Black Panther (vol. 3) #11
Enemy of the State: Book Three
The situation in Wakanda is very grim. With power given to him by the demon Mephisto and backing from elements within the United States government, the mad man known as Achebe has taken over Wakanda.[1] On the evening that T’Challa addressed the United Nations and denounced this as an act of war against his nation, Achebe had gotten control of the country’s defenses. Now he watches as massive robotic panthers lay waste to Wakanda, sending its people fleeing in terror.
In New York, Everett Ross — T’Challa’s US liaison while he’s in America — finds himself in the middle of a car chase with the Black Panther’s allies, exchanging gunfire with members of the Russian mob sent to eliminate them. Although their limo is protected with Vibranium coating, it won’t offer much protection when their pursuers start bringing out rocket lanchers. Ultimately, Zuri is forced to drive their car into the East River so they can make their getaway.
At that same moment, the Black Panther has reinstated the Hatut Zeraze to assist with a pair of choopers with snipers that attacked them. This results in the Black Panther fighting side-by-side with his long exiled adopted brother, Hunter, aka the White Wolf.[2] However, just like the Dora Milaje, T’Challa has ordered that the Hatus Zeraze are not to kill anybody. While the unit were assassins that worked for his father, T’Challa is going to have them follow his personal ethics moving forward. While Hunter balks at this, he agrees to comply, reminding T’Challa that he is always loyal to the throne.
They also retreat into the East River and moments later, a massive Wakandan airship that has been stashed there emerges from the waters to take T’Challa and his allies back to Wakanda. As they batten down the hatches and make their way east, Everett comes to realize that while everyone was conspiring against the Black Panther, he was also working to thwart their schemes the entire time. For the longest time, Ross figured that T’Challa was naive, but this was all a façade put up by the Wakandan king to fool his enemies into revealing their hands. He was ready for all of this and is prepared to put an end to it all. As they rocket toward Wakanda, T’Challa checks on his friends Zuri, Everett, and Monica Lynn. Everyone is doing fine except for Monica who is very upset to be dragged into yet another one of T’Challa’s conflicts and demands to be returned home.[3]
Overhearing this are T’Challa’s two Dora Milaje, Okoye and Nakia. Nakia doesn’t like Monica’s tone and tells Okoye that she never liked the American woman. She thinks back to one of their earliest encounters. This was when Nakia and Okoye were much younger and spied on T’Challa while he was bathing with Monica. Seeking attention, Nakia leapt from their hiding place and into the water, but ended up injuring herself in doing so. At the time, T’Challa ordered Monica to get a doctor while he performed CPR. Okoye gets Nakia to snap out of her fantasy and tires to get her to get rid of the foolish notion that the king loves her and will marry her.[4] Meanwhile, T’Challa and Monica speak in private, he offers her no apologies for the constant interference in her life, he reminds her that when they first fell in love she knew who and what she was getting involved with and that she is on a path of her own choosing.[5]
Less than 15 minutes later, they have arrived in Wakanda and the massive ship breaks off into much smaller aircraft, each one with two of the passengers. In one ship are the Black Panther and Everett Ross, Okoye and Francis Tork are in another, while Nakia is grudgingly paired with Monica Lynn. While the others are busy dealing with the rogue mechanical panthers, T’Challa hits the eject button in his craft, sending him and Everett parachuting to the ground. T’Challa then leads his friend to a secret passage to the underground techno-jungle where he can shut down the massive robots. In the air, Nakia gets tired of Monica’s prattling and ejects her from the ship before joining the others on the ground.
Back down below, the Black Panther deals with Ghudazian rebels loyal to Achebe. Returning upstairs, they find the others fighting off the invaders as well. When T’Challa notices that Monica is not among them he demands answers from Nakia. She tries to convince her king that Monica died but T’Challa can tell he is lying. He orders her to find Monica or else there will be a reckoning once this is all over.[6] Grabbing Everett and pressing forward the Black Panther searches for Achebe. He eventually finds the mad man inside the royal palace wired up to enough explosives to bring the whole place down.
