I Am T'Challa. And I Am So Much More Than My Throne

Black Panther can exist without his crown. T'Challa has struggled to define himself since leaving Wakanda and losing his throne. Without royal status, he faced a Marvel hero crossroads.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Eve L. Ewing, Mack Chater, Chris Allen, Craig Yeung, Jesus Aburtov, and VC's Joe Sabin explore T'Challa's purpose beyond being king in Black Panther #8. T'Challa lost his crown fighting crime in Birnin T'Chaka since the series began. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He dressed as Black Panther without royal permission or resources. Time helps T'Challa know himself. T'Challa confidently shares city lessons after losing the crown. Finishing one self-discovery arc opens many Black Panther stories.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Some have compared T'Challa to Killmonger for his dubious final acts as king of Wakanda, including secretly maintaining a global sleeper agent network. Black Panther was exiled and dethroned when everything connected.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Since moving to crime-ridden Birnin T'Chaka, he's Batman-like street-level Black Panther. After fighting the mutant Monet St. Croix, T'Challa and his new Catwoman-like femme fatale friend Natima (Beisa) take a train back to Birnin T'Chaka. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The former king recounts his city education and humility to kill time. He feels stronger without kingship. He understands himself after losing everything. I'm T'Challa. I am more than throne."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

T'Challa became a street hero. T'Challa struggled to protect his city last issue, but self-reflection and city discovery advanced his superhero mission and character. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Most importantly, his self-discovery arc ends, allowing character-driven stories outside Wakanda and the Black Panther's rule.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Also See

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Anyone But You Broke An Impressive 8-Year Rom-Com Record