious people, a gentle hand of friendship or the iron fist of retaliation? For some reason, I'm having a problem following the multiple subplots. I don't think it's me, having read and watched many things like this. I suspect it is the writing, but I can't pinpoint wh...

SO GOOD. I've never read such a well-written graphic, it's like I'm reading a richly dialogue-laden novel with beautiful artwork serving as the supporting storyteller (which, now that I think on it, is how all graphics should be). I skipped the Black Panther throwback snippets after the story ended because I heard they were terrible (and the artwork was just so outdated, it was a huge turn off... I assumed the text would feel the same). I kind of wish I'd waited for this to be released as a comp...

It’s been a while since a marvel comic book run has made me laugh, cheer and cry all in one Volume.This one did.There was a specific surprise that popped up in here, and as soon as it happened this immediately became a 5-star read.I love this run and I need to get my hands on all of the volumes!!!!

Pleasure reading shouldn't feel like a chore. 3 stars out of respect for the art and the world-building, but that's as far as it goes for me.

T'Challa facing difficulty from within his country seeks help from outside it.A Nation Under Our Feet Book 2 suffers from the same problem as book 1, they are trying to fit a story seemingly made for a novel into a comic. There aren't enough bubbles, boxes, or pages to make that all fit. The storytelling is simply too slow for a comic book. This is essentially volume 2. Only two things have happened and only one problem has been resolved. It's just holding my interest enough to continue even tho...

Prompted by the excellent new Black Panther film, I'm catching up on all of the Ta-Nehisi Coates' run! This second volume continues the political and thematically heavy storyline that finds T'Challa struggling with an insurgent group who continue to question his leadership. There's also the continuity-heavy inclusion of an Iron Man villain that works quite well given the villain's M.O. The art here is good, though not as tight and appealing as Brian Stelfreeze's art from the first book. My big p...

Another really slow volume that does more setting up than knocking down. Digressions in the form of tribal legends and long conversations and a lack of action made this a really slow read.

This series continues to not blow me away. It sucks because there are really cool elements (the introduction of The Crew), but they get bogged down in a quagmire of boring subplots that I just can't muster the energy to give a crap about.Artwork continues to be sublime!

This book intrigues me more than I actually enjoy it.I like the expansion and exploration of Wakanda's history and culture. I like the philosophical aspects. I like the artwork. I liked the ending to this volume.I'm not as keen on the somewhat glacial pacing. I didn't like T'Challa justifying why he put a team together consisting entirely of black superheroes. I felt like the writer was trying to justify his choices to the reader and he really didn't need to. It felt false, somehow.Still, like I...

If you didn't like vol.1 because there was too much talk there's little chance you'll like this one better. Revolutions are talking affairs.Coates somehow managed to cram a political novel into 12 comic books so of course it's laden with dialogues. His talent is to make them resounding and not annoying. The stakes and motives are clear, as well as the schematic of a revolution turning into terror. The allegiances and their evolution are clearly exposed. The personal conflicts and desires of the

Well I liked this one better then the first, and the artwork is gorgeous, and I love how they are blending myth and legend into futuristic Sci-fi, BUT I still can’t say it’s awesome. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s Coates, he’s a great author, but not exactly known for his action/adventure/sci-fi. Maybe they should have tapped Binti’s Okorafor or The Broken Earth’s Jemisin instead? I love the world they’ve created, but this story isn’t grabbing me.