Jungle Action (vol. 2) #21
A Cross Burning Darkly Blackening the Night!
While investigating the mysterious Dragon Circle, the Black Panther is tricked into interrupting a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia’s Devouring Swamps. Outnumbered, T’Challa finds himself tied to a cross that is then lit on fire.
Meanwhile, Monica Lynne and reporter Kevin Trublood go over the facts surrounding the death of Monica’s sister Angela. Although the death has been ruled as a suicide, the revelation that the KKK have been involved in a crooked land deal has led both to believe that she was murdered to cover it up. As the evening gets late, both begin to worry that T’Challa hasn’t been back and go out looking for him.
Back in the swamp, the ropes around T’Challa’s feet burn away allowing him to kick with enough force to snap the burning cross out of its post. Barreling through the Klan members, the Black Panther then dives into the fetid swamps in order to put out the flames. Ignoring the pain, T’Challa pulls himself out of the muck and staggers out into the street where he tries to flag down a car for help, with little success. By this time, Monica and Kevin have not been able to find any trace of T’Challa and so they stop so Monica can call home and ask if her parents heard anything. She is horrified to learn that T’Challa has been seriously burned and taken to the hospital. They rush to the hospital, where Monica apologizes to her lover for bringing him into all of this, and admits she misses the relative simplicity of T’Challa’s native Wakanda and promises to remain by his side until he heals.
Thanks to the herbs that give him his power, T’Challa’s recovery is a speedy one and within a few weeks he is about to be released from the hospital.[1] With Kevin, Sheriff Roderick Tate, Monica and her parents, they once again go over the details surrounding the death of Monica’s sister Angela. Tate goes over the facts as the police know them: On the night in question, Angela went out on a date with a man named Leroy Carter who walked her home at the end of the night. Instead of going to bed that evening, Angela went to the real estate office of Ambrose Ellis, her boss. There she retrieved a gun from the desk drawer and alleged shot herself in the head. The police know the time of death was at 2:08 am in the morning because the bullet struck a nearby clock stopping it at the moment of Monica’s death.
T’Challa also learns that the Klan are planning on having a public rally in the middle of town later that day led by their local leader, Harrison K. Stryker. Despite the fact that they are making hate speech, Tate is unable to stop them because they got the proper paperwork and are protected by the First Amendment. Still, T’Challa and his allies go down to the rally. There they witness as Stryker makes a hateful speech accusing non-whites of stealing jobs. When the Black Panther and Kevin confront the Klan members to counter their hate speech they are violently attacked. When one of the Klan members tries to attack T’Challa with a crane used to build their stage, the Black Panther manages to leap to safety. However, this puts him in the crosshairs of a Klan member with a gun. Luckily, Lloyd Lynne spoils the shot by throwing his deck of cards in the shooter’s face.
When the shooter then turns his gun on Lloyd, the Black Panther saves his life. Lloyd thanks T’Challa for the save, telling the hero that he was inspired by both T’Challa and Kevin to get involved as inaction will lead to losing the cause. The Black Panther finds Lloyd’s words more elegant than any he could have said himself and welcomes him to the cause.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, KKK, Monica Lynne, Kevin Trublood, Roderick Tate, Lloyd Lynne, Jessica Lynne, (in flashback) Leroy Carter, Angela Lynne
Continuity Notes
T’Challa explains the ceremony that gives him his powers to Sheriff Tate here. These details were originally told in Avengers #87.
Topical References
The police’s run down of the events leading up to Angela’s death are shoddy to begin with and become increasingly so over the years with the advancements in forensic science. Even the most amateur armchair forensic expert can see that something doesn’t add up. Today, a proper investigation would look at if there is gunshot residue on Angela’s hand to determine if she was the one who shot herself in the head. However, changes in crime scene investigation don’t eliminate the possibility that the police in this Georgian town are either unequipped for such an in-depth investigation or are woefully ignorant and/or bad at their jobs.
