BLACK PANTHER: Page 3 of 26

Publication Date: 29th Aug 2020
Written By: Monolith.
Image Work: Douglas Mangum.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY - page 3

Other nations sought alliances with the newly emerged Wakanda. Doctor Doom of Latveria teleported a Doombot onto the throne in Birnin Zana, an "invitation" which violated Wakanda's secrecy and security. T'Challa and Shuri responded to Doom's provocation with a diplomatic dinner that turned ugly as Shuri sought to access Doom's computers. Doom revealed he did not personally know the location of Wakanda, but the coordinates and Wakandan technologies had been provided to him by one claiming to be the son of T'Chaka. [Rise of the Black Panther #4]

T'Challa initially blamed Hunter, only for S'Yan to reveal the existence of Jakarra, a boy born out of wedlock to T'Chaka and Mateena (one of Wakanda's spy network) in the days after N'Yami's death. Raised abroad and knowing little of Wakanda personally, Jakarra came home during T'Challa's schooling and was sent away by S'Yan with an inheritance but nothing more. Jakarra became allied with the exiled Hyena clan, selling technology and claiming royal blood to build his own name. T'Challa tracked Jakarra to Kenya, and was surprised to find help from Ororo. She had developed her weather powers more fully, and was even worshipped by some as a goddess as she used her powers to aid the local tribes. T'Challa and Ororo confronted the Hyenas, but the jilted and jealous Jakarra used forbidden sciences to transform himself under the influence of Vibranium into a powerful figure. The Black Panther destabilized Jakarra's new form and left him in stasis inside a volcano, knowing he might one day return. [Rise of the Black Panther #5]

Tribal traditionalists and isolationists strongly opposed bringing Wakanda into the outside world. At some point after ascending to the throne, T'Challa was forced to deal with the renegade tribal faction known as the Jabari. Aggressive and having taken up the blasphemous worship of the white gorillas of the Crystal Forest, the Jabari had proven themselves to be catalysts for tribal conflict. Needing the support of the tribal elders in his efforts to introduce modernization to Wakanda, T'Challa condemned the Jabari, outlawing their tribe as a unit and dispersing them among the Wakandas. [Black Panther (3rd series) #34-35]

None objected to T'Challa's policies more strongly than N'Jadaka, though. The returnee had become radicalized and twisted by hatred in his years of exile. Taking the name Erik Killmonger, N'Jadaka killed the other Disappeared that had been rescued by T'Challa, an act of projected self-hatred as he proclaimed that a true Wakandan would never have allowed themselves to be taken. Killmonger killed several tribal elders to gain access to state secrets from S'Yan's regency, such as Project: Koukou. In the dark days after Klaw's first attack, S'Yan and Hunter had prepared for the worst, locking away plans for aggressive strategies, warmongering and first strike scenarios using unspeakable Vibranium based weapons should Wakanda need to defend its isolation more vigorously. Killmonger raided the Koukou secret bunker and readied a ship to drop a Vibranium shock bomb on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier which had been invited to the region to meet with Wakandans. T'Challa and Shuri disabled the shock bomb, but N'Jadaka escaped capture, disappearing into the wilderness to threaten Wakanda again. [Rise of the Black Panther #6]

Not long thereafter, T'Challa formally disbanded the Hatut Zeraze and exiled Hunter and his Dogs of War from Wakanda. T'Challa could not tolerate Hunter's zealous nationalism and would not believe King T'Chaka deliberately turned a blind eye to the torture and assassination performed by the White Wolf in the name of the crown. This only inflamed Hunter's bitterness towards T'Challa more, and he disappeared for years, using the Hatut Zeraze as mercenaries on the world stage. [Black Panther (3rd series) #4]

A new threat arose in Wakanda when a group of mercenaries apparently answering to Baron Zemo made camp in the jungle. T'Challa chose to reach out to Captain America himself for aid, knowing the Star-Spangled Avenger would be concerned over the apparent return from the dead by his old foe. Zemo commanded an orbital death ray controlled by the bunker in the jungle, allowing him to rain deadly energy down upon the Earth. The Black Panther and Captain America bonded as brothers in battle against Zemo, and succeeded in defeating him with the help of Agent 13. Zemo was revealed as an imposter. With Cap on leave of absence from the Avengers, he decided to nominate the Panther as his official replacement on the roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. [Tales of Suspense #97-99, Captain America (1st series) #100]

