Nick Peron

View Original

Black Panther (vol. 4) #24

Nick Peron

War Crimes, Part 2

Credits

Civil War continues from Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #3…

In the midst of the civil war over the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), Iron Man (Tony Stark) arrives outside the Wakandan Embassy demanding an audience with the Black Panther (T’Challa).[1] Answering the video screen is T’Challa’s wife, Storm (Ororo Monroe). She tells Tony that her husband isn’t in. When Stark asks to come inside to talk, Storm refuses. She is cross with him for leaving before her recent wedding over his political differences with Captain America (Steve Rogers), and then had Sentinels attack them during a state visit.[2]

Seeing things are getting heated, Iron Man removes his face plate and asks they talk like civilized people. Storm thinks that is rich given Iron Man is responsible for the death of Goliath (Bill Foster). When his tone changes to thinly veiled threats, she orders him off embassy property and summons lightning to show how serious she is.[3] As Tony leaves, he stops to tell some SHIELD Cape-Killers who are stationed outside. He tells them to nab the Panther’s bodyguards when they show up, but not to use lethal force. When they ask about the Black Panther, Stark tells them that they’ll never catch him because he is too good.[4]

With that out of the way, Storm fields a call from S’Yan — her husband’s uncle — back in Wakanda.[5] He is anxious to speak with T’Challa, because the United States government is issuing a message by having the American Navy practice war games off the shores of neighboring Niganda.

At that moment, the Black Panther has tracked down Captain America leading to a fight between the two. T’Challa easily defeats him in combat and Steve surrenders. Rogers then asks T’Challa if he has come to join the SHRA resistance. The Panther tells him that he has, but only if it is in his own way.[6]

Meanwhile, Everett Ross meets with his superior in the State Department to get answers about the war games with Niganda. He thought that an invasion of Wakanda would be unpopular with the public and asks why the Navy are practicing war games near Niganda. The head of the State Department says that this was because they are spinning the Panther’s apparent alliance with other superhuman heads of state, including Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner.[7] When Ross presses his superior for more information on who wrote this, he is told it is classified.

Back in Wakanda, S’Yan checks in on Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm), an American sorcerer who has been staying in Wakanda during the war back home. Drumm has remained in Wakanda since the wedding of T’Challa and Storm because he sensed the presence of some kind of shapeshifter or body thief at the wedding. He has been working with local mystics to track this threat down, and Jericho believes that it’ll be a matter of time before they are found.[8][9] S’Yan then goes back to the council which is demanding action regarding the American Navy at their doorstep.

Later, the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards) has been asked by Captain America to help on a secret mission. She tells this to Tigra (Greer Grant) who is interested in what’s going on, however Sue isn’t certain what the mission entails.[10] Sue enters another room in the safe house and is delighted to see the Black Panther waiting for her inside. There is a warm reunion between the two, and T’Challa offers his condolences over her current marital problems and being separated from her children.[11] That’s when Sue realizes that T’Challa is using his enhanced senses to screen all the members of Cap’s “Secret Avengers” to try and find any moles within the organization. She’s insulted at first, but T’Challa is honest with her and determines she has passed his test. He also interviews the Falcon (Sam Wilson) and Tigra. Sam passes the test and he is delighted to see that T’Challa is on their side.[12] Tigra, on the other hand, gets the silent treatment. Growing nervous, Greer decides to leave the room when the Panther won’t say a word to her.[13] He also meets with Monica Rambeau and the two work on improving her understanding of how her powers can be better utilized.[14]

Growing impatient waiting for her husband to return to the embassy, Storm decides to get out and get some advice elsewhere. She stops at the home of her grandparents, and asks them for advice on what to do. Ororo is concerned that she might be influencing her new husband to do things he wouldn’t normally do. The Monroe elders, civil rights activists for over 40 years, find this preposterous. They tell her that T’Challa is a headstrong man that won’t do something unless he wants to do it. They tell her that she is doing the right thing and then encourage her to keep kicking butt until she gets pregnant, then focus on taking care of her child.

At the Baxter Building, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) and his team of scientists are working on the Thor clone in the hopes of making it easier to control in light of the death of Bill Foster. When one of the scientists makes a comment about Thor being a myth, the clone suddenly wakes up and loudly proclaims that he is not a myth.[15] This sudden outburst deeply disturbs everyone in the room. Soon, Reed Richards is pulled away from the lab when Storm arrives to speak with him. Although Ororo gets the third degree from the SHIELD agents stationed outside, Richards happily invites her upstairs. Once inside the Baxter Building, Storm sits down with Reed and says she wants to talk to him about registration.

… Civil War continues in Civil War #7.

Recurring Characters

Black Panther, Storm, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, “Secret Avengers” (Captain America, Invisible Woman, Falcon, Monica Rambeau, Tigra), S’Yan, W’Kabi, Brother Voodoo, Thor clone, SHIELD, Everett Ross,

Continuity Notes

  1. This story takes place during the Civil War event that takes place primarily though Civil War #1-7 and various crossover issues and limited series. For a full list, see below. The Black Panther had decided to get involved due to fears that the US might take their superhuman policing beyond its borders, See Black Panther (vol. 4) #21-23.

  2. Storm and T’Challa’s wedding happened in Black Panther (vol. 4) #18. Stark was a little bitch about how the Panther used the opportunity to try and get Iron Man and Captain America to hash out their differences. Later, he had the Sentinels try and arrest Storm in issue #22.

  3. Goliath was killed during a clash between pro and anti-SHRA forces. He was killed by a clone of Thor that was created by Iron Man. See Civil War #4.

