Black Panther: A Hero No More! by Peter B. Gillis, Denys Cowan, Sam DeLaRosa, et al.

from The Invincible Iron Man Annual vol. 1 #5

After the cancellation of Black Panther vol. 1, Black Panther popped up here and there across the Marvel universe. One of those places was "War and Remembrance!", an issue of Iron Man where Iron Man/Tony Stark comes to Wakanda to set up some kind of tech deal, but at the same time who should return but... Killmonger! Keen to begin his takeover all over again, he defeats T'Challa and takes over the country, but of course we soon learn he killed only a convenient Life Model Decoy. Then at the end we learn that Iron Man foe the Mandarin was somehow responsible for Killmonger's resurrection.

It's nice to see McGregor's run back in play after it was ignored during Kirby's, but this story is just fine. Like, it is not bad but I am not sure it has much going for it either. It is much more a Black Panther story than an Iron Man one, though, so I can see why it was included in one of the Black Panther collections I was able to access on Hoopla.

Black Panther finally got his own title again in 1988, nine years after the cancellation of Black Panther vol. 1. (In my post title here, I've called it "A Hero No More!" after a blurb on the cover of issue #1, but it has no official title as far as I can tell.) This was a four-issue miniseries, bringing in real social issues: a rebellion against apartheid is brewing in the fictional country of Azania, and many Azanians think their neighbors in Wakanda should aid them—and many Wakandans agree. But T'Challa does not, which leads to a challenge to his right to rule Wakanda, and then he is attacked by a group of white supremacist superheroes from Azania... and the panther-god himself!

from Black Panther vol. 2 #4

It's a bit all over the place, and some of it works and some of it does not. I like the art of Denys Cowan and Sam DeLaRosa, though I don't really get the wisdom of giving Black Panther cat eyes in and out of costume. They do a great job with the fight scenes, particularly the showdown with the panther-god, and it's neat to see T'Challa tested in such a way.

On the other hand, seeing his right to rule challenged is not so interesting; so far, we've had Killmonger's attempted takeover in Jungle Action, T'Challa's half-brother's military coup in Black Panther vol. 1, Killmonger's seeming assassination in "War and Remembrance!", and now this. That's four time across five runs on the character! It's a natural enough well to go to when your protagonist is the ruler of a country, but if everyone goes to that well, it makes that ruler seem a pretty ineffective one.

from Black Panther vol. 2 #2

The Supremacists are a bit dopey. Which, I guess is the point, they are white supremacists, but I think the story wants me to take them seriously as opponents for the Black Panther. On the other hand, embroiling T'Challa in real-seeming politics worked well in Jungle Action, and it's decent-enough ground here, and the ending worked pretty well, as real change comes to Azania.

Again, the politics of Wakanda here don't benefit from the fact that nothing seems to carry over from previous runs on the character: no one from McGregor or Kirby appears here as far as I can tell.

"War and Remembrance!" originally appeared in issue #5 of The Invincible Iron Man Annual vol. 1 (Nov. 1982). The story was scripted and co-plotted by Peter Gillis, co-plotted by Ralph Macchio, pencilled by Jerry Bingham, inked by Dan Green, lettered by Diana Albers, colored by Beth Firmin, and edited by Mark Gruenwald. It was reprinted in Marvel-Verse: Black Panther (2020), which was edited by Jennifer Grünwald.

Black Panther vol. 2 originally appeared in four issues (July-Oct. 1988). The story was written by Peter B. Gillis, pencilled by Denys Cowan, inked by Sam DeLaRosa, lettered by Rick Parker, colored by Bob Sharen (#1-3) and "Max" Scheele (#4), and edited by Mark Gruenwald. 

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