Black Panther: Panther's Prey #1
The Black Panther has returned to Wakanda. While out in the jungle, he runs into a panther and plays a game of cat-and-mouse with it before leaping back to the city. Leaping from the tall trees, be bounds off the Amber Pagoda on the border of the central city as he makes his way back to the royal palace.
Elsewhere in the kingdom, in a secret laboratory, a man named Solomon Prey undergoes an unorthodox surgical procedure. His doctor, Kaza, informs him that the implants have taken root and its time for the final procedure. Prey insists that they proceed on with the next step. However, he refuses any pain killers for what will come next as he wants to experience ever sensation. Bathed with energy from a pulse activator the newly implanted glands in his body cause a spontaneous mutation. Solomon Prey screams in exquisite agony as large bat-like wings sprout from his back and his hands grow into deadly talons. It is painful and bloody but the process is a complete success. When Solomon tries to get up from the operating table, Kaza urges him to get back down in order to prevent infection.
Elsewhere in Wakanda, the young man named Kantu passes a statue that has been erected in his honor. This was to celebrate the time when he was a young boy and saved the life of the Black Panther during his final battle with Erik Killmonger.[1] At the time, Kantu was still reeling over the death of his father at the hands of Killmonger and sought only to avenge his death. He remembers how he helped knock Killmonger off Warrior Falls. It took the people of Wakanda over a week to find Killmonger’s shattered and broken body down river and confirm that he ws indeed dead.[2] He remembers back to when he was celebrated as a hero by his people and feeling overwhelmed by it all. In the end, he didn’t really feel like a hero. Running from the statue of his younger self, Kantu is unaware that two men riding pterodactyls are following him overhead. These are Solomon Prey’s Lightning Lancers and they are on an important mission for their master.
Meanwhile, T’Challa is visiting the tomb of kings with his mother, Ramonda. As they go to visit T’Chaka’s grave, Ramonda remarks how she always dreamed of seeing her late husband again, but didn’t think it would be after he died.[3] T’Challa recounts the time when Ramonda was missing and presumed dead and speaks of his father’s profound sadness. T’Chaka often hide it from others. When T’Challa would find his father in these moments of grieving, T’Chaka would frequently avoid the subject by suddenly getting playful with his son to cheer himself up. When recounting the torment that she suffered at the hands of Anton Pretorius, her kidnapper, Ramonda often wonders how she had the strength to go on. T’Challa tells his mother that she survived the experience and she is a strong woman who will push past the haunting memories as well. She is candid with T’Challa, talking about how Pretorius raped her over and over and sometimes how, despite the fact she was a prisoner, her body took pleasure in some of the abuse. She feels ashamed of herself for feeling that way.
Their conversation is cut short when T’Challa spots the Lightning Lancers as they start attacking Kantu from the air. Pulling on his Black Panther mask, T’Challa leaps to the boy’s rescue. Between the massive dinosaurs they ride and their laser cannons, the Lightning Lancers prove to be deadly foes. T’Challa suffers serious injury but manages to drive them away after messing up their leader Zambata. Learning that the Lightning Lancers were Kantu, T’Challa asks the youth why they were after him. Kantu, however, defiantly refuses to explain himself and runs off, telling T’Challa to leave him alone.
Back at the medical facility, Solomon Pray is visited by his lover Tanzika. She comes to seduce him and lick his wounds. Dr. Kaza is horrified as he fears that his patient’s healing wounds will get infected. However, neither Solomon nor Tanzika are willing to listen to his orders. In fact, Tanzika overrules his medical opinion that Solomon needs weeks to recover, telling her lover that he should be ready to act in two days.[4]
Later, W’Kabi — T’Challa’s loyal friend — is out on the shooting range testing out the new arm cannon designed for him. After the test run, he replaces the appendage with a generic cybernetic arm that is covered in synthetic flesh, giving him a sense of normalcy after losing his real arm.[5] However, despite the life like appearance of his new arm, W’Kabi has found it difficult to meet a new woman. After changing, he heads down to the personal chambers to meet T’Challa. The king invites his friend to have dinner with him and along the way they talk about the state of things in the kingdom. W’Kabi expresses his dislike of foreign culture and sciences encroaching on their way of life as he fears it will replace the old traditions. He particularly finds it distasteful when T’Challa suggests they stop for pizza, a foreign food that W’Kabi doesn’t like in the least. The warrior then pivots to another subject, given the injuries T’Challa has suffered in his recent battles, W’Kabi expresses his concerns that T’Challa hasn’t spawned a heir to the throne and if he should die, the line of royalty will come to an end. T’Challa finds it both touching and amusing that W’Kabi is concerned about his sex life. It reminds him of a woman he once loved and he assures W’Kabi that he’ll focus on the matter soon enough.[6]
The following morning, Solomon Prey is back on his feet. While his wings have fully grown in, Dr. Kaza insists that he continue to give himself time to heal. Prey however insists that it is time for him to make his presence known to T’Challa. His need for revenge against the king becomes even greater when his Lightning Lancers return bloodied and defeated.
While outside the city, the Black Panther has decided to trail Kantu out into the jungle to figure out what is wrong with the boy. He is shocked to discover Kantu smoking crack. Leaping down from the trees and yanking the glass pipe out of the boy’s mouth, T’Challa demands to know where Kantu got the drugs from. Kantu, however, refuses to reveal his source and tells the king that he doesn’t need his help and slaps the Panther in the face.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Solomon Prey, Ramonda, W’Kabi, Tanzika, Kantu, Zambata
Continuity Notes
Kantu helped T’Challa during his final battle with Killmonger in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #17.
Despite his death, Killmonger was brought back to life in Iron Man Annual #5.
Ramonda is actually T’Chaka’s second wife, something that won’t be clarified until Black Panther (vol. 3) #1. Prior to T’Chaka’s death (first depicted in Fantastic Four #53), she had been kidnapped by Anton Pretorius who kept her prisoner in her native South Africa for years. See Marvel Comics Presents #14-37.
Don’t remember Tanzika? She first appeared in Captain America #170. A servant of T’Challa she had an unrequited love for him. When Monica Lynn came to Wakanda, Tanzika attempted to frame her for murder and was expelled from the palace when the truth came out. See Jungle Action (vol. 2) #9-11.
W’Kabi’s arm was crushed under heavy rock in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #17, requiring it to be amputated. Since the accident, W’Kabi has been outfitted with a cybernetic arm.
The former lover is Monica Lynn the American singer that T’Challa first met in Avengers #73. The flashback memory of T’Challa and Monica seen here, where they are both swimming with a massive turtle, is from Jungle Action (vol. 2) #16.
Topical References
When Ramonda’s time in South Africa is mentioned in this story, it is implied that the country was still an Apartheid nation. This was true when this comic was published in 1991. However, South Africans voted to abolish the practice in 1993. As such, all references to Apartheid should be considered topical. Sadly, racial tensions continue in that country to this day and modern readers may assume that rather than being a victim of Apartheid, Ramonda was a victim of a more general institutional racism that would turn a blind eye to her kidnapping.
