Black Panther (vol. 4) #18
Bride of the Panther, Part 5: Here Comes a Storm
The wedding between the Black Panther (T’Challa) and Storm (Ororo Monroe) is about to begin and guests from all over the globe are filing in. The event is being covered by two prominent African-American reporters who inform their viewers on who the couple are. After detailing T’Challa’s royal lineage, his Vibranium rich homeland of Wakanda, and long standing membership in the Avengers, they discuss Storm’s equally long tenure as a member of the mutant X-Men.[1] While members of the superhero community have all come to attend and celebrate this union, tensions are high due to the fact that there is a civil war brewing back in the United States over a new government law requiring superhumans in that country to register with the government. Particularly there is a faction led by Captain America (Steve Rogers) that are against the new law, while those led by Iron Man (Tony Stark) who give it their support.[2]
Indeed, tensions are high, as Luke Cage chides Spider-Man (Peter Parker) for publicly revealing his identity as a show of support.[3] While the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards), is surprised to see her husband Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) present given that T’Challa did not support his decision to back the new law.[4] No such tensions exist for members of the X-Men, whose only concerns are Storm’s future involvement with the group.[5]
Among the wedding attendees is the man everyone thinks is the Black Panther’s cousin, T’Shan. However, nobody is aware of the fact that the UN representative has had his body taken over by a serial killer known as the Cannibal, who is on a mission to assassinate T’Challa.[6] Meanwhile, many of the Black superheroes are in complete awe that the Panther had arranged for Isiah Bradley to be in attendance of the wedding. Wolverine doesn’t know who that is and his teammate Luke Cage promises to tell him later.[7]
As the guests wait for the ceremony to begin, T’Challa runs over the final details. Ororo’s final test will be to venture into the Celestial Plane and meet with the Panther God. This is to determine if she is worthy of being the bride to the Black Panther, and could cost her immortal soul. Storm isn’t afraid of this, and agrees to undergoing the ritual. That’s when the pair are interrupted by a surprise guest, Professor Charles Xavier, former leader of the X-Men. Storm is shocked to see that Charles is walking again and is touched when he tells her how proud he is of her in this moment as well as giving his blessings.[8]
While Storm and the Professor meet in secret, the Black Panther also uses the wedding as a means to try and get Captain America and Iron Man to meet with one another and sort out their differences. As he tricks his two old friends into a meeting, both Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo feel a strange presence.[9] Seconds later, Uatu the Watcher appears in the sky above, signaling that this wedding will be one of historical significance.[10]
Captain America and Iron Man are about to come to blows when T’Challa gets between the two. He explains that he arranged for this meeting on neutral territory so Steve and Tony might sort out their differences. The two debate for a moment, with Tony saying that government registration will make things safer for civilians. Steve, on the other hand, believes that the new law infringes on the individual liberties of people, something that he has fought for since World War II. When Tony evokes the victims of the Stamford Disaster, Steve realizes that he won’t get through to his old friend. Instead, he thanks T’Challa for making an attempt at getting them to reconcile their differences and leaves. Tony, on the other hand, is less than courteous. He warns T’Challa that going forward he will have to navigate political mind fields and, for his own benefit, he should stay out of things that do not concern him. T’Challa ponders this for a moment before telling Tony that the cancer that is eating at the soul of America has no place in his homeland of Wakanda. Stark turns to leave, telling the Panther to send his regards to Storm as he will not be attending the rest of the wedding.
Soon, the guests are being asked to take their seats. Among them are the last of the Monroe’s, Storm’s aunt and uncle, and nephew. When they are sat with the family on Storm’s mother’s side, her maternal grandmother and aunt share grief over losing daughters.[11] However, both see this wedding as a way of pushing past their grief and celebrating the future.
Inside the palace, Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) and her pet dragon Lockheed have come to see Storm and wish her the best. Ororo admits to her old friend that she is getting nervous about this decision. Kitty reminds she is marrying a hero king that she has pined over since she was a child.[12] This convinces Storm to remain steadfast. She then shows Kitty her wedding dress, which is so beautiful Shadowcat tells her to put it on right away before she steals it from her. As this is going on, T’Challa is down in the war room with his uncle S’Yan. He is curious as to why the Watcher has appeared. This leads to jokes from his uncle about how great Wakandan parties are. When he tries to tell T’Challa that his father would be proud, he tells him to stop and puts on his Black Panther mask before heading out to the crowd.[13]
Soon, the Black Panther emerges out of the mouth of the Panther Totem and takes his place beside his step-mother, Queen Ramonda. They are joined a few minutes later by Storm, who comes down from the sky in her wedding dress. The sight stuns everyone in the audience. Soon, the vows are exchanged, leading to the final officiation. Storm and the Panther are soon transported to the Celestial Plane where they are menaced by the White Gorilla God. Fleeing into the jungle, they are greeted by the Panther God. To test Storm’s worthiness, the giant beast roars in her face but she does not flinch. The God then licks Storm and deems her wrothy before returning her and T’Challa back to the physical realm.
