Black Panther (vol. 3) #53
Black and White, Chapter 3
Now
When Kevin “Kasper” Cole stole a damaged Black Panther costume from his friend Francis Tork, he thought that it was his choice. All he wanted to do was take down the dirty cops who landed him on a five day suspension. However, an encounter with the White Wolf (Hunter) of the Hatute Zeraze revealed that he was actually chosen. Deciding to see if this is true, Kasper (dressed as the Black Panther) has broken into the Leslie N. Hill projects where he finds T’Challa, the King of Wakanda and the true Black Panther.[1]
As this faithful meeting is going down, Lieutenant Sal Anthony and Sergeant Bernie Scruggs — two of the crooked NYPD officers that Kasper is trying to take down — are brought outside the city by Dre, a member of the 66 Bridges street gang, whom have a relationship with Anthony and Scruggs. Dre explains how the Black Panther took him out there and forced him to dig his own grave while threatening to kill him. He then spared Dre’s life in exchange for him working for the Panther. The hero then stole his car and left him to walk back.[2] Once they get all their info, Scruggs fatally shoots Dre and leaves him in the gave he dug for himself days earlier. Going over the evidence they have gathered on this Black Panther, Sal Anthony can’t add things up. They can’t tell if this Panther is the King of Wakanda or someone usurping his identity. That’s when Sal remembers that Francis Tork used to pal around with the Black Panther and suggests they talk to him.[3]
Sal Anthony then goes to Francis Tork’s apartment and tells him he wants to talk about Kevin Cole. They go down to a local bar for some food, and talk about the situation. Francis pleads on Kasper’s behalf, saying that he is a good kid that is not going to rat them out. However, knowing this does little to ease up on Cole. This meeting, however, is all a distraction so that Bernie Scruggs can break into Tork’s apartment and snoop around. When he finds a case of the riot bullets used by this new Black Panther, Scruggs reports this back to Anthony, convincing them that Tork might be their guy.
Fourteen Years Ago
When Kevin Cole was a little boy, he was beat up by some local thugs because he was half Black and half Jewish. This did not sit well for his father, Officer “Black Jack” Cole, who insisted Kevin take him to the boys to beat him up. Kevin didn’t want to make a big deal of it, but his father insisted on doing so. They were a group of teenaged gangsters hanging out at the local basketball court.
The leader of the gang is a young man named Troy, who is flippant and dismissive about Black Jack’s upset. Troy has respect for him as he is Black, but that doesn’t extend to his white son. When Black Jack threatens to beat Troy, the gangster declines saying that he’s not going to fight a cop. Kevin’s father then removes his badge and gun and puts them on a park bench and says he isn’t acting as a cop and challenges Troy to take his best shot. He even challenges the gang members to use his own gun against him. When one of the goons reaches for the weapon, Black Jack pulls out his nightstick and quickly thrashes them all and then smashes their radio. Black Jack then tells Troy that he is the “mayor of the neighborhood” and that he should be treating everyone in it with respect, including Kevin. He then gives a stern warning: If his son is injured again he’ll come back and deliver a harsher beating. He even threatens to kill them if they ever send the boy to the hospital. Jack then recovers his badge and weapon and leaves money to replace the radio before leaving.
The entire experience left Kevin in awe of his father. As this memory plays out to its conclusion, Black Jack Cole then repeats his earlier refrain about choosing sides…..
Now
Dressed as the Black Panther, Kasper Cole has now come face-to-face with T’Challa, the real Black Panther. However, T’Challa has nothing to say and after shuffling around the Brooklyn apartment, he questions why Cole is still in his presence. Kasper explains how Hunter — T’Challa’s adopted brother — said that T’Challa chose Kasper to fill this role. T’Challa scoffs at this assertion, saying that his brother is a zealot that resents him for being more favored by their father.[4] Moreover, T’Challa notes that Kasper isn’t Wakandan or of royal blood, so his wearing the habit of the Black Panther is a blasphemy of his beliefs.
That’s when Kasper’s cell phone begins to ring and he dreads that it is another nagging call from Gwen. While he’s sending the call to voice mail, T’Challa suddenly leaps out a window and walks across the way by using electrical wires. Kasper figures that T’Challa is doing this to give chase but Kasper refuses to do it. That’s when he gets another call from Gwen. This time it brings up the sudden feelings he has for T’Challa’s bodyguard, Okoye, as she resembles his old high school flame, Grace.[5] Annoyed by the phone call, Cole tosses his cell phone out the window in frustration and instantly regrets it. Kasper then runs down to a nearby payphone to call Gwen back to see what he wants.
She is tearful on the other end of the line and says that she wasn’t calling to ask him to bring food. In reality, she was calling to tell him some bad news about his father, Black Jack. Suddenly, Francis’ warning about how they’ll kill his father come rushing to his mind. Angered by this news, Kasper races up to the rooftops to find T’Challa. He finds Hunter instead, who tells him that this is all part of the King’s greater plans for him. Cole is too angry to listen and blames Hunter this. When he tries attacking the White Wolf, Hunter easily overpowers Kasper. He tells the angry young man that he should never attack out of anger and respect a superior opponent. Tossing him over the edge of the building, Hunter also tells Kasper that he has much to learn. As if proving this point, when Cole reaches out for something to grab and break his fall, claws pop out of his gloved hand allowing him to grip. Leaping onto a nearby lamp post, Hunter already knows that this is about his father, and that Cole already knows who is responsible. Kasper realizes that Hunter isn’t asking him what T’Challa would do in this situation.