T'Challa deeply considered the Captain's offer, and chose to accept. He knew Captain America had been favored by his grandfather, Azzuri the Wise, during World War II, although they did not speak openly about it. However, the other Avengers were unknown to him and, like the Fantastic Four, a potential danger to the sanctity of Wakanda, especially as it entered the eyes of the wider world. Therefore, T'Challa accepted the membership offer in order to spy on the Avengers up close, determine if they were a threat, and conceive of counter-measures that might be necessary to bring them down. [Black Panther (3rd series) #8] In his absence, T'Challa chose M'Baku of the Jabari tribe to serve as regent to Wakanda. M'Baku was a close friend to T'Challa and considered one of the greatest warriors of the Wakandas. [Avengers (1st series) #62]

When he arrived in New York, however, the Panther was surprised to find Avengers Mansion on lockdown and the Avengers themselves apparently dead at the hands of an unknown assailant. When Jasper Sitwell of S.H.I.E.L.D. entered the mansion and found Panther standing over the bodies, he presumed the worst. Having little notoriety outside of Wakanda yet and no official standing with the team, T'Challa was placed under arrest for suspicion of murder. T'Challa escaped from police custody and returned to the mansion, where he discovered the Avengers' murderer Grim Reaper was still hiding.  The Reaper revealed the Avengers were only in a death-like coma, triggered by the power of his scythe, but would soon die regardless. Seizing the opportunity, the Panther stole the Reaper's scythe and ran to the hospital where he reversed the effects of the coma ray and restored Hawkeye, Goliath and the Wasp to life. The Panther survived his first trial by fire as an Avenger, and was fully welcomed into their ranks. [Avengers (1st series) #52]

The Black Panther fought many foes alongside the Avengers, including Ultron, the Masters of Evil and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. After weeks of working with the team, T'Challa seemed to accept the Avengers as genuine heroes, and not a direct threat to the people of Wakanda. He began to provide technological assistance from Wakanda to the team, including the construction of the first Quinjet, which would become the flagship Avengers vehicle in years to come. As he adjusted to life as an adventurer in America, T'Challa also advanced Wakanda's position on the world stage, appearing before the United Nations and officially declaring the existence of Wakanda and their technological prowess. Wakanda was accepted into the league of nations as a full member, but the true location of the hidden realm remained a secret, even from T'Challa's fellow Avengers. [Avengers (1st series) #53-61]

With the assistance of the National Security Agency, T'Challa also arranged for credentials to move about unrecognized in New York. He decided to become a schoolteacher in Harlem, educating the young and mostly black student body about African history and their heritage as "Luke Charles." He had difficulty accepting the cynicism of the American education system, and tried his best to reach out towards an isolated student named Delroy. Meanwhile, M'Baku was stirring resentment against T'Challa's global outreach among the isolationists and tribal traditionalists in Wakanda. Through agents in New York, he arranged for the hiring of a Wakandan expatriate assassin named Death Tiger. Apparently excommunicated even from the Hatut Zeraze, Death Tiger hunted Black Panther before confronting him. T'Challa was nearly killed, but Death Tiger was shot by Delroy, defending his teacher with the gun he had brought to school to deal with his bullies. Afterwards, T'Challa thanked Delroy and helped encourage him to turn himself in and face whatever charges might come from his actions. [Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II #1-8]

After helping Doctor Strange stop Ymir and Surtur from unleashing an apocalypse of fire and ice, T'Challa finally chose to bring his comrades Hawkeye, Vision and Black Knight back to Wakanda for a visit. The Avengers were to be treated as state guests but, when they first arrived, W'Kabi and the royal guard confronted them with deadly force before T'Challa himself descended from the Quinjet. The infuriated Black Panther was further put out when he learned the force had been authorized by M'Baku, against his direct orders before leaving. When ordered to explain his actions, M'Baku demurred that word of Klaw being active nearby led him to issue the order. This explanation only temporarily stayed T'Challa's anger, but it did so long enough for M'Baku and his aide N'Gamo to poison Black Panther and the Avengers at dinner, leaving them helpless.

