Black Panther (vol. 3) #61
Ascension, Part 3
Kevin “Kasper” Cole is attempting to undergo the Rite of Ascension to earn the right to consume the heart shaped herbs that give the Black Panther his powers.[1] This has kept him away from home for over five days. His mother (Ruth Cole) and his pregnant girlfriend (Gwen) are worried sick about him. Ruth even manages to get the cell phone number of Kasper’s commanding officer in the NYPD anti-drug squad, Sal Anthony. Sal is in the middle of a bust with Cole’s squad mates — Daz, Eddie X, and “the Jinx” — and assures her that everything is fine and Kevin will be home soon. Once he gets off the phone, Sal wonders how long he’ll have to cover for Kasper.
Meanwhile, Kasper is on the next phase of the Rite of Ascension. T’Challa — the former Black Panther and King of Wakanda — has facilitated a vision quest for him to undergo. This has required Kevin to subsist on nothing by specially brewed tea for three full days. Since he cannot do this in Wakanda, T’Challa has facilitated the required vision quest through technological means as Kasper travels through the borough of Brooklyn. Atop the Brooklyn Bridge and giddy from the tea, he activates the first memory device. This conjures up Kasper’s late friend, Francis Tork. Kevin figures this can’t be real because Tork is dead.[2]
Tork tells Kasper that he needs to give up on this because he is risking his life when he has a pregnant girlfriend at home. Kasper says he can’t give up while the 66 Bridges are still around because they were responsible for Tork’s death. Francis scoffs at this idea, saying that Kasper doesn’t need a cape to do that. That’s when Tork disappears and T’Challa appears in his place. The King tells him that he is very real and not a hallucination like Tork, and once again pleads with Kasper to give up on this insane quest. This is his final warning, telling Cole that if he continues further, it will be the end of him. Kasper refuses to do so and chases after T’Challa as he walks down the bridge suspension. T’Challa explains that in order to earn the right to consume the heart-shaped herb, he will have to defeat the current Chieftan of the Panther Clan, T’Challa’s moral enemy Erik Killmonger.[3]
He explains that Killmonger ate the herb and while it originally left him braindead, he recently woke up from his coma with all the powers of the Black Panther. His final warning is that Killmonger is a great evil and, with that, T’Challa leaps off the bridge to the street below. Waiting for him by the side of the road is a Wakandan diplomatic vehicle. He is ushered into the vehicle by Okoye of the Dora Milaje — a woman that Kasper has fallen for, but hates his guts — she spares him a glance before ducking into the car and driving off.[4] With out any other clues about what to do next, Kasper scans the memory device with him Kimoyo Card. It gives him a latitude and longitude of 82 by 37 degrees, the heart of Brooklyn itself.
The directions bring him to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and Kasper dresses up in his Black Panther costume before walking onto the property. He is soon ambushed by Preyy Killmonger’s pet leopard while Erik fires at him with an energy blaster.[5] As the two fight, Killmonger explains how he was abandoned by Wakanda when he was captured by Ulysses Klaw and was forced to fend for himself. This goes into the usual super-villain speech about how he’s really a revolutionary trying to remake Wakanda in his image and how he is the rightful heir of the Panther Clan after defeating T’Challa in combat.
When Killmonger starts overpowering him, Kasper jokingly asks if they can take a break because he is exhausted after being awake for 3 days without food. Amazingly, Erik agrees and goes to a nearby cooler. He explains that he is allowing for a break because killing Kasper in 12 seconds would only be viewed as luck instead of skill. While the wait, Erik asks Kasper how his investment portfolio is going. Kasper tells him that all he has is a piddly $85 and change in his bank account. He goes on to say that he needs to pass the ritual because he’s got a baby on the way. Killmonger finds the idea that seeking the powers of the Black Panther are ridiculous given his situation, mentioning that he is the foe that T’Challa has never defeated.[6] He also warns Kasper that the herb will probably kill him because it is toxic to anyone outside of the Bashenga family line.[7]
Kasper then threatens to kill Erik to take the herb, but Killmonger knows better. He’s figured out that T’Challa cares for him for some reason and has chosen him, and as such won’t resort to murder. Killmonger then makes Kevin an offer: He will give Kasper the herb as well as help him save Max Anthony and bring down the 66 Bridges in the process.[8] All Cole has to do is become Killmonger’s acolyte — his White Tiger — to carry out his business in the United States while he heads back to Wakanda and settles his affairs there. He then asks Kasper what his decision is.
