Black Panther (vol. 4) #8
Wild Kingdom, Part 2: Houser of Paine
This story continues from X-Men (vol. 2) #175…
Since the downfall of M’Butu, the nation of Niganda has fallen into total chaos. Responsible for dethroning the leader of his neighboring country, the Black Panther (T’Challa) heads into Niganda to try and quell the violence.[1] At the same time, after hearing reports of mutant animals, the X-Men have sent a team to investigate the phenominon.[2]
The X-Men (Havok, Iceman, Polaris, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, and Gambit) follow the evidence to a secret laboratory beneath Niganda. There, they find the Black Panther attacking a scientist named Erich Paine. This immediately puts the X-Men on the defensive as they demand answers from the King of Wakanda. T’Challa orders the X-Men to keep back, allowing Paine to break free and race toward the mutants pleading for help. T’Challa knows that this is a trick and leaps over Erich in order to seal the laboratory and prevent the scientist from reaching them.
Unaware of the danger posed to them, Havok (Alex Summers) orders Rogue to use her flame powers to melt through the door.[3] Once through, Wolverine (Logan) charges at T’Challa but is easily overpowered and thrown back at the rest of the X-Men. When he tries to recapture Paine, Polaris (Lorna Dane) uses her magnetic powers to throw up a barrier. As Rogue checks on the scientist, she quickly discovers — to her dismay — that he has the power to absorb the mutant abilities of those he touches. After stealing Rogue’s powers he begins trying to incinerate the Black Panther, but T’Challa quickly leaps out of the way. Seeking more power, Paine manages to touch both Iceman (Bobby Drake) and Wolverine. He then tries to touch Storm (Ororo Monroe), but Gambit (Remy LeBeau) pushes her out of the way. Erich is then blown through the ceiling by Havok’s plasma energy blasts.
With the immediate battle over, the Black Panther explains that Erich Paine was previously one of the scientists who helped create the mutant apartheid nation of Genosha. Particularly, he worked on a means of mutating humans into obedient superpowered slaves. He had also managed to escape Genosha before the oppressive regime was destroyed.[4] He was able to bribe M’Butu, the former leader of Niganda to allow him to continue his experiments in the country unimpeded. Much of his work led to the waters of the country to become heavily polluted. However, T’Challa left things be due to his non-interference pact with neighboring nations. That was until M’Butu tried to annex Wakanda, and suffered the Black Panther’s wrath. Hearing how T’Challa savagely beat M’Butu within an inch of his life, Storm expresses her disapproval with how he chose to deal with his enemy.
Pushing past this, the Black Panther goes on to explain that Paine knew that his work would somehow attract the attention of the X-Men and altered his genetics that could apply latent mutant abilities at a touch. The reason why he didn’t explain this to begin with was because he assumed that the X-Men had come with a telepath who would read his mind, clearly this was incorrect. T’Challa then suggests that the X-Men who have already had their powers stolen go after Paine, while Storm deals with the rioting outside and the others help him find a way to shut down the mutated animals. Logan takes issue with the Panther giving what he sees as orders, prompting T’Challa to say that they were merely suggestions. Havok takes the lead, taking the rest of the team out into the field while Storm stay’s with T’Challa.
The Black Panther mocks Alex’s authority, then makes an off the cuff comment about how Wolverine clearly has feelings for Storm. Ororo claps back at this by asking T’Challa how many women are in his harem presently.[5] T’Challa cheerfully retorts that he is a monk waiting for her to become his bride. Storm reacts coldly to this, making T’Challa realize that they should stick to business then. Storm agrees, telling T’Challa that she won’t let him break her heart so easily this time around.[6]
Meanwhile, the rest of the X-Men are searching the facility looking for Erich Paine.[7] That’s when Wolverine smells gas filling the hallway. To counteract this, Iceman begins sealing the vents with his ice powers. That’s when a laser cannon takes him out with a single blast. The other X-Men try to fight these defenses but soon begin succumbing to the gas. Soon, only Wolverine is left standing but he is stabbed from behind by Erich Paine, who just figured out how to use the bone claws that he copied from Logan’s powerset.[8]
On the surface, the anarchy in the country continues. Among the chaos are a group of men with trained hyenas looking for virgins to sexually assault. That’s when Storm arrives, reassuming her role as a Kenyan goddess. She uses her lightning to take out the hyenas and tells the frightened women and children that she has come to defend them. The men — armed with machetes — are unafraid, believing that they are mightier than Ororo’s “sorcery”. However when most of them brandish their weapons at her, she takes them down with a single bolt of lightning. With one man left standing, she asks him to try and raise a hand to her without the others.[9]
While back in the lab, the Black Panther is trying to hack into Paine’s computer system. He gets assistance from his technicians back home via radio, but won’t let them access the computer remotely because it is heavily defended with computer viruses. That’s when T’Challa is attacked from behind and tossed across the room. When he gets a look at his attacker, he is shocked to see that his attacker is a four armed gorilla. He is then attacked by a baboon that surprises him by speaking with human intelligence. Looking at T’Challa in disguise, this highly intelligent ape manages to hypnotize him the Panther just as the gorilla is about to make a killing blow.