Recurring Characters
Black Panther, Achebe, Everett Ross, Okoye, Nakia, White Wolf, Monic Lynn, Zuri, Francis Tork
Continuity Notes
Achebe’s pact with Mephisto and conquest of Wakanda happened in Black Panther (vol. 3) #1-5. The revelation that this was backed by the US was revealed in issues #9-10.
As a baby, Hunter was the only survivor of a plane that crashed in Wakanda and was adopted by T’Chaka and treated him like a son. Hunter later became the leader of the Hatut Zeraze and served T’Chaka loyally until his death. When T’Challa took the throne, he ordered the Hatut Zeraze into exile and he did not agree with their methods. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #10, 12 and 27 as well as Rise of the Black Panther #4-6, and Black Panther: Legends #1-4. T’Challa previously encountered the Hatut Zeraze in Black Panther (vol. 3) #3-4.
Monica Lynn has been a long time ally of T’Challa dating back to when he saved her from the Sons of the Serpents in Avengers #73. T’Challa proposed to her in Black Panther: Panther’s Prey #3. However, by the time we see her again in Black Panther (vol. 3) #8, T’Challa had called off their engagement. It’s revealed in Black Panther (vol. 3) #48-49 that this was due to the fact that T’Challa met a future version of himself that was dying of a brain aneurysm that he himself was just in the early stages of. Seeing that he had no future to offer Monica was the reason why he broke off their engagement, although he kept the reason why a secret.
Traditionally, the Dora Milaje are supposed to be wives-in-training. Girls sent from the various Wakandan tribes to live with the king. When the king makes and romantic advances toward one of the dora Milaje that signals a marriage. This has largely become ceremonial in modern times. However, Nakia has gotten it in her head that T’Challa loves her after he was tricked by Mephisto into kissing her in Black Panther (vol. 3) #3.
T’Challa mentions the time that Monica saved him from drowning in the River of Wisdom and Grace. This was after he lost a battle with Erik Killmonger, as seen in Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6-7..
Monica survived as we’ll learn in Black Panther (vol. 3) #13. However, she won’t be found until issue #15.
Topical References
When commenting on T’Challa’s recent sanctions against the United States, Everett recounts how they didn’t even bother interrupting Wheel of Fortune. This is a popular night time game show which has been on the air since 1975. Its reference here should be considered topical.
When Everett is commenting on the type of weapons the Russians are using he identifies an RPG-7, a type of rocket launcher that has been in production since 1961. He also says that they are used in “EVERY Cameron movie”. This should be considered a topical reference for two reasons:
While the RPG-7 is still in production and used as of this writing (December, 2022), military hardware eventually gets retired and becomes obsolete. Not as frequently as say electronics, but it happens eventually.
James Cameron is the director Everett is referring to. At the time of this story, James Cameron was best known for his action films Aliens and the first two Terminator films. This should be considered a topical reference, particularly since its a lot of hyperbole. RPGs aren’t in ever Cameron movie, unless there’s a scene in Titanic I don’t know about.
When talking about the entire plot to date, Everett makes references to director Oliver Stone and the movie JFK. JFK was 1991 film written and directed by Oliver Stone. It was a political drama that explored the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The film is known for giving some credibility to the various bullshit conspiracy theories that suggest that the official account of the assassination were false, suggesting that there was some kind of conspiracy around the whole thing.
When introducing himself to Okoye, Francis Tork says “Me Han… You Chewie—?” This is a reference to the Star Wars franchise. Two of the main characters are the smuggler Han Solo (played by actor Harrison Ford) and his frequent partner a hairy alien named Chewbacca (portrayed by Peter Mayhew), or Chewie for short. A reference like this would usually be considered topical. However, now that both Marvel and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, this would be viewed as brand synergy.