Moments later, Kasper returns to the Wakandan Embassy. Shoving past Omoro, the head of security, he goes looking for T’Challa. Instead, he finds Okoye in the hallway. She gives him an ugly glare as he passes by. However, when they cross paths he stops and kisses her. This time, she doesn’t resist him. In T’Challa’s office he finds the ghost of Francis Tork. Tork tries to convince Kasper that going through with Killmonger’s plan as it is a bad idea.[9] However, Kasp already has a bag full of the dry herbs and intends on taking them.
Kevin then begins waking up in his apartment, thinking this was all a dream. That’s when Gwen throws a pillow at him in anger about his days long absence. As his mother welcomes him back home, Kevin asks someone to turn on a light. Gwen berates him for making a ridiculous request since it is broad daylight outside. When she asks if he is hung over or something, Kasper tells her it is not it, he’s actually gone blind![10]
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Erik Killmonger, T’Challa, Francis Tork’s “ghost”, Okoye, Omoro, Ruth Cole, Gwen, Sal Anthony, the Jinx, Daz, Eddie X, Preyy
Continuity Notes
Kasper has been masquerading as the Black Panther since Black Panther (vol. 3) #50, in order to shut down the 66 Bridges Gang. He has been questing for the heart shaped herb since issue #59. For more on this ancient Wakandian ritual, see Avengers #87.
Or at least that’s what Kasper is led to believe following the events of Black Panther (vol. 3) #54. In reality, T’Challa faked Tork’s death and this is really him pretending to be a hallucination, as we’ll discover next issue.
Erik Killmonger was able to defeat T’Challa in one-on-one combat, winning the right to become the new chieftan in Black Panther (vol. 3) #13-20. However, eating the heart-shaped herb put him into a coma until last issue.
Kasper fell for Okoye because she reminds him of his ex-girlfriend Grace, as we saw in Black Panther (vol. 3) #52. Okyoe has hated Cole’s guts because she sees his masquerading as the Black Panther as blasphemy. Things have not gotten better since he kissed her last issue. Per Black Panther (vol. 3) #1, the Dora Milaje (aka “The Adored Ones”) are women from the various tribes of Wakanda. Traditionally they are brides-in-waiting for the king, but the role has become more of a ceremonial formality in more recent times. The Dora Milaje now operate as bodyguards to the King. Despite the modernization of this role, the women are still supposed to remain chaste. Being DTF with anyone but the King leads to shaming of the tribe, exile, and likely death.
This exposition dump goes into Killmonger’s origins and his first attempt to conquer Wakanda. Check out Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6-18.
Either Killmonger has a pretty liberal idea of being undefeated means, or he’s embellishing as part of Kasper’s test. Particularly since T’Challa killed him in combat in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #17 and needed to get his ass resurrected on three occasions (Iron Man Annual #5, Over the Edge #6 and Black Panther (vol. 3) #18) before he defeated T’Challa in combat.
At the time this story was originally published, Bashenga was believed to be the first Black Panther, as detailed in Black Panther #7. Bashenga lived during the Bronze Age of human history. However, Marvel Legacy #1 revealed that the lineage of the Black Panther goes back even farther, to at least the year 1 million BC, with a man known as Mosi.
During his first clash with the 66 Bridges, Kasper learned that Sal Anthony was being forced into being dirty because the gang kidnapped his son, Max. In order to later secure Anthony’s testemony, Kasper promised to save Max. This all went down in Black Panther (vol. 3) #56.
Tork’s “ghost” warns Kasper that kissing Okoye could lead to her tribe being wiped off the map. This is what happened when her fellow Dora Milaje, Nakia, who psycho after T’Challa was tricked into kissing her by Mephisto (long story, see issue #3), tried to kill his lover Monica Lynne (issue #11). She was banished in exile in issue #13, and later reinvented herself as Malice. Her village was destroyed following the events of Black Panther (vol. 3) #31-33.
Kasper’s loss of vision doesn’t last long, next issue he’s sighted again. But you probably already figured that out because you’re smart.
Topical References
Obsolete technologies: Cell phones with physical antennas, 256 mb memory sticks
Topical Pop-culture references: talk-show host Regis Philbin, Scoobie-Doo, Millie Vanilli, Mr. T, the Stanley Cup
Real World Brands: Starbucks, Twinkies, Snapple, Tic-Tacs
Topical Current Events: “A Texan in the White House” (referring to the George W. Bush Presidency of 2001-2009 in the present tense).
Factual References: Killmonger comparing himself to Che Guevara and Nelson Mandela (as he is referring to them in a historical context)