They did Batman like that for a decade, but no one's imposing an idiotic emotional handicap on T'Challa. They break his back and replace him with a kid, though, I'm out.

And the first issue of the new series is the best travel guide ANY comicbook country has received.

I wouldn't put Khandaq on the list, not because of some grudge I have against Johns (because that would be petty and childish) but because the country doesn't have much going for it. Johns gave us a good idea for a country, and it's being picked up on now, but since the story wasn't set in Khandaq, we haven't gotten to see much of it.

Sierra Gordo is definitely owed a spot somewhere on that list. Maybe an honorable mention? 5 1/2?

I'd almost include Symkaria, since it borders Latveria but is at constant peace with it, and its entire national economy rests entirely on Silver Sable's bounty hunting skills. Now THAT's a goofy gem of an idea...

If that's the case I want you all too protest to the company publishing the adventures I appear in and get me a better plotter, who gives me a new direction.

(Not Judd Winnick though).

Palomar doesn't really count as a fictional country, because Beto has never identified what country it's in.

That's the best fictional country in comics.

And what about Aquiria?

...you know. Steve Engelhart's run on Fantastic Four, home of the villain Fasaud......

...never mind.

Then there's also Vlatavia, home of Count Vertigo and Markovia, home of Geo Force from the Outsiders. I wonder if they were each elected into the European Union.

Er, actually, yes, when you consider how obstructionist many of the African Union powers have been, for various reasons.

I disagree that Wakanda's history has to involve being ravaged by colonial powers. Ethiopia famously avoided and defeated colonization during the scramble for Africa. Now it has had to deal with poverty and other issues that weren't the result of European powers, but its own internal leaders and problems (that have been influenced by external forces, but that gets complex). But I don't see why a fictional African nation can't work off the idea of remaining independent and be a resource-rich, technologically-advanced state.

I don't read the Black Panther comic so I don't know if this is/was explored, but it would be interesting to see if Wakanda has/had similar or even greater influence than Ethiopia has had in Africa and abroad. For instance, during African decolonization, several African countries adopted the colors of the Ethiopian flag in their own, Rastafarianism obviously formed around worship of Haile Selassie, and the African Union is headquarted in Addis Ababa, amongst other things. Even if Wakanda is isolationist, I would expect it would be very influential to other African countries.

Stone the crows, mate!

cheers!

Bangala is interesting because it has changed over the course of the Phantom comic's long publication to reflect the times. At first (this is going back to the 1930s and 40s) it was a colony (originally an island near Java, IIRC), and the Phantom's adventures often involved members of the colonial military. It's all very vague as to who the colonial power is (presumably Britain or the US), but the reader can fill in these blanks themselves. Nowdays Bangala is a model democracy, but there's still the occasion coup or invasion that the Phantom and his pal, President Luanda, have to put down.

Bengala definitely deserves the spot occupied by Australia on the list.

(I might add I say that as an Australian. True, there is a heavily fictional Australia that occasionally turns up in comics - ie the Australia that produced Captain 'yer bike!' Boomerang - but more recently the version we've seen, eg in 52, is only lightly fictional. That is to say, lots of people do actually say 'g'day' and 'mate'. )

cheers!

Agreed--in spades!

But the reality of Africa is that it has been ravaged by colonial powers. Any realistic presentation of Wakanda would have to be as a nation that has had to overcome a history of European imperialism and the corrupt local governments left in its wake. Now, I'd be interested in reading a comic like that, but the fact is Hudlin isn't remotely interested in writing it. He's writing wish-fulfillment dressed up as gritty realism. That grotesque stylistic clash is what irritates me.

But if it counts somehow, then I at least want to give a nod to Dinosaur Island.

As for Wakanda, I've had my fair share to say in the past elsewhere. And the realism/fantasy conflict was the subject of what might be my favorite bit: Guns, Germs, and Vibranium.