M'Baku had long opposed T'Challa on the matter of ending Wakanda's isolationist policy, and over the introduction of modern technology to their tribal culture. T'Challa had not realized the lengths M'Baku was willing to go to for his convictions. Having undergone the outlawed rituals of the sacred white gorilla of the Mountain Tribes, M'Baku became the Man-Ape with powers similar to the Black Panther. He stirred isolationist rhetoric among the tribesmen in T'Challa's absence, suggesting the king had become soft living among the colonizers in America. With the stage set, Black Panther was forced to answer an official tribal challenge for the throne from Man-Ape. The two men battled through the techno-jungle of Wakanda until M'Baku defeated T'Challa with a treacherous sneak attack while pretending to submit. He chained T'Challa to an altar and intended to topple the statue of the Panther God onto T'Challa, symbolically and fatally ending the reign of the Black Panther. Instead, the Panther God statue tilted backwards and crushed M'Baku himself, seemingly leaving him for dead as the Avengers revived and freed T'Challa. [Avengers (1st series) #62] With his regent deposed, T'Challa began to split his time more between the Avengers in New York and rule of Wakanda, maintaining a presence at home in civil and military matters to reassure his people of his commitment to them. [Avengers (1st series) #63-72]

In a passing encounter, Black Panther was recruited by New York District Attorney Franklin "Foggy" Nelson to locate the masked vigilante Daredevil, who had left the hospital with injuries and needed further treatment before suffering a fatal fate. During his search, T'Challa happened to uncover that Daredevil and A.D.A. Matt Murdock were one in the same, as the criminal roboticist Starr Saxon was waiting in Murdock's apartment with the hostage Karen Page to kill Daredevil. The Black Panther and Daredevil teamed up to confront Saxon and preserve the secret of Murdock's identity (which Saxon also knew), but T'Challa kept his own knowledge a secret for the time being. [Daredevil (1st series) #52]

Although he was unmasked in his first American adventure by the police, and appeared before the world governments as King T'Challa, the Black Panther remained a relatively obscure figure in the American public eye. T'Challa did not openly draw attention to the connection between the Avenger Black Panther and the nation of Wakanda, and even hid his skin color from the public. [Avengers (1st series) #64] T'Challa believed this would let him be judged by his deeds and not by his race. However, circumstances soon conspired to change his outlook on the situation. He crossed paths with members of the Sons of the Serpent as they accosted a singer named Monica Lynne. The Sons of the Serpent were old Avengers foes, a hate group dedicated to purging America of the "blacks and foreigners." Their return to the public eye fueled the televised debates on race between Dan Dunn and Montague Hale, where Monica had been singing for the night. After being attacked just for the color of her skin, Monica Lynne returned to the Dan Dunn Show with Montague Hale to decry the racist attacks in America, while Dunn chose to defend the Serpents.

T'Challa was infuriated at the idea of people being targeted because of their race, and requested leave from the Avengers to tend to the matter alone. The Panther approached Monica Lynne again, to openly identify himself as a black man despite his all-concealing costume. He promised to bring down the Serpents, and tracked them to their lair. Black Panther was captured by the Serpents, however, and they used a body double to make it seem like the Black Panther had turned criminal in the public eye. While Hale and Dunn rattled their sabers, the Avengers were forced to account for their "rogue member" and pursued the imposter, furthering the white vs. black narrative being pushed by the Serpents. The Sons of the Serpent then arranged a pirate televised broadcast where they intended to reveal the "criminal" Black Panther as a black man, sparking a race war in America. T'Challa broke free with Vision's assistance, and revealed the white Black Panther imposter for what he was, as well as uncovering Hale and Dunn as the co-Supreme Serpents, stirring up animosity simply to grab power for themselves. [Avengers (1st series) #73-74]

[Note: In original continuity, T'Challa's decision to become a Harlem schoolteacher named Luke Charles was revealed in Avengers (1st series) #77, purportedly the result of his experiences with the Serpents. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II pushed this decision back earlier in his timeline.]