Black Panther (vol. 4) #17
Bride of the Panther, Part 4: Bachelor Party
The Black Panther (T’Challa) and Storm (Ororo Monroe) are getting married.[1] Luke Cage is delighted by the news because it gives him an opportunity to organize a bachelor party for the King. When his girlfriend, Jessica Jones, asks him what he is up to, Cage plays coy. Once she is gone, he eagerly gets details about the the strippers working on the night of the party.
Meanwhile, at the Wakandan Embassy in New York, T’Shan — the Panther’s cousin and Wakanda’s United Nations representative — holds a press conference about the upcoming royal wedding. T’Challa and Ororo then appear before the media to show off the wedding ring and to answer questions. One of the reporters takes the opportunity to ask T’Challa what his thoughts on a the proposed Super Human Registration Act in the United States and if Wakanda is considering creating a similar law.[2]
T’Challa tells the press that he will not comment on US domestic policy, but remarks that he has fought alongside many American heroes and considers them courageous men and women. When pressed about a similar law in his own nation, Storm speaks up. She tells them that she has experienced discrimination as a woman, person of colour, and a mutant, her entire life. She tells the assembled press that Wakanda will not waste resources on witch hunts and that it will continue to be a leader in new technologies and human rights. This statement generates wild applause from the press gallery, greatly impressing T’Challa who adds that he hopes their marriage will serve as symbol of unity between all people. When the couple leave in the royal limo, Storm admits that she isn’t going to like having to do pressers like this all the time. However, T’Challa points out that Ororo is really good at it, in fact her speech reminded him of his father (gross).[3]
Back at Avengers Tower, Luke Cage continues to organize the bachelor party. As he is finishing up he is visited by his teammate Wolverine. Logan has come to talk to Cage man-to-man, he sees Storm as family and her upcoming marriage means T’Challa will also be considered family. Logan is good at two things, and one of them is having a good time. He then makes a threat of doing the other thing he’s good at if Luke doesn’t deliver on a good time. Cage feels that Logan is a man after his own heart and promises that the bachelor party will be just that. However, when Luke comes to T’Challa with his party idea, it is shot down immediately. This is because, for T’Challa, the marriage is merely a formality and he is already married in his heart. The dressing down Luke gets makes him feel immature about the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Storm has gone out shopping trip with Sue Richards (the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four) and Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat of the X-Men) on Fifth Avenue. Heading into a fancy shop, they ask the clerk to lock up so they can shop in peace and quiet as their presence has generated a massive crowd. When the store owner welcomes Ororo back to his establishment, Storm insists that it is her first time in the store. At first, Kitty takes offense to this on behalf of Ororo, and accuses him of thinking all Black women look the same. The clerk apologizes for any offense but insists that a woman did indeed come into his shop shopping for a wedding dress for her upcoming marriage to T’Challa. Curious about this, the three women learned that the whoever the woman was, she bought the most expensive dress in the shop and paid in cash.
When Storm returns to T’Challa’s New York penthouse, she tells him about this strange story. He thinks it is part for the course given her new celebrity, telling her not to look up what they are saying about their marriage on the internet. The couple then start playfighting, pitting their powers against one another before getting down to some love making. Down in the lobby of the building, the Falcon (Sam Wilson) has arrived to deliver the message that Captain America (Steve Rogers) will be attending the wedding as recent events have prevented him from RSVPing in person.[4] His meeting with T’Shan is interrupted by two thunder clashes, prompting T’Shan to tell Sam that his cousin and Storm are indisposed for the moment and won’t be taking visitors.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Africa, the Man-Ape (M’Baku) holds a rally with his followers. He is furious that T’Challa has taken a bride that is not a member of the Tribe of the White Gorilla. More stinging is the fact that M’Baku wasn’t sent a wedding invitation either. He promises his people that he will make the Black Panther pay for these insults.
The following morning, T’Challa is trying to figure out what they should do on Friday evening. That’s when Storm says that Sue Richards had organized a bachelorette party for her. Having heard that Luke Cage had organized something similar for T’Challa, she suggests that he attend it. Luke Cage is delighted by this reconsideration and soon T’Challa is aboard an Avengers Quinjet heading to Rio De Janeiro. Accompanying them are Wolverine, the Falcon, the Thing (Ben Grimm), Goliath (Bill Foster), and his cousin T’Shan. What nobody suspects is that T’Shan’s body has been hijacked by the body-swapping serial killer known as the Cannibal. Seeking to assassinate T’Challa, the Cannibal sees this bachelor party as his chance to complete his mission.[5][6] However, this plan goes awry when they arrive at the strip club and one of the strippers tells T’Challa he can have all the women he wants. Not wanting to cheat on his soon-to-be-wife, he walks out of the club without a single word, signaling that the party is over.
