Black Panther Vol. 2 #2 -
For Duty, for Honor, for Country!
T'Challa is essentially under armed guard as an investigation for his fitness to rule is underway. However, he's more concerned with the Panther Beast across the border. Meanwhile, an Azanian super team is gathering. They're called The Supremacists and at least one has an Afrikaans name. I'm always in favor of more super teams, although this one lacks quite a bit of subtlety. I thought McGregor's story about real South Africa had a lot more nuance and complexity than this fake South Africa, but this story has a lot of other elements and might not have room for that complexity.
Meanwhile, some Azanian soldiers are rounding up natives. Suddenly, it's a beast, he's got fangs, razor sharp ones. Massive paws, killer claws for the - I'm sorry, what was I talking about again? Anyway, the beast's attack inspires an uprising of the prisoners and then the soldiers kill on the soldiers while the beast disappears.
The Wakandan ruling tribal council is debating what to do and how it's going to look. T'Challa implores them to think of the people being slaughtered and Medinao tells him to shut up. While he's under investigation, he has no voice in the council. However, T'Swana disagrees. He think T'Challa's voice is powerful and, to prove it, he challenges him to a fight. The fight is not a resounding victory for T'Challa but, before it ends either way, the Supremacists show up. They attack T'Challa, but he manages to escape. The Azanians began tearing up the capital.
What follows is very cool and reminds me a lot of his fight against the FF. T'Challa separates his enemies and defeats them one by one, often using their strengths against them. But it's not as good as it seems. He realizes his victory was not because of the Panther spirit but his own skill. It's also not good because Azania is launching nukes at Wakanda. T'Challa tries to make an announcement but nobody hears him. He remembers the words of Medinao that he has no voice at the council and decides to resign.
This was an odd ending. The religious/spiritual aspects are important and even the smallest symbols can mean much. But nukes have been launched so maybe it's not the best time. This issue also felt like it was playing for time quite a bit. It's really a series of fight scenes. I have no idea if the Supremacists appear in future issues but their defeat seemed to be a bit of a waste. I always like trying to figure out exactly how collaborative vs. autocratic Wakanda's government is at this point. We obviously know that there's a council of some kind that appears separate from the monarchy. We also know that the King is bound by traditions that he has to follow, including fights to challenge his rule and, apparently, judgments about whether the Panther spirit has abandoned him. But, as is typical, Wakandan government is useless without its King. Anyway, I liked this issue less than the first part, but I'm curious where it'll go from here.