I would say that in Priest book, it was Tchalla who upgraded Wakanda to the 21st century, I would credit nearly all of the advancements we see in Priest BP as evidence of T'Challas genius. N'yami motherships, doomsday Panthers, his standard gear. Etc Iwould give credit to T'Challa.
Hudlin makes it trickier for sure by advancing Wakanda as a 10k unconquered power House that's been ahead since day one. That could of been mitigated better by having T'Challa advance Wakanda further them any other Black panther prior, such as a century jump ahead the likes of which we see advanced alien races taking note of earth, specifically Wakanda and noting that Wakanda will be responsible for Earth catching up to those civilizations technology and how Wakanda is maybe a century behind if that.
Thats what I would do if I were writing BP. I wouldn't necessarily need to say Tchalla is the smartest at any given field, but I would make him a jack of all trades master of none type that can fit into multiple categories of super genius, but isn't necessarily number 1 in them but can easily keep up with said characters. HOWEVER, he would be the shrewdest man alive for sure and the most underestimated man alive which would be due to being the most ingenuitive person on earth.
I agree with so much of this post above, especially the first two paragraphs. I also think that T'Challa should have been singled out for his singular megagenius in that he propels Wakanda...already ahead of everyone else in the world...ahead another century ON TOP of their already peerless advances in every field.
In my fanfic, I point out that Wakanda is the only place on Earth that was not conquered by The Slave Engine that enslaved The Inhumans, and both remained free from Doctor Doom's version of same, PLUS T'Challa destroyed Doctor Doom's Slave Engine during the Emperor Doom saga. This feat is the single action that elevated T'Challa in Doom's eyes to a threat on par with or superior to Reed Richards to Doom himself. Shuri innovated by creating Reality Erg defenses that protect Wakanda from subjugation in alternate realities, which T'Challa further improved with Shadow Physics and Reality Particles...the branch of science that I believe that T'Challa would have innovated after his experience recreating the 616 via The Reality Infinity Gem...to ensure Wakanda remained unconquered in EVERY reality that didn't see Wakanda as an aggressive Galaxy controlling interstellar Empire of ignoble purpose.
However. Consider this, Ezyo: When you write this right here:
"Thats what I would do if I were writing BP. I wouldn't necessarily need to say Tchalla is the smartest at any given field, but I would make him a jack of all trades master of none type that can fit into multiple categories of super genius, but isn't necessarily number 1 in them but can easily keep up with said characters. HOWEVER, he would be the shrewdest man alive for sure and the most underestimated man alive which would be due to being the most ingenuitive person on earth".--EZYO
Are you not acknowledging that by being a megagenius polymath of such proportions and achievement that said achievements propel T'Challa into the literal most gifted of each field of human intellect, and compounding this by stating that the result of such multitiered megagenius of T'Challa's is that he is the most ingenious person on Earth...that T'Challa is ALSO the SMARTEST person on Earth, by being amongst the most clever, the most inventive, the most original of intellects in every possible human endeavor?
The world record setting Decathlete is considered by almost every other athlete to be the greatest athlete in the world. Bar none.
Remember my Academic Decathlon example? Well...Following that line of reasoning? Then T'Challa being the most formidable megagenius polymath makes him the most formidable megagenius period. Bar none. T'Challa's crown is a collection of the most vaunted achievements, even if some would argue that he holds no single pinnacle achievement superior to all others in said crown [ like the Decathlete holds no single World Record superior to that of any of the Olympic specialists who compete in only a single event of the 10 events which Decathletes must masterfully compete in over a brutal 2 day span ].
Ingenious definition:
adjective
characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction:
an ingenious machine.
cleverly inventive or resourceful:
an ingenious press agent.
Obsolete .
intelligent; showing genius
Shrewd
shrewd
/SHro͞od/
adjective
1.
having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute.
"she was shrewd enough to guess the motive behind his gesture"
synonyms: astute, sharp-witted, sharp, acute, intelligent, clever, alert, canny, media-savvy, perceptive, perspicacious, observant, discriminating, sagacious, sage, wise, far-seeing, far-sighted; More
2.
ARCHAIC
Also, in my opinion, being "smart" is not the same as being "clever", which is NOT the same as being "intelligent" and especially none of the foregoing is equivalent to being "wise".
"The main difference between smart and clever is that clever connotes a sense of originality or ingenuity whereas smart doesn't. Smart is also used to describe the physical appearance of an individual. Smart refers to being intelligent and having the ability to apply the intelligence to practical situations."
"As for intelligence, it is the development of any progressive tendency (Carl Sagan) and is a general ability that can be broken down into categories. There is physical intelligence that sports people possess; inter-personal intelligence which is the ability to develop networks of relations; intra-personal intelligence which is the ability to tune ones emotions and communicate intra-personally; analytical intelligence which is often measured using the IQ instrument...."
I'm saying the above because noting T'Challa's shrewdness, his ingenuity, doesn't actually refer to his INTELLIGENCE...but rather other combined facets of T'Challa's personality type, personal inclinations, life experience which funnel his megagenius into unique and specific expressions.
Now here's where the specific ranking of such peak intellects is important, and which I think we should all consider regarding the supergenius and megagenius intellects...and that is: at what areas of intellect are the supergeniuses NOT supergenius at? In which areas would T'Challa remain a supergenius whereas all others in the super or megagenius Intellect areas would not? Let's look at the 9 Intelligences again:

Looking at the graphic above, there literally isn't a single area that T'Challa's supergenius falls off at. If there is one major exception to this statement of mine in the minds of most of those who don't know who and what T'Challa is? That exception would be The Intrapersonal Intellgience.
