Ta-Nehisi Coates, New York Times best-selling author of Between The World And Me and The Message, offered his unique voice and perspective to the world of the Black Panther starting in 2016. The successful relaunch, which ran for several years, was critically acclaimed by both fans and critics and set the stage for the future of T’Challa and the nation of Wakanda. The first major arc of Coates’ Black Panther run is titled “A Nation Under Our Feet,” and focuses on T’Challa and his supporters quelling several anti-monarchical rebellions within Wakanda, ending with the creation of Wakanda’s first Republic.
For the very first time, Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet is collected in its entirety in paperback form. The seminal series has been given the honor of being one of Marvel’s first four Marvel Premier Collection books, alongside Daredevil: Born Again, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Fantastic Four: Solve Everything. Coates’ brilliant, thought-provoking, and lore-changing work has been reviewed over and over again (Spoiler: it’s amazing), so this review will focus more on the experience of the Premier Collection. However, I would never want to ignore the artistic contributions of artists Brian Stelfreeze, Chris Sprouse, and Laura Martin, whose artwork in this series is truly superb.
Marvel
Marvel’s new Premier Collection is designed to offer easy, accessible entry points into iconic Marvel franchises, and Coates’ Black Panther run is a great selection for this purpose. Not only does the series offer a “soft relaunch” of Black Panther and Wakanda, but it also perfectly sets up the next several years of storytelling, giving readers a wonderful entry into T’Challa’s ongoing trials and tribulations. That being said, a huge premise of A Nation Under Our Feet is the Wakandan people’s anger and disappointment in how T’Challa has ruled the country. A major part of this (quite reasonable) rage is T’Challa’s handling of Namor, Thanos, and the Black Order’s destruction of Wakanda, references that a new reader would not understand.
I can actually personally attest to the Marvel Premier Collection as an entry point into Marvel franchises, because my husband read and thoroughly enjoyed this collection. He has never read a Black Panther comic before and is now interested in reading Coates’ next Black Panther arc, The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda.
Marvel
Now, on to the physical book itself, which is in short, absolutely gorgeous. I love the black and red design of the Marvel Premier Collection and it definitely feels “special” to hold, the perfect balance between a trade paperback and a massive hardcover omnibus. The cover is soft, and the pages are printed on matte paper instead of glossy paper, making the collection feel more like a “book” than a comic. My one complaint about this trade paperback (which my husband also brought up) is that the binding is so tight that I had to almost break the spine to be able to read some of the dialogue on the far ends of the pages. Disappointing enough to remove .5 from my rating, but not enough to seriously damage my experience of reading the collection!
Besides the beautiful presentation of the comic and the content of the series itself, this Marvel Premier Collection also includes perhaps the single most amount of covers I have ever seen in a paperback collection. Not only are there full-size covers before every issue throughout the collection, but the back of the book includes an array of full-size and smaller variant covers, a beautiful display of Marvel’s diverse artistic portfolio. The collection also includes an interview between Coates and Ryan Coogler, writer and director of the MCU’s Black Panther, as well as a bunch of “process” pages of creating the comic. Plus, this collection features a lovely introduction by rapper and activist Killer Mike, a wonderful way to start the series.
I highly recommend Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, from the new Marvel Premier Collection imprint, for anyone who is a fan of Black Panther and wants a professional-feeling collection that isn’t a massive omnibus, or anyone who is looking to get into modern Black Panther comics. Ta-Nehisi Coates’ writing is breathtaking and thrilling, while the art from Stelfreeze and Sprouse is exemplary. While the binding makes reading some sections difficult, the overall physicality of the book is worth that one drawback, and makes for a beautiful addition to one’s comic collection.
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