  4. Tony knows this first hand as he sent the Black Widow to try and apprehend him last issue and she failed.

  5. Storm states that dealing with Iron Man was nothing compared to dealing with the Brood. The Brood are a parasitic race of insectoid aliens who are basically Marvel answer to the Xenomorphs from the movie Alien, before Disney owned both Marvel Comics and the Alien franchise. Storm first encountered these monsters in Uncanny X-Men #155. She was almost turned into one of the monsters in issue #165 of that series.

  6. Here, Steve Rogers (naturally a blonde) is depicted with brown hair. This isn’t a colouring error. He has dyed his hair as part of a civilian disguise he adopted for when he’s not in costume, as seen in Civil War #3.

  7. Namor met with Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner to discuss the SHRA in Black Panther (vol. 4) #19 and 21 respectively. Ross is identified as the State Department’s Wakandan expert. This is because he spent a lengthy assignment with T’Challa from Black Panther (vol. 3) #1-49.

  8. This body thief would be the so-called Cannibal, a serial killer that steals the bodies of others. He was in Wakanda when Ulysses Klaw staged a failed in invasion of the country in Black Panther (vol. 4) #1-6. He managed to keep his presence hidden by taking possession of T’Challa’s cousin, T’Shan. This was until he was detected by Brother Voodoo and Doctor Strange during the wedding in Black Panther (vol. 4) #18.

  9. Speaking of impostors, 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.

  10. Tigra’s interest in what’s going on is due to the fact that she is secretly a spy for Iron Man’s side of the conflict, as we’ll learn in Civil War #6.

  11. The Invisible Woman left her husband and children because was horrified at the lengths Mister Fantastic was willing to go to support the SHRA. See Fantastic Four #538-543.

  12. T’Challa states here that he’d like to look at Falcon’s wings for possible upgrades. This isn’t casual interest, the Black Panther helped Sam build his first set of wings back in Captain America #170. Falcon mentions how T’Challa is going to help them break into Prison 42, where unregistered combatants are being held prisoner. This happens in Civil War #6-7.

  13. Tigera states here that she and T’Challa have never really met, noting that they’ve only ever been together when large rosters of Avengers meet together. T’Challa joined the Avengers back in Avengers #52, while Greer first joined the team in issue #211, which would be the first time they met each other.

  14. Monica mentions how both she and T’Challa were recently in New Orleans providing flood relief which led to them wiping out a bunch of vampires preying on the area. During the battle, T’Challa taught Monica how to utilize her powers in a new way she hadn’t thought of before. See Black Panther (vol. 4) #12-13.

  15. This clone of Thor was created because, at the time of this story, the real Thor was believed to have died in Ragnarok circa Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. He will be returned from the dead in Thor (vol. 3) #1.

Topical References

  • Monica Rambeau states that she and T’Challa helped with the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina. This was a category 5 hurricane that struck the Atlantic coast of the US in 2005, causing massive flooding in New Orleans in particular. This reference should be considered topical as it relates to a real world event as happening relatively recently in the context of the story. Modern readers should interpret this to mean that she is referring to a hurricane and not Katrina, specifically.

Civil War Reading Order

Road to Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man #529, 530, 531, Fantastic Four #536, 537, New Avengers: Illuminati #1

Main Event: Civil War #1, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #8, Wolverine (vol. 3) #42, Amazing Spider-Man #532, Civil War: Front Line #1

Civil War #2, Thunderbolts #103, Civil War: Front Line #2, X-Factor (vol. 3) #8, New Avengers #21, Wolverine (vol. 3) #43, Amazing Spider-Man #533, Fantastic Four #538, Civil War: Front Line #3, Thunderbolts #104, Civil War: X-Men #1

Civil War #3, Cable & Deadpool #30, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #1, Civil War: Front Line #4, X-Factor (vol. 3) #9, New Avengers #22, Wolverine (vol. 3) #44, Amazing Spider-Man #534, Fantastic Four #539, Civil War: Front Line #5, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #6, Civil War: X-Men #2, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #1, New Avengers #23, Wolverine (vol. 3) #45, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #2, Cable & Deadpool #31, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #7, Civil War: X-Men #3

Civil War #4, Wolverine (vol. 3) #46, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #2, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #3, Civil War: Front Line #6, Captain America (vol. 5) #22, Cable & Deadpool #32, Amazing Spider-Man #535, Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, Fantastic Four #540, Civil War: Front Line #7, Civil War: X-Men #4, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #8, Wolverine (vol. 3) #47, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #3, Captain America (vol. 5) #23, New Avengers #24

Civil War #5, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #4, Iron Man (vol. 4) #13, New Avengers #25, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #1, Civil War: Front Line #8, Amazing Spider-Man #536, Black Panther (vol. 4) #22, Captain America (vol. 5) #24, Civil War: War Crimes #1, Civil War: Front Line #9, Iron Man (vol. 4) #14, Fantastic Four #541, Black Panther (vol. 4) #23, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #2

Civil War #6, Civil War: Front Line #10, Amazing Spider-Man #537, Fantastic Four #542, Civil War: The Return #1, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #3, Black Panther (vol. 4) #24

Civil War #7, Amazing Spider-Man #538, Civil War: Front Line #11, Black Panther (vol. 4) #25, Civil War: The Initiative #1, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #15, Mighty Avengers #1, Captain America (vol. 5) #25, Civil War: The Confession #1, Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Fantastic Four #543-544, Avengers: The Initiative #1