Jungle Action (vol. 2) #12

Jul 28

Jul 28 Jungle Action (vol. 2) #12

Blood Stains on Virgin Snow!

After defeating Erik Killmonger’s forces in the town of N’Jadaka, the Black Panther has Teyete and Kazibe — two of Killmonger’s minions — lead him to their master. This takes them high into the Wakandan mountains to the Land of the Chilling Mists. The mountain’s freezing temperatures are made more deadly by the strange red mists that cover the region. Once they land near a rope bridge, the Black Panther prepares to travel the rest of the way on foot with Teyete and Kazibe as his guides. Monica Lynne expresses her concerns over T’Challa making this journey on his own, but he assures her that this is necessary. Monica and Taku — Wakanda’s chief communicator — watch as the Panther begins his trek, fearing that this will be a painful journey for both mind and body and one that T’Challa may not walk away from unscathed.

On the other side of the bridge, the Black Panther finds footprints left by Killmonger and his men and begins to follow them. Up ahead, Killmonger and his group — which consists of his leopard Preyy and the grotesque King Cadaver — have reached their destination, the cavern home of Sombre. Sombre — dressed in a jackal mask and a flowing purple robe — is already waiting for them at the entrance to his home. As Killmonger and the others are welcome in, the Black Panther and his party come across a river crossing their path. While Tayete insists that there is no way across, the Black Panther proves him wrong by lifting a massive chunk of ice and using it to create a make-shift bridge for them to cross.

Later, Killmonger has King Cadaver sit on an the Resurrection Altar constructed by Sombre which bombards him with energies from a strange meteorite that had originally given Cadaver his inhuman powers and appearance. That’s when they are ambushed by the Black Panther. Although T’Challa has the element of surprise, Killmonger manages to overpower him and toss him into a nearby pit of flame.

Back in Central Wakanda, at the home of Karota, one of the domesticated Kraal gets out of the pen because her son, Kantu, was not paying attention. Luckily, Monica Lynne is there and helps wrangle the beast and return it to its pen. Karota is not very grateful because she views Monica — an outsider — with suspicion and complains that the outside world has been changing Wakandan society for the worst. She is particularly upset that Mendinao — the village medicine man — is now working with doctors. Seeing that Karota is still mourning the loss of her husband, Monica tries to convince the widow that she is there to help and comforts Karota when she begins to break down in tears.[1]

Back in Sombre’s cave, the Black Panther manages to leap out of the flaming pit before the fires can cause him any harm. When he lands atop the Resurrection Altar, T’Challa is attacked from behind by Sombre. The pain caused by Sombre’s acidic touch is enough to cause T’Challa to black out. When the Panther awakens he discovers that his body was dumped in the snowy mountains to be eaten alive by the wolves that live there. Although he is greatly outnumbered, T’Challa manages to fight off the hungry wolves and drive them away. Freezing cold and wounded from the attack, T’Challa seeks shelter in a nearby cave for shelter as he waits for dawn when it will be safer to travel.