With the couple approved by Bast, a huge celebration is thrown. In the middle of the reverie, both Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo sense something amiss about T’Shan and decide to follow him an investigate. The Cannibal is aware that the sorcerers are somehow onto him and flees into the crowd. Before they can catch up, the Cannibal manages to hop over into a new body, causing T’Shan to collapse to the floor. Not far away, Luke Cage is suggesting that he and his girlfriend Jessica Jones leave America behind and move to Wakanda. When he suggests that other Black superheroes could join them,[14] Jessica chides him for wanting to make the “Black Avengers” a thing ever since he got back from New Orleans.[15] At the same time, Spider-Man is sitting at the bar with the Man-Ape (M’Baku) who is getting horrendously drunk on scotch. He explains that he had come to get revenge after getting snubbed for a wedding invitation. However, M’Baku found himself confused about what to do when he showed up and he was allowed in because his name was on the guest list. When the web-slinger suggests that Man-Ape lay off the booze, M’Baku takes offense and there is a brawl. People only pay short attention to it because brawls at superhero weddings are actually quite common.[16]
That evening, while opening wedding gifts in private, T’Challa and Storm receive a holographic congratulation from Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom). Doom apologizes for not appearing at the wedding as he is trapped in Hell for the foreseeable future,[17] Aware of what is happening in the United States, Doom warns T’Challa that he will not be able to remain a neutral party for long. He suggests that the enemy of his enemy could also be his friend. When the message ends, T’Challa jokes about spending their honeymoon in Latveria. Storm doesn’t find it funny, but neither does T’Challa, but says that this is a concern for another day.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Storm, X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Psylocke, Lockheed), Secret Avengers (Captain America, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Cloak, Monica Rambeau, Hercules, Triathlon, Goliath), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing), Captain Britain, Juggernaut, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Blade, Doctor Strange, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage, Man-Ape, Isiah Bradley, Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Triton), Shang-Chi, White Tiger, S’Yan, Brother Voodoo, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Sub-Mariner, Shuri, the Cannibal, Bast, Ghekre, the Watcher
Continuity Notes
The Black Panther has been a long standing member of the Avengers since Avengers #52, while Storm has been affiliated with the X-Men since Giant-Size X-Men #1.
This story takes place during the Civil War event that is chronicled in Civil War #1-7. This story takes place following the events of Civil War #2.
Peter Parker famously revealed to the public that he was Spider-Man in Civil War #2. However, this will get walked back thanks to a literal deal with the devil in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, while people remember that Spider-Man revealed his true identity to the world, nobody will remembers who he really is.
The Civil War will also create temporary wedge between the Richards family as Sue and her brother Johnny will become convinced that Captain America is right. This will all play out following the death of Bill Foster in Civil War #4 and in the pages of Fantastic Four #538-543, when the couple reconcile following the war’s end.
This is because mutants remain a neutral party during the Civil War as they had become an endangered species following House of M #1-8. See Civil War: X-Men #1-4 for their tangential involvement in said affairs.
The Cannibal has been in possessions of T'Shan’s body following the events of Black Panther (vol. 4) #1-6.
Isiah Bradley was among a squad of African-American soldiers who had been given a version of the Super Soldier Serum during World War II. See Truth: Red, White and Black #1-7.
Professor X has found himself in an out of a wheelchair constantly during his life. Guy keeps on getting himself crippled. He was first put in a wheelchair by the alien known as Lucifer, as told in X-Men #20. He regained the use of his legs after his mind was transferred into a cloned body in Uncanny X-Men #167. He was crippled again by the Shadow King in Uncanny X-Men #280. His legs were restored once again thanks to Nano-Sentinel technology in New X-Men #126, however this proved short lived and his legs were rendered useless again in New X-Men #146. Most recently, Chuck’s legs were restored as his telepathic powers were taken away following the events of House of M. Charles is meeting with Storm in secret because he was kicked out of the X-Men following the revelation that he sent a previously unknown team of mutants to their deaths, see X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6.
According to incorrect sources, the man who appears to be Brother Voodoo here is actually a Skrull impostor who took Jericho’s place just prior to this story. However, that’s the product of sloppy research. The Skrull doesn’t take his place until sometime prior to Black Panther (vol. 4) #38. See below for more on this.
