Gorilla Warfare, Book 2: Masks

The village in Q’Noma Vallley has been wiped out by a rival tribe led by Kimbay. Hearing of the massacre, both W’Kabi and Zuri has come out to see the devastation. Kimbay explains that she did only what was necessary as retaliation for Malice (aka Nakia a Q’Noma woman) betraying both the Dora Milaje and their ruler, the Black Panther (T’Challa).[1] W’Kabi thinks that this was unnecessary part of their superstitious past and was not necessary. Kimbay merely responds by saying that they had suffered a drought while Malice was on the loose and now it is raining, which is answer enough for him. This turn of events does not sit very well with either W’Kabi or Zuri, who fear the king’s current gambit may come at a terrible cost.

Meanwhile, in America, Everett Ross — who has suffered a body swap with the demon Mephisto[2] — has come to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum for help. Unfortunately, his allies in the Defenders mistake him for the real Mephisto, prompting the Silver Surfer to lead them into battle.[3][4] As the team attacks, Valkyrie manages to lop off Everett’s head. That’s when Doctor Strange finally arrives on the scene. Thinking that Mephisto has sought him out, the Sorcerer Supreme tells the demon to cease his insanity.

At that moment, in the Crystal Forests of Wakanda, the Black Panther and his government liaison have come to rescue T’Challa’s stepmother, Vibraxas (N’Kano), and Queen Divine Justice of the Dora Milaje. While T’Challa has been dealing with the Man-Ape (M’Baku), Gyrich has been looking up the US governments records on the villain. He had pulled up files on the Black Panther’s first battle with M’Baku when he had first joined the Avengers as well as M’Baku’s recent membership in the Masters of Evil and defeat at the hands of the Thunderbolts.[5]

However, Gyrich is forced to drop his mobile device because the Panther has named him as a proxy to fight the Man-Ape one-on-one to settle the current dispute between the King of Wakanda and the exiled Jabari Tribe. Knowing a thing or two about Wakandan customs, Gyrich cites a passage of tribal law that this contest can be a match of skills rather than a brawl. Flashing his government credentials, Henry tries to convince M’Baku to sit down and hash it out. Well aware of the rules, M’Baku throws Gyrich to the ground in frustration as he concedes to the rules of engagement.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther has absconded with Queen Divine Justice, who has just learned that she is considered the queen of the Jabari. More shockingly, her parents were living in America in exile and killed for their political beliefs by royal edict. She wants T’Challa to tell her the truth about her past since it is obvious he knows the truth. However, the Black Panther merely turns and keeps on walking.

Back in New York, Doctor Strange has brought “Mephisto” into his Sanctum to examine him further. He has deduced that this might not actually be the infamous Hell-Lord but someone imitating the demon. Strange then begins casting a spell to learn the truth as the rest of the Defenders watch on impatiently.[6]

While in Wakanda, Gyrich has seen through M’Baku’s scheme. He wants to get at the Wakandan throne and take his people out of exile. In fact, he sees Queen Divine Justice as his means of obtaining this goal. By making her ruler of the Jabari people, it leverages a ruler that T’Challa will not raise a hand against. Annoyed at being seen so transparently, the Man-Ape tosses Gyrich across the throne room. Meanwhile, the Black Panther and QDJ find Vibraxas and free him from his prison. The whole time, Queen tries to get T’Challa to deny the accusations that M’Baku has made against him. When the Panther remains silent, Queen concludes that what the Man-Ape was saying is true and that T’Challa had a hand in the death of her parents.

When T’Challa finally speaks, he tells her of the times after he took over the mantle of the Black Panther following the death of his father.[7] It was a time of great violence and warring between Wakandan tribes. The Jabari in particular began worshiping the white gorillas of the Crystal Forest, something that was viewed as blasphemous to the rest of Wakandan society. They were also the same tribe that opposed the nation’s adoption of technology and became dedicated to taking over the entire kingdom. T’Challa had no choice but to exile them across Wakanda. Unfortunately, what T’Challa didn’t anticipate was his subjects taking his edict to mean that it was open season on Jabari. As such, their leader Damola — Queen’s father — became a hunted man and soon fled to America with his wife and daughter. T’Challa’s next mistake was assuming that people would forget about Damloa. Unfortunately, this was not the case and someone ventured to the USA and murdered Queen’s parents, but miraculously spared her. Learning of this tragic situation, the Panther had sent Toyosi of his elite guard to raise and look after young QDJ until she came of age and she could be brought into the Dora Milaje in an effort to prevent her from rejoining her people.[8]

Hearing all this, Queen Divine Justice is deeply upset to hear that she is being used as a political pawn. She even accuses T’Challa of never really caring about her. Having heard enough, she tries to free Vibraxas from the suspended cage he is in, triggering a trap.Luckily, the Black Panther is able to grab the cage before it falls down a pit.

