Black Panther #1
This Panini France hardcover marks the first time French readers could access John Ridley's 'The Long Shadow' arc, which represented a fundamental creative pivot for T'Challa after Ta-Nehisi Coates's years-long cosmic saga — pulling the character back to Earth and into a grounded espionage thriller that interrogated the fragility of Wakanda's nascent democracy. As the eighth volume of the Black Panther series, it brought an Academy Award-winning screenwriter into the Marvel Universe for the first time, lending the property an explicitly cinematic, politically charged sensibility. Panini timed the album's release to the French premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making it both an introduction to new readers swept in by the film and a meaningful continuation for longtime collectors. The arc's exploration of Wakandan sleeper agents and T'Challa's moral compromises as Avengers chairman gave the character a moral complexity that distinguished it from any previous Black Panther run.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The underlying US series was announced exclusively by The New York Times and originally scheduled for August 2021, but was pushed back three months, ultimately launching on November 24, 2021. Ridley publicly framed his approach in the context of the 2020 civil rights movement, describing the series as a story about different forms of love and collective hope. Panini France collected the first five issues (the complete 'Long Shadow' Part 1 story) into a 144-page hardcover album, released on November 9, 2022, presenting the material as 'inédits' — content that had never previously appeared in French translation.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Publisher: Panini France; release date: 9 November 2022; format: hardcover (cartonné), 144 pages, 17×26 cm; EAN 9791039111140.
- Reprints Black Panther (2021) #1–5 — the complete first arc, 'The Long Shadow' — previously unpublished in French ('inédits').
- Written by John Ridley (Academy Award winner for the screenplay of 12 Years a Slave, 2014) — his first major ongoing Marvel Comics series.
- Illustrated by Juann Cabal (a Marvel 'Stormbreaker' artist, previously on Guardians of the Galaxy) with colors by Federico Blee.
- The cover of the original US Black Panther (2021) #1 was painted by Alex Ross.
- Constitutes the eighth numbered volume of the Black Panther solo series in Marvel continuity; the US run lasted 15 issues (November 2021 – March 2023).
- The arc introduces Wakandan sleeper agents as a major plot element and features new supporting characters including Omolola and Jhai, T'Challa's closest friend whose apparent death triggers the central mystery.
- Panini France timed the album's publication to the French theatrical release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (also 9 November 2022), positioning it as a companion read for film audiences.
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