Black Panther (vol. 3) #43
Enemy of the State II, Book Three: The Kiber Chronicles
XCon is trying to take over the world and only the Black Panther (T’Challa) knows how to stop them. As part of a complex scheme, he has one of his aides call a press conference and announce the annexation of a Canadian island off Lake Superior per an 1892 treaty. He announces that not only are they giving it back to the local First Nations that originated there, but Wakandan troops will be moved to the island to protect it. This deeply disturbs those watchin the cover, including T’Challa’s allies in the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
This also being watched by Queen Divine Justice and Junta (Danny Vincent) in a hotel room. Vincent has brought Queen here to keep her safe. She is concerned about the announcement as it might spark a conflict between Wakanda, Canada, and the United States. Junta explains that he is keeping her safe from XCon, who have just secretly taken over Canada and are targeting the United States next. Danny is keeping her safe because T’Challa’s actions have shined a bright light onto their operations and they are sure to retaliate. That’s when the President of the United States walks into the room and introduces himself to Queen Divine Justice.
Meanwhile, Iron Man (Tony Stark) meets with Henry Gyrich, after his failed attempt at stopping the Black Panther from stealing something from XCon’s casino cruise ship. With the forcefield in his armor damaged, the hero is exceptionally vulnerable to Black Panther’s Anti-Metal weaponry. Gyrich can’t understand how Iron Man can’t defeat someone without superpowers. The Avenger explains that people underestimating him is his superpower, a mistake people like Gyrich keep on forgetting.[1] However, Iron Man was able to bombard the Black Panther with microparticles that allow him to ping off the tracking devices in his costume (which allow his people to know his location at all times) and knows where he went. He learns that they are flying over the Great Lakes in a Wakandan fighter plane. He then hacks into its controls and causes it to crash in the water before T’Challa, and his allies — Wolverine (Logan), and Okoye of the Dora Milaje — can eject. Iron Man then heads off to try and confront T’Challa but the transponder signal suddenly shifts stating that the Panther somehow ended up in the South Atlantic.
This is because Iron Man’s tracking devices has picked up the Black Panther’s double. This other T’Challa is heading off on an quest to find King Solomon’s Frogs. Along for the ride are Abner Little, Princess Zanda, an incredulous Everett Ross, as well as the criminal known as Nightshade (Tilda Johnson). Everett is trying to make sense of this flamboyant carefree version of T’Challa and he asks Tilda who he really is. Nightshade, a genetic scientist, explains that this man is not a clone, android, twin, or anything other than the real T’Challa. She then posits something that Everett hasn’t even considered: If this is the real Black Panther, then who have they be dealing with this whole time?[2] Ross still can’t believe it and thinks that this other Panther might be trying to kill them all. This other T’Challa assures Everett that he has no such desires and then tells them that they have arrived at their destination: The remains of Kiber Island![3]
When they land, Everett decides that he is not getting off the plane. Nightshade explains that this T’Challa is dying of some kind of irreparable brain aneurism and is dying. This could very well be his final adventure. Before Ross can answer, the Black Panther grabs him and pulls him off the plane, excited to start their adventure.
Back in Canada, Iron Man has caught up to the Black Panther, Wolverine, and Okoye. As he is confronting them he gets a panicked call from Pepper Potts. She informs him that federal officers have raided Stark Enterprises to seize files on Meridian Ventures, the bank handling Stark’s expansion into European markets. With them, is T’Challa’s man who announced the annexing of Anishinabe Island. This was a deal nobody was supposed to know about until it was finalized. She says the Meridian was just bought out by Banqué Central, a bank in the nation of Paolo Santera. Tony instantly realizes what’s going on. The Black Panther had recently donated 300 trucks to help the people of Paolo Santera to help them ship the yearly harvest of gravel berries. The move made instant billionaires there and gave Banqué Central the power to enact a hostile take over of Meridian.[3] This political move has resulted in the Black Panther the ability to take over Stark Enterprises.
