The king and N'Gamo tell the two boys that there are unknown invaders on Wakanda's borders. Suspecting there might be war, T'Chaka has decided to send T'Challa away to keep him safe. The king has decided to send T'Challa to Chicago, accompanied by M'Baku. Both boys will attend South Side Middle School, posing as exchange students from Kenya. They will live at the African Embassy of Nations. M'Baku is excited at the prospect of living in America, believing they will have the freedom to do whatever they want. T'Challa however is concerned, believing he should stay in Wakanda to help his father. His conflicted feelings about leaving are deepended when his older stepbrother, Hunter berates T'Challa for leaving. Hunter accuses T'Challa of "running off to hide in America." Their strained relationship results in the two brothers fighting during the celebration prior to T'Challa leaving.
Just before he leaves for America, the king tells T'Challa that he believes the threat is from a scientist, Ulysses Klaw who has wanted to steal Wakanda's Vibranium. The next day T'Challa and M'Baku are flown by the king's private jet to Chicago. J'Aka, one of the king's top advisers accompanies the two boys to America, leaving them at the African Embassy of Nations.
Left to fend for themselves, T'Challa and M'Baku find their way to their school, register and settle in to take classes.They soon make two new friends, Zeke and Sheila who will turn out to be especially good and faithful friends. T'Challa and M'Baku are harassed by Gemini Jones and his friends DeShawn and Bicep. Zeke tells the two boys that Gemini is a warlock or a witch and that most people are afraid of him. .However, M'Baku is restless but when he proves to be a natural at basketball he joins the team and becomes friends with Gemini and his friends. Soon T'Challa finds his best friend has traded his friendship, responsibilities and duties for his desire for respect. Little does M'Baku realize, he's leading T'Challa into his first test as the future Black Panther.
Discussion
Black Panther: The Young Prince is loosely based on the Marvel Comic's superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Black Panther is an African superhero from the mythical African nation of Wakanda.
Long ago a meteorite comprised of the fictional vibration/energy-absorbing mineral crashed into Wakanda. When it was discovered and its unique properties realized, the Wakandans named it Vibranium. In the novel T'Challa indicates that the Wakanda warriors made weapons from the strange mineral. However, radiation from the meteor site turned several Wakandans into demon spirits. To overcome them, the warrior Bashenga entreated the Panther God, Bast to help and became the first Black Panther.
As previous Wakandan kings had done, T'Challa's father, the current Black Panther and king of Wakanda - T'Chaka has continued to conceal Wakanda from the outside world. The mineral has transformed the country into a technologically advanced civilization and the Black Panther kings believed its discovery would result in misuse of the mineral as well as exploitation of their kingdom.
T'Challa, heir to the Black Panther throne has been raised by his father as his mother, N'Yami had died in childbirth. This Black Panther story, written for younger readers takes up T'Challa's story as a boy coming of age.
At first it seems that T'Challa and M'Baku will have an uneventful experience as students at a middle school in Chicago until they find themselves drawn into a group with sinister designs through the use of black magic. While T'Challa stays true to himself, it is M'Baku whose rebellion puts the future Black Panther at risk. M'Baku's jealousy over his friend's status as prince of Wakanda, and his desire to be respected like T'Challa, leads him to disobey the king's command not to bring attention to themselves. He turns against his training and his responsibilities, falling in with the school bully Gemini who happens to be a good basketball player. M'Baku makes the basketball team and is eventually drawn further into Gemini's circle of friends and then into his family. He abandons T'Challa, moving in with Gemini's family. The ultimate betrayal comes when he steals the Vibranium ring that T'Chaka gave T'Challa.
However, T'Challa shows himself to be obedient, resourceful, intelligent, and a good judge of character. In contrast to M'Baku who is swayed by Gemini's words, T'Challa lives out his father's wisdom, "Many men will try to battle you with words, T'Challa, but words cannot sway a man from his duty" . Although he disobeys his father's command to keep his identity a secret, T'Challa does so reluctantly and only because he believes both Zeke and Sheila can be trusted. He also only uses the Vibranium suit in what he considers to be a dire emergency.
There are plenty of holes in this novelization of the Black Panther; for example it is unlikely that two young boys so vital to their country's leadership would be sent to America by themselves without a guardian. In another example, T'Challa and M'Baku arrive at their school where the school administration has no idea of their names and simply accept them without any identification. Yet another plot hole revolves around T'Challa's father giving his son a ring made of Vibranium, a metal with such amazing properties that Wakanda has hidden itself from the outside world so as to protect it's discovery. And yet a young boy is given this valuable metal as jewelry which might be easily lost or stolen. However, overall, the story of the young boy whose future is that of a superhero is well written and exciting, with a satisfying ending that sees T'Challa and M'Baku return safely to Wakanda, more experienced in the ways of the outside world.
Parents should be aware that there is some black magic in the novel and a frightening description of T'Challa's encounter with a demon.
Book Details:
Black Panther: The Young Prince by Ronald L. Smith
Los Angeles: Marvel Press 2018
264 pp
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