Back in the Jabari throne room, the Man-Ape has grown tired of Gyrich’s endless prattling. Seeing that he has struck a nerve, Henry picks up his mobile device and pulls up a photo of Man-Ape’s recent arrest and openly mocks him and the future of the Jabari. This is the laws straw for M’Baku, who then tries to attack Gyrich. Luckily, the Black Panther leaps in, ready to fight his old enemy now that he has broken his oath. T’Challa gives M’Baku the opportunity to stand down, but the Man-Ape is so consumed by his hatred that all he wants to do is fight to the death.

While back in New York City, Doctor Strange confirms that “Mephisto” is actually Everett Ross. That’s when the entity who has swapped bodies with Ross arrives. When Everett tells them that the man masquerading as him is the real Mephisto, Strange explains that this impostor isn’t actually the demon either. However, before he can reveal “Everett’s” true identity, the Defenders and their guest are all knocked out by a powerful mystic bolt. “Ross” then says he is late for an important date with Armageddon.

Back in Wakanda, the battle between the Black Panther and Man-Ape rages on. As they fight, Queen Divine Justice frees the unconscious Vibraxas from his bonds and tries to wake him up. She does so with a kiss, seeing off his vibrational powers. THis is just as M’Baku is boasting about how he has found something that will disrupt T’Challa’s rule of Wakanda. Ultimately, M’Baku is defeated in the battle. However, when Vibraxas’ powers reverberate through the room, it shatters a nearby statue of worship to the white gorilla. This reveals something that was hidden inside. Everyone is shocked to see a man wearing the ceremonial outfit of the Black Panther frozen in ice. M’Baku then claims that this man is the true and original Black Panther![9]

Recurring Characters

Black Panther-616, Man-Ape, Queen Divine Justice, Vibraxas, Henry Gyrich, “Mephisto”, Everett Ross, Zuri, W’Kabi, Defenders (Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, Silver Surfer, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat), Black Panther-1145

Continuity Notes

1. The Dora Milaje are “brides-in-waiting” that are sleected from each tribe that makes up Wakanda. Traditionally, the king would choose one to become his bride. However, in more recent times, this has become mostly ceremonial and they have acted as bodyguards to the king. When T’Challa was tricked into making out with Nakia by Mephisto, she became obsessed with him. After he tried to kill Monica Lynne, T’Challa exiled her. She came back as Malice and struck at those he cared about. In order to get her to stop, T’Challa had to threaten to destroy her village — the punishment for a Dora Milaje betraying the king in order to maintain the peace among the other tribes. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #1, 3, 11, 13, 21-24, and lastly 31-33.

2. Ross had his body swapped with “Mephisto” following the events of Black Panther (vol. 3) #30. However, as revealed in issue #38, it wasn’t Mephisto at all but the dragon known as Chaintang, who can shapeshift among other magical feats.

3. The reason why the Silver Surfer is leading the charge is because he has had a long rivalry with the real Mephisto, who has been trying to corrupt and steal the soul of the Surfer since Silver Surfer #3. Hellcat reacts to Mephisto with familiarity, this is because she has had a history with Mephisto dating back to Defenders #94-98.

4. Everett mentions that he knows the Hulk and Sub-Mariner. He has met them in Black Panther (vol. 3) #15 and 28 respectively.

5. This recap includes Man-Ape’s first and most recent appearances in Avengers #63 and Thunderbolts #25. It also mentions how he was released from prison by Malice, which we learned in Black Panther (vol. 3) #32.

6. Here, the Hulk talks about wanting beans. This may seem like an off the cuff comment, however there was a period in 1970s where the Hulk was obsessed with eating beans after a chance encounter with a homeless man named Crackajack Johnson, as seen in Incredible Hulk #182. Subsequent issues of the Hulk and Defenders from that era has the Hulk craving beans fairly regularly.

7. T’Challa famously became king of Wakanda and leader of the Panther Tribe after his father was murdered by Ulysses Klaw. This tragedy was originally told in Fantastic Four #53.

8. We first saw Queen Divine Justice back in Black Panther (vol. 3) #13, just as her Wakandan lineage was revealed and she was first recruited into the Dora Milaje.

9. Technically, M’Baku is correct, this is another T’Challa. However, he comes from 10 years of a possible future and was stranded in the present day by King Solomon’s Frogs, as will be explained in Black Panther (vol. 3) #48-49. He has been loose in the present following the events of Black Panther #7. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5, this future has been designated Reality-1145.

Topical References

• Henry Gyrich is depicted as keeping all of his notes and files on a Palm Pilot. These were handheld personal computers that were commonly used (especially by government types) when this comic was published back in 2001. However, these devices have fallen out of common use and are more-or-less obsolete time of this writing because most of these functions have since become standard on cell phones. It’s depiction here should be considered topical.

• 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.