While he is piecing this together, Wolverine manages to slip behind him and plant Iron Man with a foaming corrosive chemical that gums up the works of his armor. Tony realizes that he will have to dump his liquid oxygen cell — making him incapable of flight — he needs to get out of the water or he will sink like a stone with only 10 minutes of air. Still, he risks going after T’Challa regardless of the risk. Iron Man manages to get to the surface but the Black Panther and Okoye have already escaped into a flying Wakandan warship.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Queen Divine Justice gets over the surprise of being face-to-face with the President of the United States. She then starts berating him on recent healthcare reforms, but the President begins arguing his position and the hard choices he had to make. When Danny reminds them that they have bigger things to deal with — namely the spies trying to take over the country — Queen tells him to zip it.
Back in Canada, the Black Panther and his allies manage to get to shore. It’s here that Logan shoves T’Challa to the ground and threatens the Panther with his Adamantium claws. Okoye puts a gun to Wolverine’s head, but T’Challa tells her to stand down. Logan realizes that there are parts of this plan that he has kept secret and now he wants answers. Before the Panther can give them, Wolverine is hit upside the head by a thrown apple. This was tossed by Logan’s old friend, Eugene Judd — aka Puck — who is watching this scene with the rest of his Alpha Flight teammates (Vindicator (Heather McNeil), Snowbird (Narya), Sasquatch (Walter Langkowski), and Shaman (Michael Twoyoungmen)) from a cabin on the island. Inside, T’Challa sits down the Alpha Flight’s leader, Guardian _James Hudson) as well as Joseph Legarde Stone. Stone is grateful for T’Challa’s gestures but feels as though that they might make matters worse. The land rights of his people are currently going through Canadian courts and he is confident that this slow process will be a victory for the First Nations people of Canada.
Hudson also has deep concerns, as T’Challa’s annexation of the island could spark a war with other NATO nations. However, T’Challa remains steadfast in his decisions as he is playing a much bigger game. James also doesn’t understand why his old friend Logan is involved with all this. Wolverine explains that he is there to make sure Hudson backs off a little. Tired of the secrets Logan finally demands to see the contents of the briefcase they stole from XCon. When he looks inside, Wolverine is shocked by what he has seen but thinks this is a joke.
While in Kiber Island, the other Black Panther and his allies are clashing with Kiber and his forces. As he tries to get out of harms way, Everett Ross remembers that Kiber Island was supposedly destroyed and Kiber himself was no longer human and begins to question how their current situation is even possible. That’s when they are attacked by the Six-Million-Year Man and an ancient warlord, more old and long vanquished Black Panther foe.[4] The Panther and his allies push through the opposition and prematurely open Kiber’s Life Collection Chamber prematurely, transforming him into inhuman creature he was when the Black Panther first encountered him. T’Challa then grabs the E-Globe energy collection device that is the key component of the device. As they flee back to their plane, Everett deduces that this battle was taken from visions of the Panther’s past. When Princess Zanda opens the E-Globe, she shows off the prize that they came for: One of King Solomon’s Frogs. Now that they have it, Ross asks them what they plan on doing with it. An answer isn’t very forthcoming.
The second frog in this pair is the object that Wolverine finds in the briefcase. This convinces him that T’Challa has completely lost his mind. However, the Panther assures him that the magical totem is a threat to the entire world and time is running out!
Recurring Characters
Black Panther (616 & 114), Iron Man, Wolverine, XCon, Everett Ross, Abner Little, Zanda, Kiber the Kruel, Six-Million Year Man, “Warlord”, Queen Divine Justice, Junta, Henry Gyrich, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Scarlet Witch, Warbird, Alpha Flight (Guardian, Vindicator, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird, Puck)
Continuity Notes
Here it is stated that the Black Panther doesn’t have any superpowers. However, this is not entirely accurate. Per Avengers #87, T’Challa consumed the heart shaped herbs that all Black Panthers consume. They enhance a person’s physical abilities to the human peak as well as enhancing their senses. It could be that Iron Man and Gyrich are unaware of this or what they really mean is that T’Challa doesn’t have powers that can be used offensively.
In Black Panther (vol. 3) #48-49, it’s revealed that this other Black Panther is from a timeline some 10 years in the future. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4, this future exists in Reality-1145. This is the first time that it is mention that Panther-1145 is dying. It is also implying that T’Challa-616’s instances of the shakes (seen during the last two issues), caused by head injuries fighting Iron Fist in Black Panther (vol. 3) #39, are related, hinting that this T’Challa isn’t from the past (as it seems) but the future. However, Black Panther-616 recovers from his injuries by the time we see him in Black Panther (vol. 4) #1, getting better somehow (it’s never clearly explained, is what I mean).
