Black Panther Appreciation: Wakanda Forever!

[Marvell2100]

Mr Terrific is officially the 3rd smartest man in the DCU. DC hasn't made a statement, but fans generally assume that Lex Luthor is number one and Batman is number two.

I hope they play up on his genius when the Terrifics comes out.

[Ezyo1000]

I think they're also very similar to the battle armor that Nakia and Okoye had in Priest's run. The bald with head tattoos is definitely from Hudlin's run though.
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Basically they took priest battle version, and Hudlin's version and merged then into one while modernizing the outfits to fit today's World, capturing a traditional yet afrofuturistic look. And it works GREAT

[Golden Guardian of Good]

If I'm not mistaken Comic vine merged with GameFaqs so that might have something to do with it.

It merged with Gamespot....

[Mike_Murdock]

Jungle Action #10 - King Cadaver Is Dead and Living In Wakanda



This issue starts with a pensive reflection from T'Challa as he stares thoughtfully into his reflection ... for about two seconds before he has to fight a giant God-damn crocodile! The writing is over the top, but so is fighting the crocodile, so I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I enjoy the fact that we're seeing another random wild animal fight much less.

We have a little bit more with Monica. T'Challa is convinced that she's been framed, but isn't sure how or from who. In anger and desperation, he reaches out and accuses W'Kabi.

But the thrust of this issue is T'Challa returning to the scene where the local villager was slain last issue. He immediately gets into fights with the zombies and discovers that they're Fake Zombies! Sad! He goes under the graves to find a chamber filled with mirrors, Baron Macabre and King Cadaver. King Cadaver is a very strange, grotesque creature with seeming psychic powers (although it feels possible that the mirrors have something to do with it). Although T'Challa is overwhelmed at first, he gets back on his feet. He beats up Baron Macabre, only to find that he's not a zombie either. Then he turns towards the weird, green Cadaver and tries to pull his mask off as well. Only he doesn't have a mask and is really a creepy psychic creature. Still, T'Challa wins the day and is able to discover that Killmonger is stealing Wakanda's weapons, so Wakandans are dying at the hands of their own weapons. I suppose that should be a shock, but it feels a bit like a repeat of the last reveal that Killmonger was stealing their Vibranium.

There are some nice moments here, particularly in the fight with Cadaver. But there definitely seems to be some repetition. Hopefully this story can find some more variety. I know, at the time, it was shipping every other month, so maybe it wouldn't have felt the same way reading it in real time.

[XPac]

Jungle Action #10 - King Cadaver Is Dead and Living In Wakanda



This issue starts with a pensive reflection from T'Challa as he stares thoughtfully into his reflection ... for about two seconds before he has to fight a giant God-damn crocodile! The writing is over the top, but so is fighting the crocodile, so I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I enjoy the fact that we're seeing another random wild animal fight much less.

We have a little bit more with Monica. T'Challa is convinced that she's been framed, but isn't sure how or from who. In anger and desperation, he reaches out and accuses W'Kabi.

But the thrust of this issue is T'Challa returning to the scene where the local villager was slain last issue. He immediately gets into fights with the zombies and discovers that they're Fake Zombies! Sad! He goes under the graves to find a chamber filled with mirrors, Baron Macabre and King Cadaver. King Cadaver is a very strange, grotesque creature with seeming psychic powers (although it feels possible that the mirrors have something to do with it). Although T'Challa is overwhelmed at first, he gets back on his feet. He beats up Baron Macabre, only to find that he's not a zombie either. Then he turns towards the weird, green Cadaver and tries to pull his mask off as well. Only he doesn't have a mask and is really a creepy psychic creature. Still, T'Challa wins the day and is able to discover that Killmonger is stealing Wakanda's weapons, so Wakandans are dying at the hands of their own weapons. I suppose that should be a shock, but it feels a bit like a repeat of the last reveal that Killmonger was stealing their Vibranium.

There are some nice moments here, particularly in the fight with Cadaver. But there definitely seems to be some repetition. Hopefully this story can find some more variety. I know, at the time, it was shipping every other month, so maybe it wouldn't have felt the same way reading it in real time.

If nothing else I really love some of the names his rogues have. Baron Macabre. King Cadaver. Maybe cheesy by modern day standards, but I think they should fun. Hopefully someone down the line will scrape some of the cheese off and resuse these guys.

[Anthony Shaw]

One of the recurring themes of he 70's saga was T'Challa's costume constantly being damaged in battle.

Perhaps this was the story that inspired Priest to upgrade to vibranium weave.

[XPac]

One of the recurring themes of he 70's saga was T'Challa's costume constantly being damaged in battle.

Perhaps this was the story that inspired Priest to upgrade to vibranium weave.

