Malice by Crimson Moonlight

With a coming war with the forces of Erik Killmonger, the Black Panther trains with Wakanda’s greatest warriors in order to hone his battle skills. While he is busy, a woman named Malice — one of Killmonger’s minions — infiltrates the royal palace. There, she ambushes Zatama and demands to know where Venomm is being kept prisoner.[1] As the battle outside comes to an end, Mendinao — the Wakandan medicine man — prepares a poltice from the special heart-shaped herbs that give T’Challa his powers.[2] The wizened healer sees that T’Challa is fighting with an inner rage and expresses his concern to W’Kabi, T’Challa’s head of security.

Meanwhile, Malice has knocked out Zatama and found her way down into the dungeon. There she overhears Taku, Wakanda’s communication’s officer, speaking with Venomm. Although the prisoner is standoffish, Taku gets him to open up about his past and talk about how he came to be who he is today. Venomm was once a normal American kid named Horatio who was bullied as a child because he was a loner. One day in chemistry class another student threw acid in his face horribly scarring Horatio. He became more withdrawn than ever and became obsessed with snakes because they too were shunned just like him. He began experimenting on serpents and eventually developed an immunity to snake venom. He took night courses to continue his education until one night he was attacked by some men for his appearance and was saved by Erik Killmonger. Killmonger instantly befriended Horatio and promised to take him to one day bring him to a land beyond his wildest imagination and they will take it by force and make it their own.[3]

As Horatio tells his sad tale, Monica Lynne is out enjoying the natural beauty of Wakanda when she happens upon the Black Panther undergoing a ceremony. Thinking that Mendinao and W’Kabi are harming T’Challa, she interrupts the ritual. This angers W’Kabi who does not like the outsider and her constant interference in their traditions. The Black Panther orders W’Kabi to unhand Monica and decides to forego the ceremony after all. As he walks Monica back to the palace, he tries to explain W’Kabi’s hatred of her, saying that he has a warped idea of heritage, seeing it as a form of superiority over others instead of simply being one’s identity.

Once they are inside, they come across Zatama’s unconscious body and T’Challa narrowly avoids getting impaled by one of Malice’s spears. She has succeeded in freeing Venomm and they both have Taku as their hostage. As the Panther evades Malice’s attacks, Monica provides a distraction that turns the table of the fight. The commotion also draws W’Kabi and the palace guards. With Venomm subdued, Malice decides to make her escape. By this point, W’Kabi has his spear wrapped around Venomm’s neck and is about to give in to his rage and strangle the prisoner to death to avenge the villagers that Killmonger has murdered. However, the Black Panther convinces W’Kabi to spare their enemy, telling him that such a brutal act of murder will haunt his dreams just as much as the memory of Killmonger’s slaughter.

Recurring Characters

Black Panther, Malice, Venomm, Monica Lynn, Taku, W’Kabi, Zatama, Kradada, Mendinao, Erik Killmonger (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. The Black Panther defeated Venomm in battle last issue.

2. The Heart-Shaped Herbs are the key to the Black Panther’s power as detailed in Avengers #87.

3. Erik Killmonger, aka N’Jadaka, found himself stranded in America many years ago after he was enslaved by Ulysses Klaw (this happened behind the scenes when Klaw attacked Wakanda when T’Challa was a child, circa the flashback in Fantastic Four #53) he later reconnected with T’Challa and was brought back home. This was all detailed last issue. Jungle Action (vol. 2) #16 reveals that when T’Challa brought N’Jadaka back to Wakanda, Horatio stowed away on the ship to smuggle himself into the country. That same issue identifies Venomm’s last name as Walters.

Supplementary Material

This story features a revised map of Wakanda, slightly altered from the one featured in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6. This map has a number of discrepancies to later material about Wakanda that was featured in Marvel Atlas #2 and Black Panther (vol. 6) #3. I discuss those issues in my summary of Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6.

It also includes a detailed map of the Palace of Wakanda. I’m not aware of any new schematics that have since been published, but I think it’s safe to assume that this doesn’t reflect the current layout .