Black Panther (vol. 3) #28
Stürm und Drang: A Story of Love & War, Book 3: The Trade of Kings
The world is on the brink of war after the Black Panther (T’Challa) refused to turn over a Deviant child to Lord Ghaur, high priest of the Deviants. This was because the child looked human and would have been put to death. After Ghaur declared war, T’Challa placed Wakandan warships over Lemuria. As the world waited with baited breath, the White Wolf (T’Challa’s adopted brother Hunter) resurrected Klaw (Ulysses Klaw) and had him attack the USS Roussos, an American warship monitoring tensions. This put the blame on Wakanda.[1]
When Klaw finally shows up at a cafe, Hunter commends him for his actions. However, Ulysses has double-crossed him by bribing a waiter to drug his drink. When Hunter passes out, Ulysses flies off for Deviant Lemuria.
Meanwhile, Everett Ross has finally returned to America to help the Black Panther with the current crisis.[2] However, T’Challa has gone missing and that has led to Ross seeking out the one woman who might know where to find him, Monica Lynne, the Panther’s former lover.[2] Monica is not happy to see Everett and isn’t interested in hearing anything he has to say. That is until he explains to her how the world is on a brink of war and he can’t find T’Challa. Monica realizes that she has to get involved once more and agrees to help him find the Panther.
Monica leads Ross an abandoned Harlem school where the Black Panther used to teach.[4] There he has called a meeting with other superhuman world leaders. Present is Magneto, the current ruler of Genosha. As a Holocaust survivor, Magneto understands T’Challa’s position however he has a pact with Atlantis and will side with that nation in the event of war.[5] This makes Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom) — who is present via holographic projection — laugh, pointing out how many times Magnus had attempted to manipulate the Sub-Mariner in the past.[6] Warlord Kro calls T’Challa mad, as there is nothing he can do. While he is the supposed ruler of Deviant Lemuria, it is in title only, as Ghuar’s religious order have the full support of his people. That’s when the Sub-Mariner shows up and tells the others that he doesn’t need their loyalty to do what he wishes. He then informs T’Challa that he has sent his Atlantean forces to surround Wakanda’s military that reside above Lemuria.
Despite this threat, T’Challa knows that Namor has come to avoid this and thanks him for his presence. He impores the Atlantean ruler to side with him, explaining that Lord Ghaur recently attempted to create an Anti-Mind to attack the Celestials, and that the telepathic child in his protection would give the Deviant the power to try this mad scheme again.[7] Namor warns that testing Ghaur may lead to another Kiber Island fiasco all together.[8] Magneto agrees that the best thing to do is to examine to Deviant child and determine what Ghaur wants the child for.[9] Ultimately, the gathered leaders agree that the attack on the USS Roussos was not the work of Ghaur, but another party that is trying to take advantage of the situation. In response to that, T’Challa decides that they are going to send Everett Ross to Lemuria to speak with Ghaur.
Back in Wakanda, Queen Divine Justice is cooking up some friend chicken with the Deviant child. That’s when Vibraxas (N’Kano) arrives after his walk home from the jungle. N’Kano explains that he came looking for T’Challa to get help with his vibrational powers back under control. Unfortuantely, he was shot down by Hunter, the White Wolf, who used him to resurrect Klaw.[10]
Later, Everett uses his connections to the State Department to get a plane out to Lemuria. It is disabled and Everett is taken prisoner. He is brought before Lord Ghaur, who demands to know why he shouldn’t put Ross to death. Everett tries to convince the Deviant priest that he has come to help Lemuria during this current crisis. Everett points out that Ghaur is afraid of starting a war with the likes of T’Challa, Doom, Magneto, and Namor, otherwise he would have already kicked it off. It’s all because of some human looking child and Ross tells him to just let it go. Ghaur says that the child is a genetic aberration that needs to be destroyed, such is the Deviant way. He also lets slip that he can’t let the child live because someone else might discover its existence. Everett suddenly realizes why Ghaur is so hell-bent is because the child is his.
When Ross says this, he is struck by Ghaur with enough force to send him sliding across the room and into a crowd of Deviants that are milling about. As he gets up, he spots Klaw and recognizes him. However, before he can figure out who he is exactly, Klaw turns into sonic energy and incapacitates Ghaur. Then, imitating the priest’s voice, Klaw orders the Deviants to launch their missiles.
In the South Bronx, the Black Panther interrupts a robbery at a bodega. After dealing with this situation, he is ambushed by Namor. The Sub-Mariner is furious because his people at Lemuria are being attacked by Wakandan forces. T’Challa trades blows with the pissed off Atlantean and tries to get him to reason. It’s not until Magneto arrives on the scene and tells them that the Deviants had opened fire on the Wakandan’s first, causing a domino effect of attacks on each party in the region. Magnus points out how someone has been manipulating their military tactics in order to stoke a full blown war. Remembering how Storm warned him about becoming Magneto, T’Challa doesn’t immediately agree with how Magneto suggests to resolve the situation. Instead, he apologizes to Namor and says he will order his troops to stand down and assist the Atlanteans in repairing the damage done to their vessels. Satisfied with the results, the three men part company.
