Ready to Die

The Fantastic Four — Black Panther (T’Challa), Storm (Ororo Monroe), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm) — are stranded on Kral IV. It is an alien world run by Skrulls who have become enamored with Earth’s gangsters of the 1930s. With the rest of the team captured, Storm flees a group of mobsters that are chasing after her in flying cars. Ororo uses her mutant powers to create gusting winds and rain in an effort to throw them off.

However, the mobsters are concerned when they reach 125th Street. This is because crossing over into that part of their replica of New York will violate a treaty. As Storm crosses over into that part of the city, she is cheered on by a bunch of Skrulls who have taken on the form of African Americans. They erect a force field that prevents the mobsters from following her into the neighborhood. The leader of these Black Skrulls welcomes Storm to uptown where she is welcomed as one of their own.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther has been thrown into a cell to wait until he is forced to fight in the gladiatorial arena that serves as entertainment for the mobsters. Their leader, a man calling himself Biggie Smalls, thinks that T’Challa is one of the Skrulls who pose as Black people uptown and part of their organization, the Black Panthers. He demands to know who their leader of the Black Panthers are. When T’Challa remains silent, Biggie vows that he’ll die in the arena. In retort, T’Challa asks Biggie how his neck is after it was cut by the Panther during his capture. Insulted by this, Biggie tells the Panther that he can’t wait to see him die.

Back uptown, Storm is shown around by one of the African-American Skrulls. After learning where Ororo came from, she is taken to the local church to meet their leader. She is shocked to discover that it is a Skrull who has taken on the form of legendary civil rights leader Martin Luther King!

By this time, the Human Torch is the first of the captured Fantastic Four to fight in the arena. He is forced into a transparent bubble made out of unstable molecules. Here he is forced to fight against a spikey, winged alien. Noting that the air is thin inside the bubble, Johnny flames on and pushes his powers to nova intensity so he can burn out all the air. He ends up winning the fight because he manages to outlast his opponent in the airless bubble.

Ben Grimm is watching this from a window in his cell and he commends Johnny on a job well done. That’s when a Skrull calling himself Bumpy Johnson pays Ben a visit. Johnson is curious to know if the Thing is going to try an spark a revolution like he did the last time he was a prisoner on Kral IV. This is because Bumpy represents a group that is seeking to overthrow Biggie Smalls and his mobsters and this could be the opportunity they have been waiting for. When Ben questions if Bumpy intends on merely replacing Biggie Smalls, he promises to stop any tyrant that continues to run the slave trade on the planet. Johnson assures Ben that he’s an ally and he’ll learn the truth soon enough.[1]

At that same moment, Storm has a sit down and is talking to the Skrull version of Martin Luther King. He explains that after the Thing broke up the slave pens the first time, it marked a change in the society on Kral IV. After their leaders were killed in the uprising and the alien slaves returned home, there came a division in their society. Some, like Biggie Smalls, went right back to rebuilding their old way of life. Others, however, felt ashamed of what they were a part of. Having an identity crisis, they began watching broadcasts picked up from Earth. They saw images of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and its emphasis on morality and self-worth. Seeing these ideals as a means of atoning for their pasts, this group of Skrulls ended up taking on the forms of African-Americans from that era.

Storm is impressed by this schism in Skrull society, and that “Martin” is seeking to enlighten and change the minds of the mobster society using peaceful means. That’s when they are interrupted by a Skrull who has taken on the form of Malcolm X. He takes ownership of the tension between the two societies. This Skrull has created his own version of the Black Panthers who used violence as a necessary means to push the mobsters out of their version of Harlem. The two Skrulls argue over each other’s methods. Malcolm wants to fight back against the mobsters, especially now that the Black Panther —who they are starting to see as the embodiment of their movement — is a prisoner in the arenas.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther — stripped of all the technology in his panther habit — is put in the arena next. The announcer works up the audience by calling him an agent of the Skrulls that live uptown. As the Panther is booed and has things thrown at him, his opponent — the Werewolf of Sirius — enters the arena. When the battle begins, T’Challa is able to hold his own against the massive beast, much to the annoyance of Biggie Smalls.

Uptown, Storm has agreed to help “Malcolm X” and his Black Panthers overthrow mob and free the slaves. To this end, they are going to be sneaked into the gangster’s territory by none other than Bumpy Johnson. As the Black Panthers put on labourer disguises, they listen to the fight commentary on the radio. They hear that T’Challa has survived his first match in the arena by snapping the neck of his opponent. As Storm gets ready, “Reverend King” tries to convince her to find a peaceful solution. Ororo, however, believes that peace and love can be attained after the mob is overthrown, telling him that right now it’s clobbering time.

Back in the ring, the Black Panther learns his next opponent is to be his teammate, the Thing. T’Challa and Ben tell the audience that they won’t fight each other. In response, Biggie Smalls reveals that they have a planet killer weapon pointed at Earth and threatens to destroy their home world if they don’t fight. When Ben calls their bluff, Smalls offers to demonstrate the weapon’s power. T’Challa goads Biggie to blow up a random communications satellite, hoping that their friends back home will be able to trace it back to Kral IV and mount a rescue mission.

At that same moment, Storm and the Black Panthers have taken the sewers to get to the colosseum. Reaching their way to the surface, “Bumpy Johnson” tells the others to get ready to start the revolution!

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Black Panther, Storm, Human Torch, Thing), Skrulls (Biggie Smalls, Barnsworth, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Bumpy Johnson)

Continuity Notes

1. Years earlier, Ben was abducted from Earth and forced to fight in the arenas of Kral IV until the Fantastic Four rescued him. See Fantastic Four #91-93.