Three Stories from Black Panther Adventures by Marc Sumerak, Ig Guara, Jay Leisten, Elliott Kalan, Christopher Jones, et al.

Black Panther Adventures

Collection published: 2017
Contents originally published: 1968-2013
Read: October 2025

This collection of Black Panther comics was recently added to Hoopla; it consists of six stories from non–Black Panther books (mostly Avengers, with one Fantastic Four story), mostly not set in the "main" Marvel Universe. In original release order (which is not the order the stories are collected here), they come from The Avengers #52 and 62, Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #10, Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #22, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1, and Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #8. Of these six, I'd already read three of them: the two regular Avengers stories were collected in Mighty Marvel Masterworks Presents The Black Panther, Volume 1 and the Fantastic Four story in Marvel-Verse: Black Panther. 

Thus, I'm just reading and reviewing the three new-to-me stories collected here.

Writers: Jeff Parker, Marc Sumerak, Christopher Yost, Elliott Kalan, Roy Thomas

Pencilers: Manuel Garcia, Ig Guara, Patrick Scherberger, Christopher Jones, John Buscema

Inkers: Scott Koblish, Jay Leisten, Patrick Scherberger, Pond Scum, Vince Colletta, George Klein

Colorists: Andrew Crossley, Ulises Arreola, Jean-François Beaulieu

Letterers: Dave Sharpe, Clayton Cowles, Sam Rosen, Art Simek

I think that far too many Black Panther stories released prior to the character's MCU debut feel the need to introduce him by making him the ruler of this mysterious land our heroes know nothing about. That was the approach taken in Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #10, collected here, among other stories, and it's also the approach taken in Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #22 ("Wakanda the Wild Side!" by Marc Sumerak, Ig Guara, and Jay Leisten). I guess it's a perfectly valid approach to introduce the character... but it also makes for a pretty boring story in this particular instance, as the Black Panther is thus mostly a side presence. Which I guess is okay, this is an Avengers comic, not a Black Panther one... but then why put it in a Black Panther book? Anyway, I didn't think this one had much going on. Also, what a weird Avengers line-up: Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Giant-Girl (nee the Wasp)... can you even have X-Men on the Avengers? It doesn't seem right.

The other two stories are, thankfully, ones where Black Panther actually is in the Avengers. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1 ("Trust" by Christopher Yost and Patrick Scherberger*) is a six-pager about Black Panther teaming up with Hawkeye. It's fine, though I didn't find the bickering terribly believable.

Next panel: Black Panther getting overwhelmed, of course.
from Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #8

I did find the bickering believable in Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #8 ("Mayhem of the Madbomb!" by Elliott Kalan, Christopher Jones, and... Pond Scum!? I guess not everyone's parents can be good at naming kids), where Black Panther is forced to team up with the Hulk when literally no other Avenger is available to stop terrorists from setting off a "madbomb" on the Empire State Building. Never were two superheroes less well-matched, and both story and art are fun. Clearly the best of the three new-to-me stories.

 ACCESS AN INDEX OF ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES HERE 

* On the collection's credit page, the artist is given as Scott Wegener, but in the actual story, Patrick Scherberger. As far as I can tell from the GCD, Wegener did the art for the main story in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1, not the back-up, which is what's actually collected here.

Faster than a DC Bullet: Project Crisis!, Part LXIX: Convergence: Infinite Earths, Book 2

Comic trade paperback, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2015)
Borrowed from the library
Read June 2017

Convergence: Infinite Earths, Book 2

Writing by Jeff Parker, Scott Lobdell, Dan Jurgens, Brian Buccellato, and Simon Oliver

Art by Evan "Doc" Shaner, Yishan Li, Alvaro Martinez & Raul Fernandez, Phil Winslade, and John McCrea
Colors by Jordie Bellaire, Dave McCaig, Chris Sotomayor, Lovern Kindzierski, and John Kalisz
Letters by Saida Temofonte, Corey Breen, and Rob Leigh

This is the last of the Convergence books where the heroes comes from the era of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The previous books covered Earth-1 and Earth-2; this one gives us a wide range of multiple Earths, with the heroes (and villains) of Earth-3, Earth-4, Earth-S, and Earth-X(2). Plus it contains a story about the Booster Golds of both the pre- and post-Flashpoint Earth-0.

Who doesn't like superheroes who like being superheroes?
from Convergence: Shazam! #2 (script by Jeff Parker, art by Evan "Doc" Shaner)

Like all of these Convergence volumes, some are better than others. The very best, though-- and perhaps the best of all the Convergence tales I've read so far-- is the cover story, about the Marvel Family of Earth-S. It's somewhat interesting that early 2015 saw DC publish two different Captain Marvel stories in multiversal events, and in cases of both The Multiversity and Convergence, the Captain Marvel story was hailed as one of the very best ones. Like Grant Morrison's Captain Marvel story, Jeff Parker and Evan "Doc" Shaner's is a total delight, with tons of goofy concepts given a good light. Unlike some of DC's attempts to work with Captain Marvel, these tales embrace it for what it is, and are all the better for it. Shaner's art is amazing, Jordie Bellaire's coloring is beautiful, and the plot twists are excellent (I loved the reveal of who was behind it all). Plus, who could fail to like the Marvel Family versus a flotilla of steampunk air-ships? If DC had any sense, they'd have put Parker and Shaner on an Earth-5/Thunderworld ongoing series featuring the Captain Marvel characters. I know they are working on Future Quest together now, and I'm sure it's good, but it can't be as good as that would be.

Someday I'll read the Booster Gold series that leads up to this and actually know what is being referred to by the pre-Flashpoint Booster.
from Convergence: Booster Gold #1 (script by Dan Jurgens, art by Alvaro Martinez & Raul Fernandez)

The best of the rest is the Booster Gold story, which shows some of what the pre-Flashpoint Booster Gold has been up to since the events of The World of Flashpoint and Futures End, and has him meeting the New 52 Booster Gold, who hasn't come as far character-wise as his counterpart. I enjoyed this story a lot even if I didn't understand it; more Booster Gold is always a good thing, especially when you build in some tender Ted Kord moments. Does the story of Booster Gold go on anywhere from here, though?

Ted knows how to prioritize.
from Convergence: Blue Beetle #2 (script by Scott Lobdell, art by Yishan Li)

The other stories are meh, not really doing enough to make you care about them, even if you're predisposed to like the characters, as I am with the Earth-4 Blue Beetle (not to be confused with the Zero Hour-era Earth-1 Blue Beetle who appears in the Booster Gold story, and in the next volume too).

Next Week: The Justice League International, Catwoman, Superboy, Green Arrow and Green Arrow, and the Suicide Squad battle for their lives in Convergence: Zero Hour, Book 1!