If you want to invest in the movie hyped books for Black Panther 2, this is article for you. Some or even all of these books might not hold value because they are not historically significant books. This is why they are all cheap. However, with Black Panther and its related characters like Shuri, Man Ape etc getting so popular, they might be worthwhile to gamble on.

My criteria

I picked up these books based on a few criteria:

• Based on the Christopher Priest run. It is no secret that the first movie was largely based on this run and there are plenty of solid materials left to dive into.

• Significant supporting roles: The books I highlight here have first appearance of characters who might go beyond a one off showing. Hence, you will not find all the first appearance listings, just the significance ones.

• Recurring role in the comics: Related to the above point, the best way to spot non one-off characters is to see whether they are recurring in the comics. What roles do they play there? Is it frequent? Is it important? Hence, reading the comics do help to answer these questions.

Black Panther comic picks

Here are some cheap books to look out for

Black Panther Vol 3 #24

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This is the issue whereby Nakia became the villain known as Malice. In Black Panther #1, Nakia was the love interest and is already established in the MCU. It wouldn’t take much to transform her into a villain for the sequel to set up drama for the main character. This wouldn’t be a big book. If the news pan out as predicted, it might be a $20-30 book. Supply is around 22k, according to its North America sales number.

Editor’s note: There is another character in Jungle Action #8 that goes by the name of Malice. It is not the same person.

Black Panther Vol 3 #50

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Kasper Cole was one of the better villains introduced in the Priest run and this is his first appearance. He became Black Panther for a while before donning the White Panther costume. With a mixed heritage and a possible villain-turn-hero scenario, Kasper looks perfect to be a strong supporting cast member for the Black Panther family.

The book itself features a pretty cool first appearance cover that is sorely missing from Shuri’s first appearance. It is also the start of the Black and White storyline. Best of all, this is not a high supply book. Comichron has it selling for 20K copies. In contrast, Black Panther Vol 4 #2 has sales of 47k. If popularity of this character is high, I could see it becoming a $40-60 book.

Black Panther Vol 3 #2 & #3

This is the weakest of the books covered here. They feature the first appearance of the Achebe, who is sort of a priest like villain. I am only pointing them out just in case you manage to purchase a run and do not know that these 2 issues have a villain first appearance. Don’t buy them specifically. At least I know I wouldn’t.

Jungle Action Vol 2 #18

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Not part of the Priest run but I am putting it here just to let you guys know about this character. Madam Slay (cool name by the way) is the wife of KillMonger. Can you say motivation? Her flashbacks are a good way to bring KillMonger back for the sequel so it might be worth noting. This, again will not be a big book even if she appear in the MCU. Invest accordingly.

Conclusion

I hope you guys are not too disappointed to see these books. It is getting harder and harder to find books that have not been talked about as the comic spec scene has really heated up. These books are currently not on anyone’s radar so I hope this will give you something to chew on. I got a couple of other interesting picks coming up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!