In the first tag at the end of the blockbuster Captain America: Civil War, audiences got the briefest glimpse of the secretive and technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda, home of Chadwick Boseman’s kick-ass T’Challa/Black Panther. In the great audio commentary on the Blu-ray/DVD release, directors Anthony and Joe Russo talk about how they deliberately went minimal with the Wakanda material because they wanted to leave room for Ryan Coogler to flesh it out in his own Black Panther solo movie. However, fans need only look to the Marvel comics to get an idea of what’s in store, which gave us the idea to incorporate Wakanda in a list of The 10 Coolest Places in Comics, which you can check out in the gallery below!
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In our list, you’ll find a grim and gritty megalopolis side-by-side with whimsical fantasy worlds and undersea kingdoms. Rather than sticking to locales of the big two comics universes (Marvel and DC) we went wider to incorporate titles from the UK, Japan, indie comics and even one very important newspaper strip. These range from intricate cities to expansive dreamscapes that could only truly come to vivid life in the pages of a comic book.
We hope you dig the eclectic choices we made, but like all our lists, we encourage you to let us know other cool places we left out in the comments below!
The 10 Coolest Places in Comics
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Gotham City (Batman)
Forget boring old Metropolis. The DC Universe version of New York, Gotham has always been something of gritty extension of its most famous inhabitant, Batman.
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Gotham City (Batman)
With its tall spires and Art Deco architecture, it's generally a grim place filled with smog, crime, corruption, rusting girders and stone gargoyles. In other words, the perfect place for a Dark Knight.
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Asgard (Thor)
The lynchpin city among the mythical Nine Worlds of Norse Mythology, unified by the world tree Yggdrasil, it was first depicted in the Marvel Universe in Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's Thor comics.
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Asgard (Thor)
A shining beacon of strength and protection, it is connected to the other realms via a rainbow bridge known as the Bifröst. It is frequently subject to attack and even wholesale destruction in the comics, made all the more vulnerable when King Odin falls into his regenerative Odinsleep.
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Neo-Tokyo (Akira)
Located next to the empty ruins of Old Tokyo, Neo-Tokyo is Japan's capital city in the wake of World War III, and home to over 21 million people in Katsuhiro Otomo's famed manga series and anime film of the same name.
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Neo-Tokyo (Akira)
The sprawling megalopolis is home to many street gangs, like the series' central protagonists Kaneda and Tetsuo. It eventually becomes a psychic battleground of immense proportions.
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Atlantis (Aquaman)
Deep beneath the North Atlantic Ocean lies Atlantis, an underwater city that has stood for millennia and most famous as the home of Aquaman/Arthur Curry and his queen Mera.
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Atlantis (Aquaman)
The city is generally depicted inside translucent domes, and has been the location for numerous conflicts and battles with both armies and sea monsters. It will be shown onscreen in the upcoming DC movies starring Jason Momoa.
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Riverdale (Archie)
With no clear location within the US, Riverdale has become synonymous with small town Americana, as well as the fictional home of Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and co. since 1941.
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Riverdale (Archie)
While Riverdale High School is the centerpiece location of the comics, other important parts of town include Pop Tate's soda shop, Pickens' Park, Veronica's family mansion, the beach and, of course, Riverdale Mall. It will serve as the namesake of an upcoming TV series on The CW.
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Jarvath (Nonplayer)
Somewhere between The Danger Room in X-Men and The Matrix lies The Warriors of Jarvath, an immersive game that exists in a virtual world in Nate Simpson's brilliant Nonplayer comics. We enter this medieval-ish landscape with Dana, whose warrior avatar does battle -- on a giant flying cat, mind you -- with an army of warriors safeguarding a princess.
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Jarvath (Nonplayer)
Although the meticulous Simpson has only released two issues in his six-issue cyberpunk series over the last five years, in that time he won an Eisner Award and had film rights optioned by Warner Bros. Even though it may take him 20 more years to complete at this rate, what's there so far indicates it will be well worth the wait.
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Mega-City One (Judge Dredd)
If you're looking for a more futuristic superhero abode, then look no further than Mega-City, home of judge/jury/executioner Senior Judge Joseph Dredd.
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Mega-City One (Judge Dredd)
From its first appearance as a 2099 New York in the first Judge Dredd comics in 1977, it was eventually expanded to cover the entire eastern seaboard of the United States, with New York just one neighborhood. Its sprawling skyscrapers and crime-ridden streets had an impact on future dystopias like Blade Runner.
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Slumberland (Little Nemo)
Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" (also known as "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams") ran intermittently in newspapers from 1905 to 1926, revolving around the title boy's fantastical dreams.
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Slumberland (Little Nemo)
Even though the strip is over 100 years old, the lavish artwork and unbridled imagination on display is virtually unparalleled in the years since, and it is still reprinted, studied and enjoyed to this day.
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Wakanda (Black Panther)
The most prominent African nation in the Marvel Universe, which through the landing of a meteorite became the main supplier of the powerful mineral vibranium. In an attempt to shield themselves from the outside world, Wakanda became a highly-secretive and technologically-advanced nation.
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Wakanda (Black Panther)
T'Challa is part of the Black Panther Cult, which protects the vibranium and serves as the de-facto protector of Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman's portrayal of him in the movie is stoic, honorable and wise, with a quiet tenor not unlike a young Nelson Mandela.
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Duckburg (Carl Barks' Disney Comics)
Located in the fictional U.S. state of Calisota, this creation of artist Carl Barks serves as the home of Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, Louie and all the rest of the Duck gang later depicted in the TV series "DuckTales."
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Duckburg (Carl Barks' Disney Comics)
Before it was a TV show, it was its own self-contained world filled with various anthropomorphized animals and Gyro Gearloose's crazy inventions, not to mention Scrooge McDuck's building-sized Money Bin and Yarvard University.
