Jungle Action (vol. 2) #14
There are Serpents Lurking in Paradise
Surviving a battle against the white gorillas that live in the mountains of Wakanda, the Black Panther ventures into the Serpent Valley on the trail of Sombre, one of Erik Killmonger’s minions. T’Challa ambushes his foe but Sombre has great strength and manages to get the Panther in a headlock. Sombre is about to pierce T’Challa’s neck with his fangs when he is distracted by someone who suddenly asks why they are fighting. Sombre looks around for the person speaking allowing T’Challa to kick Sombre into a nearby swamp. Watching his foe sinking in the mire, the Black Panther struggles with the idea of saving him or not. Unfortunately, when he does decide to try and rescue Sombre, it is too late.[1]
With the immediate battle over, the Black Panther looks around for the person who spoke out and is surprised to see a diminutive man up in the tree. T’Challa becomes annoyed with this new comer as they only seem to ask questions instead of giving answers. After explaining his mission and his conflict with Erik Killmonger, the Panther at least gets the man’s name: Mokadi. He gets little else out of Mokadi, who only answers by asking questions.
Not far away, Erik Killmonger and his minions have found what they have come looking for in the Serpent Valley: dinosaurs that have somehow survived for millions of years.[2] Using oil, Killmonger turns a wading pool into a mire pit trapping a pod of brachiosaurus so they can be caged and trained into becoming weapons of war. While watching his minions work, Killmonger amuses himself by bullying Tayete for trying his patience. When the Black Panther finally arrives, he is quickly spotted by Killmonger and his men. In order to slay T’Challa, Erik frees a hungry tyrannosaurus rex from its pen.
Back in Central Wakanda, W’Kabi spends some time with Kono, one of his two sons. He tries to explain the marital problems he has been having with his wife, Chandra to the boy. Admitting that he longs for the way their relationship used to be brings W’Kabi to tears because he doesn’t know how to fix his fraying marriage, telling his son that he is lost. W’Kabi’s marital problems are not lost on the others as Monica Lynne speaks with Taku. This conversation is cut short when Taku has to meet with Venomm, one of Killmonger’s minions who has been imprisoned for a few months to let him know that his snakes are still alive following an attack on Killmonger’s village.[3] While Horatio is pleased to hear that his pet snakes are still alive, he warns Taku that he will eventually break free and get revenge against his captors, but hope that he won’t have to harm Taku in doing so.
Meanwhile, back in the Serpent Valley, the Black Panther finds himself in a fight for his life against the tyrannosaurus rex. Breaking free from the dinosaur’s graps, he and Mokadi work together to slay the beast. Using a palm tree like a make-shift catapult, the pair fire a massive boulder that strikes the t-rex in the head, killing it. In the aftermath of the battle, Mokadi disappears without a trace, leaving the Black Panther to wonder if he was ever really there to begin with. As he continues his hunt for Killmonger he suddenly remembers that the word Mokadi is a word for spirit among the Bomitaba tribe of Likuala.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Erik Killmonger, Sombre, Venomm, Monica Lynn, Taku, W’Kabi, Tayete, Kazibe, Kono
Continuity Notes
While Sombre will later appear in a possible future in Reality-11236, the Earth-616 version of the character has not been seen again and is presumed dead. For more on this future Sombre, see Black Panther (vol. 3) #36-37.
The assumption here is that the dinosaurs in the Serpent Valley survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. However, Marvel Universe #4-7 reveals that the Deviants were responsible for the creation of many monsters and creatures that exist in the Marvel Universe, including these dinosaurs.
Venomm has been imprisoned since his capture in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #7. The attack on Killmonger’s village happened in issue #11. Venomm is identified only by his first name here. Issue #16 reveals his full name is Horatio Walters.
Topical References
Here, Monica states that Venomm has been imprisoned for over three months. The passage of time here is not necessarily a topical reference when measured up to the Sliding Timescale and the Black Panther’s chronology. See below for details.
What is the Time Frame for this Series?
During the course of Don McGregor’s Panther’s Rage story arc, there are a number of periods where the passage of time is stated and if taken at face value it does not fit with Marvel chronology. For example, Jungle Action (vol. 2) #14 states that three months had passed since issue #7 while issue #17 will state that a full year has transpired during the course of this series. The Jungle Action series was published bi-monthly with this arc being published between September 1973 and November 1975.
This puts it at odds with the Sliding Timescale and the Black Panther’s chronology. This story arc takes place during a period when T’Challa took a leave of absence from the Avengers between Avengers #126 (published August 1974) and 159 (published May 1977). Based on the Sliding Timescale this period happens near the end of “year three” (Publications spanning from November 1969 and October 1973) and most of year four (November 1973 to October 1977) Since T’Challa has basically been absent from the Avengers for roughly a year of Marvel time, one could assume that the measurement of time in this story is more or less accurate and is one of the earliest attempts at defining the passage of time in the Marvel Universe.