I wonder if they didn't intentionally show his costume damaged on the cover a lot to show readers that he's black. In a full body costume it's hard tell unless he's got his mask off (except when he had that horrible Batman looking half mask for a little bit).

[Anthony Shaw]

I wonder if they didn't intentionally show his costume damaged on the cover a lot to show readers that he's black. In a full body costume it's hard tell unless he's got his mask off (except when he had that horrible Batman looking half mask for a little bit).

Damaged costumes were an actual plot point. BP should have upgraded after Panther's Rage.

[Mike_Murdock]

I should do a destroyed uniform count. Certainly, it's not uncommon. Luckily, he's in Wakanda, so he can get some easy replacements. So far:

#6 - Preyy scratches him, but the uniform doesn't tear and appears intact after that (1).
#7 - Uniform is still good.
#8 - Malice's spear throw grazes his shoulder, tearing his uniform, before shattering the column. Once again, the damage appears to vanish (2).
#9 - His uniform is torn in the cover, does that count? No damage in the comic.
#10 - Torn on the cover and after the Crocodile fight (3).

I'm going with three so far. I'll count magic repairing tears, but not cover-only tears.

BTW, I assume everyone has seen the box office projections up to 120 Million? Unless I'm mistaken, that will beat the best domestic opening weekend for a solo Marvel film. I'd love to know how the tracking compares to the tracking for those other movies, though. It feels that it's usually lower than the actual results.

[ed2962]

One of the recurring themes of he 70's saga was T'Challa's costume constantly being damaged in battle.

Perhaps this was the story that inspired Priest to upgrade to vibranium weave.

Well, having torn costumes on the cover (or the inside) was not unusual during that time. You'd have anyone from Cap America, to Spiderman, to Iron Fist getting their costume ripped. It was a way to make things more gritty when they couldn't do too much blood or gore do to the comics code.

[ed2962]

I wonder if they didn't intentionally show his costume damaged on the cover a lot to show readers that he's black. In a full body costume it's hard tell unless he's got his mask off (except when he had that horrible Batman looking half mask for a little bit).

That was the reason that he had that half mask briefly, Marvel wanted the readers to know that T'Challa was a black man. He went back to the full mask cuz they felt it just looked better visually.

What's interesting though is when they did the return of the Sons of the Serpent story in the Avengers, there was a line of dialogue like "T'Challa only hid the fact that he was colored because he wanted to be judged as a man and not a racial type!" His race was obvious to the public when he joined the team and he didn't have a secret ID at that time, so when did he hide his race?

Then there was the problematic implication of that line...that he couldn't be judged as a man if people knew he was black. A fan pointed this out in a letter that they actually printed.

[Mike_Murdock]

That's the Roy Thomas story, right? The sad thing is I think that story means well considering how problematically it handles virtually everything.

I will say, the Black Panther's status and identity was inconsistently handled in the Avengers back then. I think the best way to reconcile it is his status was known for anyone who knew what Wakanda was, but most people didn't.

[ed2962]

That's the Roy Thomas story, right? The sad thing is I think that story means well considering how problematically it handles virtually everything.

I will say, the Black Panther's status and identity was inconsistently handled in the Avengers back then. I think the best way to reconcile it is his status was known for anyone who knew what Wakanda was, but most people didn't.

Yes. It's also the story that introduced Monica Lynn. As far as people knowing about Wakanda, like you say is was inconsistent. I can't remember the issue number, but I know there was some story where the Avengers were considering to to call for a mission and BP had gone home. There a large panel of T'Challa at the UN in "African" garb saying "Wakanda will share it's gifts with countries who believe in peace and deny them those who want war!"

Another funny thing about the SoS story is that it was a two part tale but the cover to the second part is incredibly misleading.



Nothing remotely like this happens in the comic

[KingNomarch]

King of the Avengers TV spot

[Mike_Murdock]

Yes. It's also the story that introduced Monica Lynn. As far as people knowing about Wakanda, like you say is was inconsistent. I can't remember the issue number, but I know there was some story where the Avengers were considering to to call for a mission and BP had gone home. There a large panel of T'Challa at the UN in "African" garb saying "Wakanda will share it's gifts with countries who believe in peace and deny them those who want war!"

Another funny thing about the SoS story is that it was a two part tale but the cover to the second part is incredibly misleading.



Nothing remotely like this happens in the comic

Is it the fake Black Panther they're referencing, perhaps? There's two Sons of the Serpent stories and I get them mixed up. There's the first where it's really a plot by the red Chinese. In the second, it's a black guy and a white guy stoking racism because both sides are equally to blame, I guess? The sad thing is the story actually has some poignant moments that feel eerily applicable today, but it ends with such nonsensical bullshit.