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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780785121077
ISBN number: 0785121072
Label: Marvel Comics
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 136
Printing Date: November 22, 2006
Publishing house: Marvel Comics
Sale Popularity Level: 87214
Studio: Marvel Comics
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Every King needs a Queen - and that's exactly what the Black Panther is searching for! Hop on board here, True Believer, as the King of Wakanda embarks on an epic quest to find a wife - the outcome of which will send reverberations throughout the whole Marvel Universe. You don't want to miss out on history in the making! Collects Black Panther #14-18.
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Rated by buyers 
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i've been surprised at how much i've been enjoying this series. hudlin has taken a pretty obvious ploy of boosting a lesser-known character by pairing him up w/ one of their most popular and made something worthwhile out of it. this story arc concerns the marriage and so it doesn't have a whole lot of action, and it feels a little incohesive. but there are some fine details that, aside from the fact that this is a huge historic occasion in the marvel universe, make it worth picking up, inc. a sequence of 1 page reactions from various marvel groups (e.g. the fantastic four, the astonishing x-men, etc.) that are pretty funny. hudlin also acknowledges the close relationship other members of the marvel universe have had with storm (particularly w/ wolverine and forge) and references and alludes to more recent occurrences in other titles (inc. young avengers and new avengers). all in all this looks like a great beginning to a relationship that could've easily felt contrived but feels believable thanks to some solid writing. i'm def. looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Rated by buyers 
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I just don't think there's enough story here, considering this graphic novel collects five comics--Black Panther #s 14-18--that lead up to, and then present, a significant comic-book moment: the marriage of two major Marvel characters, Storm of the X-Men, and T'Challa, the Black Panther. The art is quite stunning, the pace is jaunty, especially as more and more superheroes start orbiting around the two lovers as their special day approaches--a bachelour party and some shopping to do first--but if you start picking this thing apart looking for powerful dramatic content, you find almost nothing until the wedding-day. The rest seems nothing more than a series of trivial incidents, or outright false alarms.
"False alarms"? Well, there's all this worry over security at the wedding. The folks of SHIELD worry about how the cluster of world leaders and important political personas, plus countless recognizable super-heroes with many enemies, are to be kept safe at such a large public spectacle. Um...are they serious? The biggest collection of superheroes found together, and someone is worried about spectator safety? Where, exactly, would one feel safer. I found this whole endeavor at dramatic tension ludicrous. And anyway, it all comes to nothing; issue # 16 (included) ends with one lone villain plotting nefariousness at the nuptials, and when the time comes, this rather silly villain wears velvet gloves. Then there's Princess Zanda who, according to her melodramatic speech, is the only one destined to wed the Black Panther. Very impressive!--But all she does is fly from the South of France to Wakanda to disrupt some of Storm's shopping. It goes on and on like this...weird, scattered scenes showing villains (HYDRA, the Arabian Knight, and Man-Ape) looking like fools as they all try to ruffle disrupt the romance in various strange ways.
If your story ends up having no real hidden menace, please don't spend five comic books suggesting that there is.
But then, I started this story a bit confused, and kind of insulted on Storm's behalf. I haven't read previous issues of this Black Panther series, but the one-page prologue--as well as the cover of issue # 14, with its depiction of T'Challa trying to decide which heroine to wed (Rogue, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman etc. behind him, presumably on pins and needles)--make this kind of a tasteless scenario. Sorry--I know a monarch is a bit more procedure-oriented than the rest of us when taking/making a royal spouse, but isn't he in love? What's this "choose" and "decide" business?--No wonder Storm plays hard to get. Good for her.
Also, the bachelour party. Besides being another false alarm--Luke Cage and others shown planning a rip-roaring bachelorfest that we barely get to see--it is prefaced, and followed, by just about every male superhero present in this story expressing lascivious thoughts about Ororo. Oh, she's beautiful. I know that. But I just thought it was a bit tawdry that all the males have apparently been harbouring intense sexual feelings for Storm since time immemorial, even those fellows have up til now never really expressed such feelings. I felt like Storm better run far away, lest some kind of Zuleika Dobson effect kick in.
What else?--Captain America and Iron Man behave like babies at a celebration they obviously don't respect. I've never been more disappointed in either of them, then when they can't behave like adults here. And the Watcher floats in. I don't know why. Characters ponder the enormous import of his sudden appearance, but uh, he's just there. I don't know why. Was he even invited? Shouldn't he have been asked to leave.
I must say the art is gorgeous; Ororo's dress is gorgeous. Wakanda is depicted as a lush sunny paradise. The colours are vibrant and sharp. This is not a dark shadowy story, and at least the art is not trying to pretend this is spooky stuff.
I scarcely know what to make of this lead-up to a wedding. You know you're in trouble when Doctor Doom of all people shows the most class at a superhero wedding, amongst all the other immature behaviour, that is more awkward than funny. Even the wedding presents look crummy. Ororo, T'Challa...you need new friends, and new enemies.
They should've eloped, and bumped into Annihilus or somebody.
Rated by buyers -
T'Challa, The Black Panther (conjure up a REALLY cool Batman, but re-imagine him as an African king of a very rich nation), and Storm of the X-MEN fame get married in a story that mixes poignant Black family moments, humour and a slight dose of African spirituality.
BLACK PANTHER: THE BRIDE continues the tone established by BP writer Reginald Hudlin. It has the action of a James Bond movie (complete with a Mile High Club moment where you could almost hear the Bond theme :)), the humour of "The Boondocks", the sophistication and depth of---well, never mind that part. Hudlin's dialogue is still jarringly uneven (made worse, unfortunately, because he is improving as a writer) and Eaton's well-crafted artwork is colored a little on the dark side. But this arc's creators are caught trying hard to entertain using a modern (Black) popular culture context instead of the in-bred references of the world of Marvel Zombies.
The story takes its time. As with most of Hudlin's work, it works better as a collected trade paperback. You'll see the proposal, a Brazilian bachelour party, a girl-on-girl department store smackdown, an African marriage ceremony where Bast has to approve the bride, a tragically-brief truce in Marvel's CIVIL WAR and, finally, a reception brawl. The engaged couple kick butt fast so they can get to the romance. Hudlin's large amount of time for (his version of their) characterization shows his great care for the characters, particularly the engaged couple.
Accepting this title on its own (new) terms is mandatory for the reader's enjoyment. (As one poster on the Black Panther Message Board has theorized, Hudlin seems to be writing an adaptation of the character within the character's own book.) Those who liked Hudlin's other single-authored BP storyarcs (BLACK PANTHER: WHO IS THE BLACK PANTHER and BLACK PANTHER: BAD MUTHA, both selling here in trade paperback form) will like this one. It's a romantic tale that celebrates Black Love, with the King and his Queen living happily ever after in their great African castle.
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