Black and White, Chapter 1

Officer Kevin “Kasper” Cole has been on a five day suspension after a drug bust was thwarted thanks to crooked cops working with the 66 Bridges Gang. After discovering that his boss, Sargent Francis Tork, had an old damaged Black Panther habit in his apartment, Kasper stole it to try and expose the dirty cops linked to the 66 Bridges.[1]

While visiting his father in prison,[2] Kasper was told to report Lieutenant Sal Anthony to Internal Affairs. However, when Kevin takes the elevator up to the IAB, he suddenly decides that he can’t rat out Anthony because it would ruin his reputation as a cop.

That evening, Kasper puts on his Black Panther garb and drives out to the hope of Sal Anthony. He watches Sal as he takes his dog for a walk and thinks about how easy it would have been for Sal to have left him alone the week before. Cole was working the front desk before going out with Sgt. Tork. While Francis went to use the can, the Lieutenant sweet talked Kasper. After suggesting that Cole could make detective some day, he then asks the young officer to pick up his wife’s clock at a repair shop on their beat. This was a test and when Cole didn’t take the bait and Anthony remembered. When Kasper and his crew went to bust a drug dealer, his unit was ambushed because someone tipped them off. Watching things from outside, Cole ran inside as soon as he heard gunfire. Wearing the Black Panther suit under his civvies, Kasper was able to leap around the room and take out all of the assassins. Unfortunately, he was too late to prevent his guys from getting hurt in the crossfire.

Cole considers killing Anthony, but he hears the voice of his father in his mind. It tells him that killing Anthony might be the easier way, but then he’d have to live with that for the rest of his life. Kasper realizes that he can’t and decides to spare Sal and find another way.

Instead, the Black Panther pays a visit to The Fortress, a mansion with heavy security that the 66 Bridges operates out of. Sneaking into the bathroom, the Panther ambushes Dre — a drug dealer he forced into his service the night before — he threatens Dre by seemingly shooting the thugs he knocked out to get inside. Dre surrenders and is orders him to arrange a meeting for Bernie Scruggs, a cop in the 74th Precinct that works with the Bridges gang. After he sends Dre out to do his bidding, Hunter walks into the bathroom, a display of his stealthy prowess. Hunter notes that Cole used riot control bullets on the knocked out thugs to fake killing them and notes that such ordinance is expensive for a man with a limited budget like Kasper. The leader of the Hatute Zeraze once more offers his assistance. Kasper once again turns down the offer, saying after two days he will return the Panther habit as he will no longer need it. Hunter smirks at this and says that he left a gift for Kevin outside the window of his apartment. This angers Cole, who warns Hunter to stay away from his family.

Hunter ignores this threat and says that he have left non-lethal gel bullets that can stop criminals in their tracks without killing them. They are also incapable of leaving any trace evidence as well. Before he goes, hints that someone chose Kevin to become the new Black Panther. He then warns Cole that the gangsters know they are here and are waiting outside. He then vanishes thanks to his cloaking device. Hunter’s warning is true due to the fact that Dre went to alert the others while they were talking and all of the gang members are standing outside with their guns drawn. This is a test to see if Kasper is worthy of the mantle and he quickly scans the room to figure out how to get out of this death trap.

Moments later, the 66 Bridges members open fire on what turns out to be an empty bathroom. They begin looking around for the intruder and suspect he might have fled out the trap door hidden in the closet. While they go to check, they have their backs turned to the Black Panther who was hiding in the bathtub. Seeing the trap door, Kasper realizes that this is how Hunter got in and out and contemplates using it to escape. However, as more members of the 66 Bridges come appear outside the bathroom door. The new Black Panther then decides to try out a risky move. He begins walking toward the gang and, they all begin to cower away from him. Cole is pleased and points his gun at Dre — a silent message between the two of them — before walking out the front door. Experiencing their fear fills Kasper with joy and he admits to himself that he could get to like being the Black Panther.

Later, Kevin recover the bullets left for him and takes them back to Francis Tork and tells him everything that went down tonight. Tork insists that continuing this as the Black Panther is going to be a bad move. Getting in bed with Hunter is even worse and he suggests that he dump everything in the rive and let IAB deal with Sal Anthony. The longer Cole is out there playing kitty-cat, the more he puts himself in the sights of IAB as well and that will make things even worse. Regardless of these warnings, Kasper still wants to follow through on his original play, figuring he can play Hunter until he gets the job done.[3]

That’s when the phone rings and Tork instantly knows that it is for Cole and tosses him the receiver. Sure enough, it is Kevin’s pregnant girlfriend Gwen. She has a craving for some fried chicken and asks him to get some on his way home, even though it is out of his way. Annoyed, Kasper does as he is told, spending the last of his money when he is three weeks away from his next payday. As he trudges back to his apartment he thinks about the money he could have stolen from the drug meeting, and then how his father telling him that he has a choice between being in Sal’s back pocket or IAB’s. As he walks home, Hunter rolls up in a limo and tosses a police badge at Cole’s feet. He tells Kasper that it belongs to Sal Anthony and how easy it was to steal it. Hunter then asks Kevin if he’d like him to go and eliminate Anthony on his behalf.