When the Watcher appears, one of the reporters covering the event jokingly wonders if Galactus will show up next. This is a nod to the fact that the Watcher appeared on Earth when Galactus had come to feed on the planet in Fantastic Four #48-50.
The lost daughters are N’Daré who was killed in a military incident in Egypt as told in X-Men #102. Last issue, we learned that her aunt lost her own daughter to drug addiction and illness.
Storm and T’Challa first met as adolescents as we saw back in Marvel Team-Up #100.
T’Challa’s father was T’Chaka, the previous King of Wakanda. He was murdered years earlier by Ulysses Klaw. This was originally told in Fantastic Four #53.
Here, Luke refers to Monica Rambeau as Photon, which was her old codename that she took up in Avengers Unplugged #5. However, she had mostly recently been going by the name Pulsar since New Thunderbolts #9. One could assume that Cage got mixed up or doesn’t know about the name change here.
Luke joined the Black Panther, Blade, Monica Rambeau, and Brother Voodoo in driving a coven of vampires out of New Orleans in Black Panther (vol. 4) #12-13.
At this point the following weddings were crashed by villains leading to a brawl: The wedding of Reed and Sue Richards by nearly every villain at the time (Fantastic Four Annual #3), the wedding of Yellowjacket and the Wasp was crashed by the Circus of Crime (Avengers #60), Quicksilver and Crystal’s wedding was interrupted by Ultron in Fantastic Four #160, Bruce Banner and Betty Ross’ wedding was interrupted by her father Thaddeus in Incredible Hulk #319, Black Bolt and Medusa’s wedding was crashed by a Kree and Skrull brawl in Fantastic Four Annual #18, while Hulk associate Rick Jones and his wife Marlo had their wedding attended by villains due to an invitation mix-up in Incredible Hulk #418. The only weddings that weren’t interrupted were between the Vision and Scarlet Witch (Giant-Size Avengers #4), Spider-Man and Mary Jane (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, before it was erased from existence), Cyclops and Jean Grey (X-Men (vol. 2) #30), and Northstar and Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #51, and between Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (New Avengers Annual #1).
Topical References
The wedding of the Black Panther and Storm is depicted as being covered by BET, aka Black Entertainment Television. We also see depictions of Touré Neblett and Anand Lewis, two personalities that were on BET around the time this comic was published. This should be considered a topical reference for a few reasons. First, Touré and Anand have moved on to other stations, while BET is a real world television network. Lastly, both personalities and the network could be replaced with more contemporary examples.
When referring to T’Challa and Ororo as a power couple, they are compared to former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. Bill served two terms as President, and Hillary went on to be a part of Barack Obama’s staff during his presidency. Their enduring marriage and involvement in US politics (despite an affair and impeachment or two) were the focus of much attention even when this comic was published. This is another topical reference as these are real world figures and can be replaced with more contemporary examples.
Other real world figures appearing in this story include should also be considered topical for various reasons. They are:
George W. Bush, who was President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. His appearance here should be considered topical as he was President during the time of publication and has since left office. Also, at 77 years old he’s likely not long for the world just like…
Fidel Castro, who was the leader of Cuba until 2008, he subsequently died in 2016.
Lastly, we have Nelson Mandela, who spearheaded the abolishment of Apartheid in South Africa and served at the nation’s first President from 1994 to 1999. He died in 2013.
Oprah Winfrey is also name dropped. Another topical reference. I’m too exhausted to explain who she is, you Google it.
Captain America states that he has fought for his principals for over 60 years. This is in reference to the fact that his career started during World War II. However, as the Sliding Timescale bumps the Modern Age forward in time, the gulf of time between the War and the present day will continue to grow. As such, Cap’s assessment that it has been 60 years should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication.
Prince is stated as performing at the wedding. Yet another topical reference, particularly since the famed musician died in 2016.
No, the Brother Voodoo in this Story Wasn’t a Skrull
I really enjoy dunking on a certain little crowd sourced website for getting shit wrong and leaving it wrong for years and years. So here’s another instance. If you go over to the Garbage Database, you’ll see that they think that the Brother Voodoo that appears here is a Skrull. However, that’s not the case. The most recent Brother Voodoo profile (time of this writing in Feb, 2024) is in the softcover edition of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2. The appendix to Brother Voodoo states that he was swapped out with a Skrull at a “undisclosed point in time”, however it does indicate that Jericho Drumm was present at the wedding and was involved in the search for the Cannibal early on. In fact, this is supported by Black Panther (vol. 4) #24 and 26. Both of those latter appearances show him channeling the spirit of his brother, Daniel Drumm. This wouldn’t be the case with a Skrull spy, unless they managed to replicate his two-spirit nature, but that seems unlikely and needlessly complicated to explain.
