Coming to comic book stores this June, Marvel Comics' Black Panther will see T'Challa make his return in a new solo ongoing series from the creative team of writer Eve L. Ewing (Monica Rambeau: Photon) and Marvel's Stormbreaker artist Chris Allen.
Banished from the throne and a fugitive in his own homelands, T'Challa still can't leave Wakanda without its sworn protector. A king without a crown, he finds new purpose lurking the streets and shadows of the Wakandan city that bears his father's name, Birnin T'Chaka.
The publisher is promising a new direction, new villains, and a new creative team, and that revamped design for the hero is certainly an interesting one.
This won't be the first time Black Panther has served as a street-level superhero as he once protected Hell's Kitchen in place of Daredevil. However, setting the action in an unexplored corner of Wakanda is definitely intriguing and promises to put a brand new spin on this iconic character. Could this be the plan for Shuri in the MCU? That obviously remains to be seen.
"I am so excited for people to see this character design!" Ewing says. "T'Challa is going to be looking really different. It's much more edgy and kind of homespun. It's not so sleek and slick. Not giving too much away from the story, he's trying not to be seen. He's kind of working incognito."
"What I can say, honestly, is that we will be seeing Wakanda in a way that we have not seen it ever before."
This new ongoing series follows notable flagship Black Panther runs written by legendary authors, most recently including John Ridley, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and many talented writers who have contributed to other Black Panther and Wakanda series including Nnedi Okorafor, Roxane Gay, Yona Harvey, Evan Narcisse, Bryan Edward Hill, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rembert Browne, and more.
Take a look at Taurin Clarke's over below along with Chris Allen's design sheet. As noted, Black Panther #1 will arrive in comic book stores this June.