Meanwhile, Ororo, Sue, and Kitty aren’t out at some wild bachelorette party. Instead, they have been spending the evening tracking down the woman claiming to be her. As it turns out, it is Princess Zanda, who has been obsessed over T’Challa for years. When Storm confronts her about these delusions, Zanda assures Ororo that she will be the one marrying T’Challa. Storm finds arguing this beneath her until the Princess insults in Storm giving her a proper beating before leaving the shop.[7]
When Storm returns home, she is surprised to see that T’Challa is waiting for her as she expected him to be out all night. He tells her that he decided to bail on his bachelor party because it was a bad idea.[7] Storm is happy to see him and asks if he is ready to go home and get married. T’Challa tells her that he has never been more ready.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage, Falcon, Shadowcat, Invisible Woman, Thing, Sub-Mariner, Goliath, Princess Zanda, Man-Ape, the Cannibal
Continuity Notes
T’Challa proposed to Storm in Black Panther (vol. 4) #14 and she accepted in the following issue.
Although not branded as such, this story takes place during the lead up to the Civil War event. The Super Human Registration Act is a law that would demand that all superhumans in the United States would have to register with the government in order to regulate the use of their powers. The law will get passed after a superhuman related disaster in Stamford, Connecticut, as seen in Civil War #1.
T’Challa’s father, T’Chaka, was the previous King of Wakanda before he was murdered by Ulysses Klaw. That story was originally told in Fantastic Four #53.
This is another subtle reference to the Civil War event. Namely, the fact that Captain America is in opposition to the new law as it infringes on the civil liberties of others. This has resulted in Cap going underground to fight against the law. See Civil War #1, again.
The Cannibal was recruited by Ulysses Klaw during an invasion of Wakanda. While the Black Panther fought back the invaders, nobody is aware that the Cannibal was one of the operatives, nor that he had taken possession of T’Shan’s body. This all happened in Black Panther (vol. 4) #1-6.
Here, the Black Panther thanks Wolverine for looking after Storm during her recent sojourn in Africa. Storm remained in Africa after a mission with the X-Men in X-Men (vol. 2) #175-176 and Black Panther (vol. 4) #8-9. Wolverine joined her and aided her in Uncanny X-Men #469-471 and Annual (vol. 2) #1.
Princess Zanda’s obsession with T’Challa began back in Black Panther #1. Zanda’s insult to Storm — calling her a “street urchin” —- is reference to the fact that much of her childhood was spent as an orphan living on the streets of Cairo who had to pickpocket in order to survive. See X-Men #102 and 113 for the details.
Storm asks if there was any trouble between the Thing and the Sub-Mariner. Namor has been an on-again-off-again antagonist of the Fantastic Four since Fantastic Four #4. This stems from his obsession with Ben’s teammate Sue, even after she married Reed Richards (aka Mister Fantastic) in Fantastic Four Annual #3. Loyal to the couple he considers family, Grimm has often come to blows with Namor over his continued infatuation with Sue.
Topical References
One of the reporters is depicted using a pocket tape recorder to document the wedding presser. This should be considered topical because such devices have are now obsolete.
When talking about Storm’s newfound fame, Kitty name drops Oprah Winfrey and her publication O Magazine. At the time this story was published, Winfrey was best known for her daytime talk show which ran from 1986 to 2011. O Magazine began publication in the year 2000. This should be considered a topical reference as Winfrey has mostly retired, while her magazine discontinued print editions in 2020. More over, a more contemporary example could be used in here.
Storm accuses T’Challa of Googling himself. Google was (and still is, time of this writing) the worlds largest internet search engine. That said its reference her should be considered topical as it is a real world business.
T’Challa states that they have an invitation to have dinner from Prince, one of the most popular African-American singers of his generation. This should be considered a topical reference as the famous singer died in 2016. This reference can also be replaced with a more contemporary musician.
Storm calls Princess Zanda the “Paris Hilton of Africa”. Paris Hilton is the heiress of the Hilton Hotel business. In the early 2000s she was a media personality best known for her involvement in various types of media, particularly reality television. She was widely derided for being famous for being born into wealth hence the disparaging reference here. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as public opinion of Hilton has soften over the years particularly through her philanthropy and activism. This is another pop-culture reference that is topical and can be replaced with a more contemporary example.
Speaking of dated early 2000’s pop culture references, Kitty jokingly asks if Zanda’s obsession with T’Challa is actually Flavor of Love. This was a cringeworthy reality TV show that ran from 2006 to 2008. Each season featured female contestants trying vying for a relationship with rapper Flava Flavor Flav. Again, you can replace this with a more contemporary reference and so it should be considered topical.