Typical of the Jack Kirby comics we’ve read from the 1970s, the 1977 Black Panther series is a wild ride. Issues 5 and 6 feature a city of samurai (apparently nowhere near Japan), a yeti (nowhere near the Himalayas), and a nuclear missile (which is far too close to Wakanda). Wait, did we say “Wakanda”?! At last the series is inching back to the familiar territory, literally and figuratively, of a Black Panther story! But first, Panther has to survive Abner Little‘s snafu in the Samurai City. Tim and Emmet are along for the ride.
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FLASHBACK! In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest (a.k.a. Jim Owsley) made Panther a must-read and brought the nature of his character into sharper focus. Kumar and Tim discuss the first 17 issues (the ones included in 
Paul of “To the Batpoles” joins Tim and Mulele to discuss 2018’s “Black Panther” film, trying to separate political filmmaking from good filmmaking, and having different experiences based on whether they went in knowing the comics, the comics AND the film’s marketing, or neither.