Jungle Action (vol. 2) #19
Blood and Sacrifices!
Monica Lynne has returned to Georgia after hearing her sister has died under mysterious circumstances. She is joined by T’Challa, the Black Panther, who is by her side at the cemetery when she visits Angela’s grave. As Monica reminisces about her childhood, T’Challa becomes aware of strange men in purple hooded robes and begins following them from the trees to see what they are up to. They are armed with knives and are seeking to attack Monica. As T’Challa dives in to protect her a car speeds onto the scene as the driver has come to help.
With the robed attackers defeated, a round of introductions are in order. The man who drive in to help is Kevin Trublood, a reporter for the Georgia Sun who has been investigating Angela’s death. He tells Monica and T’Challa how Angela — who worked in real estate — had apparently discovered that Ku Klux Klan were involved in a crooked land deal and that he suspects that her death was not a suicide as original reported, but a murder to cover it all up. At first, they wonder if the men who attacking Monica are members of the KKK, given their robes. However, they discover that one of them is a Black man and that this group calls themselves the Dragon Circle.
None of the men are willing to talk, so T’Challa and loads them all up in Kevin’s car so they can turn them in to the local sheriff, Roderick Tate. When they arrive, the officers draw their guns on the Black Panther but he quickly disarms them. The members of Dragon Circle try to take this opportunity to escape, but T’Challa quickly recaptures them. When they explain everything to the sheriff, Tate recognizes the hooded men as locals. When he tries to question them, they refuse to talk and so they are locked up for desecrating a burial ground.
T’Challa and Monica then return to her family home. The following morning, T’Challa gets to know Monica’s parents, Lloyd and Jessica Lynne. He enjoys Mrs. Lynne’s hospitality and home cooking. While Jessica is intrigued by her daughter’s royal friend, Lloyd is more interested in one of his endless games of solitaire. T’Challa gets down to business and begins trying to piece together the conspiracy in town: Why was Angela murdered and what the KKK and Dragon Circle have to do with this. As he goes over the facts that house is surrounded by both groups have arrived to independently attack the Lynne house.
The Klan members give themselves away by trying to throw a Molotov Cocktail into the home. Luckily, the Black Panther spots the projectile and leaps out the window and kicks it back at the attackers. While T’Challa is busy beating up the KKK members, the members of Dragon Circle realize their own mission has been compromised and flee. After T’Challa finishes rounding up he remaining Klan members he returns to the Lynne home where he is thanked by the Lynne family, but is warned that this will not be the last they’ll see of the racists.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Dragon Circle, KKK, Monica Lynne, Kevin Trublood, Jessica Lynne, Lloyd Lynne, Roderick Tate, Angela Lynne (flashback)
Topical References
This story goes into some vague details about Monica Lynne’s childhood. It states that she was around 8 or 9 years old around the years 1953-54. The dates in question should be considered topical. However, with that, we can extrapolate how old Monica is supposed to be based on the year this story was published. Based on the math Monica is somewhere between ages 30 and 32 in this story.
