Black Panther (vol. 3) #18
Legacy
Everett Ross has just found out that his boss and girlfriend, Nikki Adams, used to be in a romantic relationship with his client, T’Challa, the ruler of Wakanda and the Black Panther.[1] Standing outside Nikki’s home in the pouring rain, all the hints about the truth that should have been so obvious are now apparent to him now.[2]
Eventually, Nikki comes out and tells him to go home, but invites him inside anyway. She admits that she should have told him about her past with T’Challa. Now that the truth is out, she wonders if he wants to hit her now. Ross — in the scummiest thing he’s done in this series so far — slaps Nikki across the face. She rightly responds by beating him up, trashing her apartment in the process.
Earlier, the Black Panther had returned to Wakanda with Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) in search of a dead man. Drumm had come to T’Challa because he became aware that someone had escaped the “deadside”, the voodoo realm between life and death, and that person is in Wakanda.[3] T’Challa knows exactly who that person is, N’Jadaka, aka Erik Killmonger.[4] The Panther knows that this was only possible through a Resurrection Altar and charges Voodoo to seek it out and destroy it. He tells Jericho to bring Zuri with him for back-up, while he deals with Killmonger directly. As Drumm teleports away, T’Challa thinks back to the time that Killmonger defeated him and threw him from Warrior Falls in defeat.[5]
His thoughts are interrupted by his step-mother, Queen Ramonda. She tells T'Challa that it is ok to hate Erik Killmonger. While the Panther insists he is beyond such feelings, Ramonda knows otherwise. She also knows that he is worried about his lover, Monica Lynne, who has been Killmonger’s prisoner since she went missing.[6]
At that very moment, Monica is playing a game of 21 with her captor and is surprisingly winning against him. She says that he and T’Challa could settle their differences on the basketball court instead of the constant dick measuring contests in the field of battle.[7] That’s when asks her to consider that he doesn’t do what he does out of hate, but to help T’Challa. He tells her that this will require explaining some global economics first and asks her to bare with him. He relates to his own past but presents it about a hypothetical about an American boy named Billy.
Billy found some money and rather than putting it into his piggy bank, he decided to spend it right away for some instant gratification — like most Americans. Billy went down to the local convenience store to play his favorite arcade game, Toxic Scream, released by Belasco Games. His money joins all the other people who played that machine, which eventually goes to pay Belasco Games generating great quarterly profits. However, the only thing worse than being unprofitable is being profitable. So instead of posting profits they invest it electronically in a new initial public offering for another company, iFruit Computers in this case. Thanks to the global economy and electronic money transfers money is only as real as long as that market holds. That’s only possible so long as there is leverage to serve some kind of practical or constructive purpose. Killmonger, for example was once hired by the United States to eliminate a Spanish-speaking dictator, the result of which led to the passing of a new arms treaty. He tells her that economics is like a gun.
While T’Challa has defeated every physical threat he cannot withstand the global economy. This is because Wakanda’s wealth is measured by the sale of Vibranium. As the country’s rule, T’Challa is the only one authorized to sell it making him Wakanda’s literal economy. Devaluing him will also devalue Wakanda. If Wakanda’s currency suddenly becomes worthless, the utopian society T’Challa has built would crumble in days. Monica puts together that Erik would swoop in to save the faltering company with the wealth he generated from iFruit. She is shocked to discover that Erik hates T’Challa this much that he’d plunge the country into financial jeopardy. Killmonger says that his revenge demands blood, and she points out that he’s using money not blood. However, Erik believes the two are one-in-the-same.
Back in America, Nikki and Everett have stopped fighting and Ross is now going over all the details about Killmongers financial dealings. That’s when they are visited by Queen Divine Justice and Okoye of the Wakandan Dora Milaje. They have come to collect Everett, but he’s not interested in going and gives them his State Department ID as a show that he’s quitting. Queen can’t believe that Ross is being so childish over T’Challa and Nikki’s past relationship. Ross angrily explains that his entire time working for the Panther has been emasculating but prior to this knowledge he at least thought he was doing something for the greater good, and now he feels like everyone is laughing behind his back.