As the Black Panther tries to climb to the rooftops, he is struck by a sonic blast that disorientates him enough to cause him to fall onto the subway tracks below. There, Klaw — having turned his solid sound form into an approximation of a New York subway train — comes bearing down on his mortal foe, seeking to end T’Challa’s life once and for all!
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Kawl, Sub-Mariner, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Lord Ghaur, Hunter, Everett Ross, Queen Divine Justice, Vibraxas, Monica Lynne
Continuity Notes
Everett has been in Wakanda for an extended period after T’Challa temporarily made him regent between Black Panther (vol. 3) #14-25. It is stated here that, as a result, Everett lost his US citizenship. That happened in issue #23.
Monica and T’Challa have had an on-again-off-again relationship that began in Avengers #73. Monica ended their romance in Black Panther (vol. 3) #26 due to the fact that T’Challa didn’t seem to have time for her or their romance.
At one time, T’Challa had created the fake identity of Luke Charles, first seen in Avengers #75.
At the time of this story Magneto had just recently been given control of the nation of Genosha, as seen in X-Men (vol. 2) #87. His past as a Holocaust survivor was first revealed in Uncanny X-Men #161. It is explored in greater detail in Classic X-Men #12, 15, New Mutants #49, Excalibur (vol. 3) #7, X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5.
A footnote here specifically cites Fantastic Four #102-104 when Magneto tricked Namor into giving him control of Atlantis. But prior to that he also attempted to recruit the Sub-Mariner into the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which didn’t work, as seen in X-Men #6. He also jokes that he and Magneto are “allies at last”, Doom and Magneto once teamed up to take over the world. As you’d expect, Doom ultimately betrayed Magneto, see Super-Villain Team-Up #14 and Champions #16.
Ghaur attempted to create an Anti-Mind in Heroes for Hire #5-7.
The Kiber Island incident was when Wakanda and Atlantis nearly went to war against one another. See Defenders #84.
Magneto suggests Ghaur could become a threat to “Planet Doom” as well. This is another name for Counter-Earth, a duplicate planet that was created by Franklin Richards’ powers in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. Doctor Doom had conquered it in Heroes Reborn: Doom #1. He will relinquish control of that world following the events of Doom #1-3.
Vibraxas’ powers flared out of control in Black Panther (vol. 3) #24, he was used by Hunter in issue #26, and was found by Queen Divine Justice last issue.
Topical References
In the opening of his narration, Everett Ross mentions two political moments that were somewhat current when this comic was originally published in 2001.
He refers to the political climate as being “post-Bill & Monica”. This is in reference to former President Bill Clinton and his government assistant Monica Lewinsky. The two had an affair between 1995 and 1997. When the story broke a year later there was an impeachment trial, because why investigate Clinton’s many war crimes when we instead could go after him from getting blowjobs from someone who wasn’t his wife. Great work, America!
He also mentions how Mikhail Gorbachev was in a Pizza Hut ad. Gorbachev was the Prime Minister of the USSR from 1985 until it dissolved in 1991 and another war criminal. He famously appeared in a Russian Pizza Hut ad in 1998 (see below), because what better way to obfuscate countless civilian deaths than with a stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut?
References to Magneto being a Holocaust survivor are not considered topical despite the Sliding Timescale. However, as of this writing (December, 2023), it has not been clearly explained how Magneto could still be vital enough to be active in the present day. Since Magneto had been experimented upon by Mister Sinister during his time in Auschwitz, is a master of genetics himself, and has experienced periods of being de-aged, there are plenty of explanations for his continued vitality.
This story is where Queen Divine Justice starts jokingly calling Vibraxas “NFL”, because his costume resembles the type of padding that is commonly worn by athletes in the National Football League. Typically, a real world commercial organization like this would be considered topical. However, making it so in this instance could make the joke no longer work. Also, I don’t think the NFL is going to disappear in my lifetime so you do the mental gymnastics to sort that out if you’re reading this in some future where the NFL no longer exists.
Queen Divine Justice refers to Vibraxas a “N****-Fro Lad”, (not that n-word, the one that rhymes with “happy”) which is in reference to his hair, which identifies him as someone of African descent. That said, this terminology coudl be considered racist depending on who is saying it. Since this is a Black character saying it to a Black character in a story written by a Black writer, it would get a pass here I guess? I don’t know, that’s not my place. Never use the word to describe someone’s hair if you want to keep your teeth in your head.
Everett states here that the United States Air Force are flying F-16 fighter jets. While these fighter planes are still in use, they will be phased out and retired by around 2062. They are certainly coming out of regular use as newer more advanced fighters are developed and put into use. As such this is a topical reference.
Everett also talks about how he can score Denver Broncos tickets. This would be a topical reference as this is a real world team and they change names/locations sometimes.
The bodega is selling 16 cans of pop for $9.99. Adjusting for inflation this would be about $17.33 in 2023.