The Black Panther previously went to Kiber Island back in Black Panther #11-13.
Both of these entities were plucked out of time by King Solomon’s Frogs and battled the Black Panther. While the “warlord” (he’s never officially named) comes from the distant past, the Six-Million-Year Man comes from an era some six-million years into the future of the Modern Age. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #2, this timeline exists in Reality-77211. Both of these beings were last seen in Black Panther #1.
Topical References
This story is steeped in commentary on ancestral land rights of the indigenous populations of both Canada and the United States as they were when this comic was published in 2002. As a white person who has been mostly ignorant of the historic grievances of the indigenous tribes of this continent, I can certainly say that the needle hasn’t moved forward on reconciliation very much in the 20+ years since this comic was published. Still, anything about these ongoing highly politicized issues should be considered contextual to the date of publication and as such the specifics therein should be considered topical. Not that it amounts to much colonialism is still alive and well in our society.
The President of the United States is depicted as George W. Bush, who was President the year this comic was originally published. This should be considered a topical reference as his Presidency lasted from 2001 to 2009.
Everett suggests that Black Panther-1145 might be two real world public figures and as such, these name drops should be considered topical:
Richard Simmons: The lead singer of the rock band Kiss. Like his bandmates he is known for wearing stylized makeup on his face. At 74 years old (time of this writing) he’s not long for this world. More over, the reference to him could easily be swapped out for a more contemporary example.
Ross Perot: Is best known for being a third party candidate (the most successful one in US history, time of this writing) during the 1996 Presidential Election. He was the butt of many jokes for his manner of speaking and wild ideas. This is topical as Perot died in 2019.
Everett is depicted reading an old issue of Life Magazine, I wouldn’t be surprised if the artist drew an actual issue from 1978 (since they’re making a comment about how old it is, likely a nod to Jack Kirby’s run on Black Panther), but I’m not going to spend hours combing through cover galleries of Life Magazine to figure out which one because this is a topical reference because it is a real world magazine.
Pepper Potts confuses gravel berries with Frankenberry. Frankenberry is a brand of breakfast cereal. This should be considered topical as it is a real world product.
Queen Divine Justice and the President debate a healthcare reform that was likely a real thing that happened in 2002, I don’t care about American politics or how it constantly kneecaps its citizens with a for-profit healthcare system. You do your own research. This is topical because its a dated law.
QDJ also tells Danny to talk to her hand when he interrupts their debate and even holds up her hand to his face. This was a very 2000’s thing to do. It was a sassy way of telling someone to shut up and was a common refrain used by the Black community, particularly women. As anything rad as fuck, it was culturally appropriated by white people and turned into the punchline of a joke. Anyway, this is another topical reference since this is a dated thing to do.
True to form, Wolverine continues giving his allies cute nicknames. He calls Okoye “Susie Q” which could mean a lot of things since that term name is associated with a lot of real world products, and other media, without the proper context its hard to tell. The term was originally the name of a dance move created in 1936. Since Wolverine was alive back then, this could be a reference to how fast and graceful Okoye moves. This wouldn’t be considered a topical reference since Logan is old as fuck. Per Origin #1 he was born sometime in the late 1800s. He calls T’Challa “Whiskas” again, this is the name of a brand of real world cat food, that’s why this is topical.
Everett compares Kiber’s lifeforce stealing technology as being similar to listening to pop-singer Brittney Spears (rude). This is another pop-culture topical reference as Spears was at the height of her popularity in 2002 and you could use a more contemporary teen idol and the joke would still land, low hanging fruit and all.
Translations
Some of the dialogue in this story is presented in Spanish without translation. These phrases are spoken by Danny Vincent’s “mother” drone.
“Debro refrenaria yo, hijo?” = “Should I restrain myself, son?”
“No esta seguro para usted estar solo, senior.” = “It's not safe for you to be alone, mister.”
“No preocupe. Chanté se quedara conmigo.” = “Do not worry. Chanté will stay with me.”