Getting into his car, the new Black Panther races off, grateful that the diplomatic plates ensure nobody will stop him for speeding.
Six Years Ago
On Kasper’s graduating year of high school, he and his girlfriend Grace were fooling around when two cops beat down the door of his apartment. They found a bag of cocaine which they accuse his father of stashing. Kasper always believed that Black Jack Cole was a straight arrow that could not be bought or sold by the gangs or crooked cops. Not liking this, those same bad officers decided to make an example out of him and frame him for drug dealing. It was a public message for anyone who didn’t fall in line or tried to snitch.[6]
Black Jack ended up going to jail for the frame job. When Kevin and his mother Ruth went to visit Black Jack for the first time in prison he scolded his wife for bringing the boy. However, Jack had a stern message for his son: He was the man of the house now and he had to grow up really quick.
Now
The Black Panther sneaks into the State Pen where his father was being held by sneaking in through the sewers. He is able to get past the security thanks to gear given to him by Hunter.
Four Hours Earlier
Black Jack Cole was in the laundry room on chore duty when a fight suddenly broke out between two other inmates. This was a distraction for the guards so one of the other prisoners can try to shiv Black Jack from behind. Cole anticipated the attempt on his life and fought back against his attackers. The commotion brings another guard who sees Black Jack beating the shit out of the other inmates and tries hitting him with a baton. Jack disarms the guard and begins giving him a beating as well until more guards arrive and swarm him and give him a serious beating.
Now
Kasper was told that, after his beating, his father was tossed into a solitary confinement cell. He quickly finds the cell and opens the door. However, instead of finding Black Jack Cole, he finds T’Challa waiting for him instead. T’Challa has nothing but more recriminations for Kasper, saying that he is unworthy of being the Black Panther. He tells Cole that his father must be left to his fate, just as T’Challa’s own father T’Chaka.[7] Freeing his father from prison would be a great dishonor to Black Jack even if doing so means he will die. This angers Cole enough that he starts throwing punches. Eventually, T’Challa starts blocking his blow. By this point, Kasper remembers when his father told him that he would have to start acting like a man. Suddenly, Kasper realizes that making his father a fugitive of the law for the rest of his life would be a fate worse than death. When Kasper asks T’Challa why he is doing all of this, he responds by saying that he wished there was someone to stop him from the path he ended up on.[8]
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, T’Challa, Francis Tork, 66 Bridges Gang (Dre), Sal Anthony, Bernie Scruggs, Gwen, (in flashback) “Black Jack” Cole
Continuity Notes
T’Challa had abandoned the throne and his mantle following the events of Black Panther (vol. 3) #48-49. The costume that Cole is wearing was wrecked back in issue #17. Cole started wearing it in Black Panther (vol. 3) #50. Hunter told Kasper he was chosen in issue #51, and he broke into the LNH projects last issue.
Dre was forced into helping Kasper in issue #50. Last issue, Dre was caught trying to gather evidence to prove that Sal and Bernie were crooked cops.
Francis Tork has worked with the Black Panther on occasion in recent history at the time of this story. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #2-5, 8, 10-12, and issue #16. Tork has also been providing advice to Kasper since issue #50.
Decades ago, a plane crashed in Wakanda and Hunter — then an infant — was the only survivor. T’Chaka adopted the boy as his own and raised him like a son until T’Challa was born. This was all explained in Black Panther (vol. 3) #10.
As we learned in issue #50, Kasper’s girlfriend Gwen is pregnant with their child. Last issue we learned that he still pines for an ex-girlfriend named Grace and that she bears resemblance to Okoye. Who Grace is and if there is any connection between her and Okoye is never fully explored as of this writing (January, 2024).
It’s later revealed that Black Jack may have been involved with the 66 Bridges and even served as their leader. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #56.
T’Chaka was famously murdered by a Vibranium poacher named Ulysses Klaw, a tale originally told in Fantastic Four #53.
It’s never outright stated why T’Challa is doing all of this. It is because he believes he is dying due to head injuries he sustained in Black Panther (vol. 3) #39. He doesn’t, as he will be fully healed by the time he appears in Black Panther (vol. 4) #1.
Topical References
Francis Tork is depicted dozing off in front of his TV watching Nick at Night. This should be considered topical because CRT televisions are now obsolete, and Nick at Night is a real world television network.
Bernie Scruggs is depicted using a cell phone that has a visible antenna to pick up signals. These models have long since become obsolete. Kasper is depicted as using a similar flip phone model later this issue, it should also be considered topical for the same reasons.
The flashback from Kasper’s childhood is stated as taking place in 1989. However, this should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication. As the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward in time, the specific date will always be in a state of flux. As such, modern readers should interpret this flashback as happening 14 years prior to the main story as opposed to a specific date. In addition, many aspects of this flashback are rendered to resemble 1989, and these era specific details (clothing, slang, technology, etc.) should also be considered topical as well. Likewise the next flashback, stated as happening in 1997, should also be considered topical. It should be interpreted as happening six years prior to the main story.
Kasper figures that Gwen is calling to ask him to pick her up so “Colonel” before coming home. The “Colonel” is referring to Colonel Sanders, the creator and mascot of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world establishment. He later sarcastically asks if she wants Popeyes or Dominos, two more real world businesses whose references should be considered topical.
The device that Kasper uses to hack the prison security systems is depicted as a camcorder that was common during the period this story was originally published. These types of devices recorded video on cassette tapes, an obsolete technology. As such, its depiction should be considered topical.
