Black Panther (vol. 3) #2
Invasion
Everett Ross is a member of the US State Department who is tasked with escorting foreign diplomats who are visiting America. He has just recently been assigned as liaison to T’Challa, the king of Wakanda, aka the superhero known as the Black Panther. Presently he is giving a progress report to his superior — and girlfriend — Nikki Adams.
Missing his pants, Everett was waiting for the Black Panther to come back from an information gathering mission. T’Challa is looking into the death of the poster child of his chartable Tomorrow Fund. Things started to get weird when the devil himself, the demon Mephisto, came calling at the apartment they rented in a Brooklyn housing project. Inviting the demon in, Ross had the awkward time of making small talk with him until the Black Panther returned.[1]
At that same moment, the Panther was working his way up the food chain of local drug dealers. Attacking them outright to get intel on why the little girl had been killed. With him are two of the Dora Milaje, who have spent their time confiscating the dealer’s money and donating it to charity on T’Challa’s behalf. While on this mission, the Black Panther reminds Okoye and Nakia that they are visitors to America and per the local laws they are not to kill anyone.
Back at the apartment, Mephisto had finally taken notice that Everett was missing his pants. Ross accepts the devil’s offer for a new pair and it’s only once they have appeared on his body that he realizes, to his horror, that he sold his soul for pants.
This is where Nikki Adams stops his story and points out that Everett is bouncing around the story again. Everett then winds back his tale to the moment he arrived at the airport to pick up T’Challa. Since the king usually came to America alone, Ross made the mistake of assuming that would be the case this time and rolled up in his two door sports car. He discovered his mistake when he arrived and saw that T’Challa had an entire entourage with him, making the liaison scramble to get the rented limos he thought wouldn’t be necessary. This is also where Everett met the most important people in T’Challa’s entourage: the warrior Zuri who was a long time family friend dating back to the reign of T’Challa’s father T’Chaka, as well as Okoye and Nakia of the Dora Milaje, whom Everett learn only speak to T’Challa directly and in the Housa language.
When he first met with T’Challa, the ruler of Wakanda was checking back in on things in his homeland. His step-mother Ramonda reports that a man named Achebe — part of a group of refugees coming in from war torn Ghudaza has been stoking violence ever since T’Challa left. When he suggests returning home right away, Romanda warns him that this is exactly what Achebe wants. T’Challa agrees to remain in America and solve the murder that he came to investigate, despite protests for Zuri. Since Everett drove in his car, T’Challa insists that he, the Dora Milaje and Zuri ride to their loging in the tiny car. However, rather than staying at a fancy hotel, the Wakandan ruler insists they obtain lodging in the New Lots neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The group made a stop at a local Chinese take out place for food and while Okoye and Nakia are openly going through money to pay in the middle of the street they are approached by a local drug dealer named Manuel Ramos. Everett tries to scare them off by showing off his badge and talking in street slang, but all this does is make Manuel take the ID out of his hand and take a bite out of it. That’s when local cop Francis Tork gets their attention by firing his double barreled shotgun into the air and tells Ramos and his goons to take off. They comply, but also take Everett’s government issue ID with them. Ross wants to get it back, and so he follows the drug dealer to a local strip club. Going inside, Ross confronted Ramos who then tossed his ID into the ring where a mud wrestling competition was going on. Reluctant to go in himself, Everett is thrown in by Manuel. That’s when Zuri comes crashing in to help his new found friend. Everett ended up losing his pants in the struggle which was soon broken up by Francis Tork who puts Everett, the Black Panther, and his entourage under arrest and takes them down to the station to be booked. Luckily, they were only there long enough for Everett to get in touch with the Assistant District Attorney and inform them of T’Challa’s diplomatic immunity.
That’s what led to the Black Panther going out for clues, and Everett being stuck at the apartment they rented without pants entertaining the devil.[2] At that same moment, the Black Panther had paid a visit to Marion Vicor, the head of the Tomorrow Fund who got busted for embezzling money from the charity, the Panther wants to know who put them up to it and why. When Vicor refuses to talk, T’Challa has Nakia enter the cell dressed as a cop to rough Marion up a bit. After some light choking, Vicor names the person orchestrating things from behind the scene: A man named Achebe.
Nikki interrupts the story to ask who Achebe is causing Everett to slam his head on the table and tell her that’s where the fun starts…
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Mephisto, Everett Ross, Ramonda, Nikki Adams, Okoye, Nakia, Zuri, Manuel Ramos, Francis Tork
Continuity Notes
Mephisto’s presence here is because he gave power to Achebe a man who is currently staging a coup in Wakanda. The murder of Jamie Robins, the little girl who was the poster child for the Tomorrow Fund, was a means to get T’Challa out of the country. Mephisto is also attempting to steal his soul, as devils are want to do. This will all be explained by the time we hit Black Panther (vol. 3) #5.
A lot of the stuff leading to that moment was covered last issue.
Topical References
When talking about hunting Buster the rat, Everett refers to the rodent as “the Jerry Seinfeld of lower income housing rats.” Jerry Seinfeld is a stand-up comedian who was at the height of his popularity around the time this comic was published, due in no small part due to his self-titled sitcom Seinfeld, which ran from 1989 to 1998. This should be considered a topical reference.
While waiting with Mephisto for T’Challa to return, Everett offers the devil a Pez. Pez is a brand of candy usually sold with collectable dispensers that feature licensed characters. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product.
Everett is also depicted driving a late 90s model Mazda Miata. Another topical reference as this is a real world brand. He is also listening to “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & The Gang. The song was released on their 1973 album Wild and Peaceful. You could consider this a topical reference, however since Everett is depicted as a tone deaf white man trying to appeal to the Black people he is interacting with, this was an intentional choice on his part.
The TVs in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.
When making arrangements to have limos and to get the highway patrol to clear a route through the Midtown Tunnel, he asks his assistant to tell them “It’s on Clinton.” Bill Clinton was the President of the United States when this story was originally published. This reference should be considered topical, particularly since Clinton ended his term in 2001.
Everett originally made arrangements for T’Challa and his people to stay at the Plaza Hotel, a historic location that has been in operation in New York City since 1907. Due to it becoming considered a historic landmark in New York City, it can’t really operate as much else as hotel accommodations and condo apartments. As such, its reference here isn’t necessarily topical.
Manuel Ramos and his goons speak in popular slang around the time this story was published. Everett also makes an effort to speak like them in order to try and look tough. By today’s standard some of this slang is no longer in common use and its depiction here would be considered by some to be offensive by today’s standard as it reinforces negative stereotypes. Its use here should be considered topical.
The prize money for lasting 2 minutes in the mud wrestling pit with the “Dream Team” is listed at $1000. Adjusting for inflation, that would be about $1800 in 2022 money.
When the Black Panther and co are getting mugshots taken the date is listed as September 16, 1998. This date should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication.
Everett asks Mephisto if he was ever on Jerry Springer. He is referring to the Jerry Springer Show, which was a daytime talk show that ran from 1991 to 2018. The show was best known for being “trash TV” where the host, Jerry Springer, would bring on the worst guests imaginable in the hopes there would be conflicts on camera. There would be. Nearly every episode. Anyway, the show was at the height of its popularity at the time this comic was published. It’s mention here should be considered topical.