Elsewhere, Paine is making the final preparations of his experiment. He looks forward to finishing the job and getting paid. This is because he now has six mutants to cut up and experiment with and profit from!
… This story continues in X-Men (vol. 2) #176.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, X-Men (Havok, Iceman, Polaris, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit), Erich Paine,
Continuity Notes
this all happened following a failed invasion of Wakanda by Niganda, as seen in Black Panther (vol. 4) #1-6.
The X-Men began their investigation in the first part of this story, which took place in X-Men (vol. 2) #175.
At the time of this story, Rogue had “permanently” absorbed the powers of Sunfire, as seen in Rogue (vol. 3) #11-12. She will ultimately lose these abilities following the events of X-Men (vol. 2) #207.
When it first appeared in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #235, Genosha was an apartheid nation that enslaved mutants. The human authorities remained in control until civil war broke out during the Bloodties event (Avengers #368-369, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, and Uncanny X-Men #307). It was later taken over by Magneto in Magneto Rex #1-3. It remained under mutant rule until the entire island was turned into a wasteland in New X-Men #115-116.
Oh boy, the soap opera romantic triangles at the time of this story are pretty interesting. Let’s dissect them:
Storm and T’Challa have been doing this will-they-or-won’t-they romance since they first met as adolescents, as first depicted in Marvel Team-Up #100.
However, since then, T’Challa has mostly been in an on-again-off-again romance with singer Monica Lynne that began in Avengers #73 and ended in Black Panther (vol. 3) #30.
Eventually, T’Challa will propose to Storm and the two will be a married couple for a time, as will be seen in Black Panther (vol. 4) #18. This marriage will be annulled after a war between the Avengers and the X-Men that leads to widespread destruction of Wakanda as seen in Avengers vs. X-Men #7-8.
Wolverine and Storm have been longstanding members of the X-Men since Giant-Size X-Men #1. The two will eventually form a romance after the Avengers/X-Men war in Wolverines and the X-Men #24. However, this relationship is also doomed to failure when Wolverine takes an assignment for SHIELD that forced him to alienate his friends and loved ones, leading to the end of his romance with Storm. See Wolverine (vol. 6) #4.
Storm saying that T’Challa broke her heart in the past harkens back to their early exploits when they were young. The full story is played out in Storm (vol. 2) #1-6.
Here, Rogue states that she hasn’t felt this stupid since she first met Charles Xavier. This was when Rogue first came to the X-Men to get help to control her mutant powers in Uncanny X-Men #171. At the time she was a member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and asking Xavier for help was a very humbling experience.
Just in case you weren’t in the know, Wolverine’s claws were made of bone before his skeleton was coated with Adamantium. This was first revealed in Wolverine (vol. 2) #75.
Before learning she was a mutant and joining the X-Men, Storm was believed to be a goddess to the people of Kenya. See Giant-Size X-Men #1, again.
Topical References
Among the people rioting in Niganda are a group of men who believe that the cure for AIDS is having sex with virgins. This is a commentary on how, IRL, a lack of sex education and medical aid in Africa has led to superstitious beliefs about the sexually transmitted disease. One such vector for spread comes from traditional ideas about virginal cleansing that are sadly still prevalent as I write this in 2024. That said, treatments for AIDS have gotten better over the years and medical science is getting closer to a cure with each passing year. As such, references to AIDS should be considered topical if you want to have hope for the future. That said, modern readers should interpret this to mean that they are trying to cure an auto-immune disease and not AIDS specifically.