Kasper tosses the badge back and says that he doesn’t want to kill Anthony because that is against his personal code, despite the fact that it would be permissible under Wakandan tribal law. He then gets in, figuring this meeting is not yet over and it is not. Hunter then goes over all the personal data he was able to collect on Anthony. This includes his personal details, criminal activities, his finances and where they are kept. He even kidnapped Sal’s dog Margie, and reveals that the security to the Anthony home is the dog’s name spelled backwards. When Cole asks him why he is doing all of this, Hunter explains that he is trying to help him fully understand what it means to be the Black Panther. The Panther studies his prey before attacking him, and the need to kill an opponent is a matter of interpretation. Regardless of being handed everything to blow up Anthony’s life, Cole refuses these offers because none of the illegally acquired information will stand up in a court of law. Hunter then makes one last offer: He can get Cole promoted to detective, he just needs to say so and it can be done.

Cole refuses this as well and is dropped off in front of the car he stole from Dre the night before. He is surprised to see that the license plate has been replaced with the diplomatic plates of the Wakandan Embassy. Inside the car he finds a copy of Hunter’s dossier on Sal Anthony sitting on the passenger seat. He then remembers the warnings given to him by both his father and Francis Tork. Rather than accepting these gifts, Kasper drives the car to a vacant lot and sets it and everything inside on fire.

Recurring Characters

Black Panther, Francis Tork, Hunter, Gwen, 66 Bridges Gang (Dre),

Continuity Notes

1. Kasper has been masquerading as the Black Panther since last issue. The costume that was in Francis Tork’s possession has been sitting in his closet since Black Panther (vol. 3) #16.

2. Kasper believes that his father, a cop,was framed for drug possession and is serving out a sentence in the State Pen. This will all be explained in Black Panther (vol. 3) #53. However, issue #56 counters this by saying he was the leader of the 66 Bridges.

3. It is mentioned here that Hunter is the adopted brother of T’Challa, the King of Wakanda. Decades earlier, a plane carying Hunter and his family crash landed in Wakanda. The infant hunter was the only survivor and he was adopted by T’Chaka, T’Challa’s father, then ruler of Wakanda. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #10.

Topical References

• When complaining about how he can’t beat suspects anymore, Francis Tork complains about perps all having Johnnie Cochrane on speed dial. Cochrane was a defense lawyer who famously represented OJ Simpson during his murder trial. He was able to convince the jury to acquit Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife Nichole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. This should be considered a topical reference as Cochrane died in 2005.

• Tork also joking refers to his car as the “Batmobile”, the trademark vehicle of the Batman, a superhero owned by DC Comics. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered topical as the DC Universe exists as part of the greater Omniverse that includes the Marvel Universe, and exists in the Prime Marvel Universe’s entertainment.

• Sal Anthony tries to get his dog to behave by threatening to withhold Snausages from it. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world brand of pet treats.

• Kasper notes that the 66 Bridges are playing Grand Theft Auto 4 on the Nintendo Gamecube. Which is pretty impressive since the game was never released on that platform. Anyway, this is a topical reference as GTA 4 is an old game and the Gamecube was retired in 2007.

• The members of the 66 Bridges uses slang that was commonly in 2002 when this comic was first published. As such, some of the terms used are now considered dated and their references should be considered topical.

• When drawing comparisons, Francis Tork says Hunter will make Sal Anthony look like Justin Timberlake. Timberlake is a singer who was at the height of his career when this story was originally published in 2003. During this period, Timberlake was a member of the boy band NSYNC. This should be considered a topical reference as this reference can easily be replaced by a contemporary example without changing the context.

• Gwen is craving Popeye’s chicken, which is another topical reference as this is a real world franchise of fast food chicken restaurants.

• In his running monologue of events, Cole makes reference to George W. Bush, who was President of the United States at the time this comic was published in 2003. This should be considered topical as Bush’s two terms as President ended in 2009.

Errors

• When recalling events from last issue, Kasper recalls his father advising him on what to do about Sal Anthony. For some reason, artist Jorge Lucas depicted this as happening on the street. However, Kasper had this conversation in the visitors room of the State Pen where his father is incarcerated. Kind of a huge oversight, but maybe there was a deadline crunch or something. Don’t be a dick, Jorge is doing his best.