However, the Black Panther is many steps ahead of everyone else. With everything in place, T’Challa contacts Taku and puts the final part of his plans in motion. 15 minutes after opening bell on Wall Street, a Wakandan agent goes to the city desk for the UPI with a scoop that will redraw the map of the world. Meanwhile, T’Challa meets with the 18 members of Wakanda’s parliament, which consists of leaders of each indigenous tribe in the region. The Panther thanks them for their service and announces that he is dissolving parliament. The move causes shockwaves across the world. When Erik Killmonger realizes what T’Challas has done he smashes all of his screens and drags Monica away be her hair. The move has caused the global economy to plunge and makes the front page of the papers in America. When Everett reads this he can hardly believe that T’Challa would plunge the world into a economic depression just to beat Killmonger. When he tries to tell this to Nikki he looks up and finds a large Wakandan man standing in the room.
Lastly, the Black Panther goes to the Resurrection Alter and meets with Zuri outside. He tells T’Challa that Brother Voodoo is in deep meditation inside. That’s when they are confronted by Erik Killmonger and his army, who has come to settle their debts.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Erik Killmonger, Brother Voodoo, Everett Ross, Nikki Adams, Queen Divine Justice, Okoye, Monica Lynne, Zuri, Taku
Continuity Notes
As revealed in Black Panther (vol. 3) #6, T’Challa and Nikki briefly dated in university. She has kept this a secret from Ross since assigning him to be T’Challa’s American liaison back in issue #1. The truth was blurted out by Queen Divine Justice last issue.
Here we see a bunch of flashbacks of interactions between Everett and Nikki over the course of the series to this point. These flashbacks include:
Everett asking Nikki why she is assigning him to the Black Panther, this scene was depicted in issue #1.
Ross theorizing that T’Challa told him everything because he considers them friends. That happened in Black Panther (vol. 3) #5.
Everett sitting at a table with Taku during a diplomatic gala while Nikki watches T’Challa dance is from Black Panther (vol. 3) #6.
Nikki reminding Everett that she is still his boss despite their relationship is from issue #10.
Everett’s panicked phone call to Nikki where he thinks he is going to die is from Black Panther (vol. 3) #15.
Lastly, the revelation that Nikki previously dated T’Challa happened last issue.
Brother Voodoo incorrectly theorizes that the disturbance in the deadside was caused by T’Challa’s old foe Baron Macabre. Macabre was able to raise the dead as zombies and was one of Killmonger’s followers. He was last seen in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #17. He won’t be showing up again until Black Panther: Long Live the King #3-4.
This is in reference to how, at this point, Killmonger has managed to cheat death more than once. He was killed in a life or death battle with the Black Panther in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #17. He was briefly resurrected as a zombie slave of the Mandarin in Iron Man Annual #5, however he was brought back to full life in Over the Edge #6.
During their first encounter, Killmonger defeated T’Challa in one-on-one combat, as seen in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6.
Monica was dumped in the Wakandan jungle by Nakia, a member of the Dora Milaje obsessed with T’Challa, as seen in Black Panther (vol. 3) #11. She was found and rescued by Killmonger in issue #13, and he made her his “guest” ever since.
Monica mentions Killmonger’s two largest wars against T’Challa, the first one being in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6-17 and then the current one that has been on going since Black Panther (vol. 3) #13.
Topical References
Monica refers to Erik Killmonger as “Wakanda’s Michael Milkin”. Milkin is an American financier best known for committing securities fraud and going to jail. He only served 2 years of a 10 year sentence and was released after rolling on his co-conspirators. Somehow, he’s one of the richest men in the world. If that’s not terrible enough, he was pardoned by Donald Trump in 2020, because everything is horrible.
When talking about his childhood, a play on the Toxic Scream arcade machine was worth 25 cents. Which was a pretty common cost of an arcade machine from the 1970s until the early 2000s. They have greatly increased in price thanks to inflation. Last I checked it’s something like $2.50 to $3.00 for a single play. As such, this should be considered a topical reference.
Killmonger refers to electronic transactions as being like Play-Dough, which is a misspelling of Play-Doh, a commercial brand of children’s sculpt children’s modeling compound. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference as it has become a proprietary eponym.
iFruit profits are reported as 3.9 billion in this story. Adjusting for inflation that would be worth about 6.9 billion in 2023.
Queen refers to Nikki as “Barbie” because she shares blonde hair with the popular children’s fashion doll. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product.
In his narration, Everett states that the Black Panther operates like a mobster, comparing him to actor Al Pacino. Pacino is best known for his portrayal of mobsters, particularly in the Godfather trilogy of films and Scarface. This should be considered a topical reference as Pacino (who is in his 80s as I write this in 2023) could be substituted with a more contemporary actor.
The computer screens and televisions in this story are all depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as it is obsolete technology.
Everett reads about Wakanda’s tanked economy in the Washington Post, this is topical as this is a real world publication.