Just read issue 5. This is much more like it. It's not great but it's starting to get good.
The crazy thing about this issue is that it has a lot of positives, imho.
-Art is on point. Sprouse is doing his thing.
-The issue is well-written, imho.
-This issue flowed very well. Far better than the previous issues.
-This is the most amount of focus T'Challa has received this entire run. Even more than #4.
-This issue actually had a good start, all things considered. T'Challa appeared assertive, in command, and in control. Momentum seemed to finally be on his side.
-Those who are Shuri fans or care about Shuri get to see more of her journey. Still vague at the moment but there is a build up.
-T'Challa's convo with the captive was very intriguing. The captive threw verbal shots at him about stuff that went down in the previous events. T'Challa turns the convo around in a very unexpected way and took control of the conversation. He even manages to convince the captive to agree to a pact, something the captive clearly had no intention of doing a few seconds ago. This is an example of how unpredictable this book can be, but this time is was quite positive.
Then there are the negatives.
-Shuri's journey is still very vague. No idea at all were its headed. Willing to be patient but its moving very slowly. Perhaps too slowly for some readers.
Then there is the "wtf..."
-The meeting. We've all addressed this one. It just doesn't fit the character of T'Challa, imho. It def doesn't fit the historical interpretation of his advisors, who are generally more hard line and/or xenophobic than he is. Even those who don't fit that mold generally prefer not to have foreigners involved in their affairs.
Yet, in a situation in which T'Challa is receiving a big amount of scrutiny for his past affiliations with foreigners, his advisors suggests he meets with foreign counter-revolutionary experts...in (it appears) Wakandan soil. Then to top it off, this experts are part of dictatorships, despots, or other various forms of oppressive regimes.
As it's been mentioned before, unless there is something about that meeting that is revealed...it's just very, very, very weird for T'Challa to agree to this meeting. He's dealt with coups before. He's even dealt with alien invasions and even existence being in jeopardy itself. Not saying that this situation doesn't have its unique problems, but to the point that he or his advisors would agree to such a meeting? And then a meeting with
those guys in particular? Then it appears that holding that meeting blew up in his face, unless again there something about that meeting we won't know about, which I doubt.
Honestly, it's like I said before in my initial review of this issue. A lot of longtime fans will have to strongly consider dropping the book or wait for the big trade (all 12 issues in one book) to avoid the month-to-month grind, if they haven't done so yet. There will be longtime fans that will like this book and that's fine. This book has positives, and in some cases pleasant surprises.
But this book is also redefining a loooooot of key things about T'Challa and Wakanda,and even what a "BP book" is. And those redefinitions are very likely not going to be liked or even tolerated by a lot of the longtime fans. I recall a lengthy interview Coates did about this run in which the interviewer warned Coates more than once that his approach to T'Challa and Wakanda will most likely not be liked by many longtime fans. That interviewer was on the money.
Strange times are ahead of us everyone.