T'Challa's been outraged by not being properly presented with the feats reflective of his Intrapersonal Intelligence since his inception. T'Challa most definitely has the ability to "see" the components of say any poisons or bacteria or virus that enters his system, and consciously eradicate and/or alter same at a cellular level. This is literally an extension of Tibetan monks' ability to control the functions of the so-called "autonervous system". T'Challa most definitely can control his heartbeat, blood pressure, regularity and depth/shallowness of breath, etc in ways that would make the Bene Gesserit of the DUNE series have shiver me timbers envygasms. Therefore this right here...written by the otherwise magnificent David Liss...should NEVER have happened:


T'Challa's mind [ without any tech or assistance whatsoever ] would be very difficult to pierce by even the most potent telepaths, and it would be extremely dangerous for them to make the attempt. Psionically or spiritually dominating T'Challa would be out of the question for any but the more powerful cosmic beings...and even they would be very hard pressed to do such a thing, as Wakanda would have dedicated much of her more than one million years of existence to ensuring that the likes of Phoenix, Star Brand, the Kree, Odin, The Mad Celestials, The Eternals, etc could not overrun them. Therefore, The Shadow King has no chance of overcoming T'Challa as he was credited with doing in WORLDS APART by Yost [ liked the story, btw ]...and that's why I specifically targeted that occurrence in my fanfic and explained it away.
Consider Reed Richards. There is no question that Reed is a supergenius in the nonphysical intellectual areas...but not even in all of those areas is he a supergenius [ Reed doesn't get along with people in general especially well, so he's not a supergenius in the area of intellect that is referred to by Europeans as INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. In fact? Reed would "only" be slightly above average there ]. Whereas Reed would be a formidable musician because of his mastery of math and logic would allow him to put on incredible displays of music. But moreso along the lines of European classical music, operas, etc. His jazz would be technically correct and good, but lack that oomph that comes from seamless merging of jazz magic with purely emotional connection and expression.
Consider Tony Starks. While Starks is not as vaunted in intellect in the sheer Logic and Mathematical Intelligence department which is Reed Richards' pinnacle expression of Intelligence and probably the area that he outshines all others in [ if you follow the dominant 616 canon ], Starks mops the floor with Reed via INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. And Starks CAN FIGHT PRETTY DARN WELL, clearly better than the average person, and better than most SHIELD trained agents, etc. Therefore Starks has a higher overall KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE than Reed Richards. Also, Starks would be better at jazz than Reed, but at best only equal to Reed in classical music. Both would be good with Natural Intelligence but neither could see T'Challa, and I don't think that such is open to serious debate.
Even though Starks and Reed are probably equal in the area of being extremely gifted surgeons, is there a true argument that either are better surgeons than Doctor Strange? I would say there is an excellent argument for any of the three as pinnacle surgeons...although, most would lean toward Doctor Strange because being a surgeon is specifically his "thing".
Do you see where I'm going with this? I think that specifically breaking down the components of each of the Intelligences, and giving real world plus 'comic book" examples of the operations of each Intelligence, allows us to better define how each of the big brains on 616 Earth would perform in each area. This in turn would allow us to more clearly determine which of the Big Brains is actually the most "Intelligent" and why...and/or what factors outside of what is narrowly referred to as "The Intelligences" actually tip the scales in favor of or against such and such character, and why.
If we do this? I think that the end result will pretty clearly show that T'Challa holds the edge over everyone.
If I understand RH right? There is an even more potent argument that could say that T'Challa would, should and does outshine them all...because RH shrewdly propelled Wakanda ITSELF some 1000 years ahead of the rest of the world IN EVERYTHING, and cast The Black Panther as the pinnacle expression of all that is desirable in the Wakandan culture? It stands to reason that The Black Panthers are all the recipients of the most advanced, most rigorous, most unforgiving training in every field of human endeavor that THE LEADING CIVILIZATION OF EARTH CAN OFFER, and therefore? T'Challa is literally superior to almost everyone or literally everyone inside and outside of Wakanda...IN EVERYTHING. <--It's this position that Hudlin runs with, and he has a very good argument to draw from...especially since history proves that in more ancient times, Afrikan civilizations held precisely this kind of lead over everyone else in reality.
However, I think that...as I said before...T'Challa's most humongous advantage is that he is the most BALANCED megagenius on 616 Earth. Not only is he the pinnacle intellect or amongst the Top 3 pinnacle intellects in everything. Not only is he the shrewdest man on Earth [...which doesn't make him the shrewdest PERSON on Earth, btw...], T'Challa is unendingly clever and without question the WISEST of the megageniuses on Earth.
These last 3? Shrewdness. Cleverness. Wisdom from the spirituality and culture and soul of Wakanda. Are his aces in the hole which imo prevents him from falling off the precipices that lured and sent plummeting over their ledges the likes of Doom, Pym, Reed, Starks, and every other intellect except Lunella [ even Ri Ri was deeply struck to her core by the senseless driveby murder of her father; an incident which resonated in particular with T'Challa because of how T'Challa lost T'Chaka ]. In particular, the wisdom imparted to him by both Wakanda the civilization itself via its peerless education system AND the wisdom imparted literally to his soul by his spiritual connection to past Panthers...long before he became KOTD...prevents him from the kinds of excesses we see the other megageniuses fall prey to.
Imo Priest's story of T'Challa's descent into temporary near madness is still canon because T'Challa's descent isn't a fault of personal intelligence or lack of inner resources, but rather the result of the progressive debilitation caused by the inoperable brain aneurysm that T'Challa suffered by being struck a hundred and more times by the Iron Fist in at full power, swung to his skull by the fists of Danny Rand as Iron Fist...and which in my fanfic T'Challa cures with Shadow Physics.
What do yall think?