YEAR ONE

The Black Panther is equal parts social commentary and political satire. Like STEEL and QUANTUM & WOODY, PANTHER takes a hard, sometimes cynical look at the world of super-heroing as seen through the eyes of a Joe Everyman, Everett K. Ross, State Department attaché. T'Challa, king of a small, reclusive and technologically advanced kingdom, comes to America and is paired off with, well, Chandler from the NBC sitcom Friends. Steeped in tradition, tribalism and a deeply-rooted sense of honor, the Black Panther forms an unlikely alliance with the cynical New York lawyer Ross; the two forging a true bond over the course of their adventures together, and evolving into, well, a super-hero team. Ross's surgical observations on the Marvel Universe form the narrative flow of the book, and provide humorous insights into the king and his motives. In addition to the humor, we strive for poignancy, drama, and, of course, the prerequisite super-hero face-bashing.

The series begins with a promotional film. T'Challa, king of the African kingdom of Wakanda, embraces a small girl, a disadvantaged and underprivileged child from Brooklyn's New Lots section, whose life is made a little easier by The Tomorrow Fund, a non-profit community services organization which is largely supported by grants from Wakanda.

Four years later, the child is found dead in the basement of TTF complex. The police have no leads and, although the community is outraged, there seems to be only dead ends.

T'Challa becomes furious, and sets off to America to get to the bottom of all of this. His standing as a head of state becomes a logistical nightmare for the U.S. State Department, which assigns Everett K. Ross, a nervous Michael J. Fox-type spin doctor, to act as T'Challa's handler while the king is on U.S. soil (Ross' mantra: It's just four days … it's just four days…).

T'Challa sweeps into the 'hood with his retinue and sets up camp (a la Eddie Murphy's Coming To America character). His mission is simple: avenge the girl's death, return home.

But what he finds is The Tomorrow Fund, the organization he'd been funding for years, is infested with corruption and mismanagement. The deeper he digs, the greater the mess. This organization, which was supposed to bring hope to the hopeless has in fact done just the opposite, and preyed on the community it was created to serve.

T'Challa becomes a Batman-esque night stalker, a creature of the night, The Black Panther prowling New York's mean streets and putting himself in harm's way as he rails against the pervasive misery of his newly-adopted kingdom- a misery he himself feels partially responsible for having created.

T'Challa, educated both in Europe and America and holding a Ph.D. in physics, will find himself often at odds with his spin doctor/handler Ross who is himself the White Boy Out Of Water; the Washington diplomat now living in a New Lots tenement with, "The king of the freaking jungle." The tension between T'Challa and his reluctant sidekick, as well as T'Challa's headlong collision with 90's urban black culture, will provide a humorous undercurrent to the series.

Far from being the disconnected ingénue from Coming To America, our T'Challa is a world traveler, a man of near limitless resources who, rather than being overcome or confused by black American culture, understands it without becoming assimilated by it. Attempts to take advantage of his (incorrectly assumed) unfamiliarity with urban culture (we'll probably include a sequence of Ross teaching T'Challa to "speak jive") will fail, often being reversed by the witty and extremely intelligent monarch who would rather change the world than his vision of it.

Like Captain America, who often finds himself at odds with the 90's cynicism of modern America, T'Challa stands as a living embodiment of justice and virtue. However, the level of cynicism and despair in T'Challa's America is a stifling multiple of that of Cap's world.

The Black Panther, is therefore, a round peg come to a square hole, who, with humor and unflappable calm, sets about changing the environment around him rather than succumbing to it.

All of which prolongs his stay in America to the point where T'Challa's political rivals at home can make their move, and the Panther will be forced to choose between completing the work he begins in America, or racing back home to save his throne.

T'Challa's values, his unshakable faith in the goodness of humanity, is the driving force of the series, set against the corrupt and cynical environment around him, and forcing him to weigh the cost of having principles in a world that does not value them.

The first year was maybe the most hectic. We were still figuring a lot of things out and there were a lot of three-way and four-way calls between Jimmy and Joe and Tex and myself. The faux-painted look, which seemed like a brilliant idea at first, became an incredible time concern, as laying in the wash tones added weeks to the process. Ultimately, Tex became later and later as time pressure grew, and a fill-in for issue #5 led to Joe Jusko taking the center seat with issue #6. Joe, who had always wanted to try the monthly comic grind, found out just how much a grind it is, as the painter became crushed under the weight of the monthly calendar, and we made plans to alternate Jusko with Tex.

I met with Jusko and Tex in Boston at Kevin Eastman's Museum of Cartoon Art, were we worked out the basic framework for ENEMY OF THE STATE, a fairly ambitious political thriller. We'd all figured, between the two of them, we'd be able to get this book out on time. As things worked out, it was not to be, and the guys thought to go a completely different route by dropping the painted look and going with a Batman Adventures look by artist Mike Manley. I got a little artistic whiplash from the decision, as ENEMY... was not a story that would work well with that artistic approach. Manley drew issues #9 and 10, which were rather grim stories intended for Tex/Jusko. By the time I realized we were going this new route, I fashioned the remaining chapters of ENEMY... to fit Mike's style a bit better— and then we lost Mike.

My old partner in crime, Doc Bright, stepped in to save the day, and he immediately called me after he read the script for BLACK PANTHER #11, asking me if I'd lost my mind. You see, Mike Manley was drawing issues written specifically for Jusko/Texeira. Now Doc Bright was drawing issues written specifically for Manley: had I known Doc was going to draw those issues, I'd have tailored them more towards Doc's strengths.

The artist roulette and schedule hiccups led to a several-months layoff for me as the artists worked to catch up. I went off writing QUANTUM & WOODY and STEEL, and as PANTHER drew closer to issue #12, I assumed we'd pulled that train into the station, and it had been a fun ride.

Christopher J. Priest
November 2002

The Story Thus Far: Year One
BLACK PANTHER #1-5
the client trade paperback

The Black Panther arrives in New York, meets his nervous State Department handler, and become embroiled in a scandal at The Tomorrow Fund, a local charity largely funded by grants from Wakanda. Panther soon discovers the scandal was a ruse to lure him away from Wakanda, where his government is toppled by a coup d'etat led by a psychotic cleric named ACHEBE (and, ultimately, Ramonda— Panther's own step mother). Achebe has made a deal with the devil- literally- by joining forces with MEPHISTO who craves Panther's soul. Meanwhile, The White Wolf, chieftain of the Hatut Zeraze (pronounced hah-TOO sir-AH-say), the former Wakandan Secret Police, appears, urging Panther to take direct action in Wakanda to regain his throne. Panther takes the fight (and Ross) into Mephisto's own realm, where Panther re-lives his ORIGIN story, and ultimately conquers Mephisto but is stalemated by Achebe, who remains in power in Wakanda. Art by Mark Texeira and Vince Evans (#5), Edited by Joe Quesada, Nancy Dakesian and Jimmy Palmiotti

BLACK PANTHER #6-8
that business with the avengers

Ross first embarrasses then insults the U.S. President ("Bubba") by blaming the White House for a huge riot outside of the Waldorf Astoria. The White House, embarrassed to learn they'd never given King T'Challa an official state reception, throws one at the Waldorf Astoria. When an activist senator (and former college rival of T'Challa's) discovered the guest list was woefully shy of black people, he organizes a demonstration, which draws a huge crowd outside the hotel. Meanwhile, the street thugs and drug dealers Panther had been rousting during issues #1-5 pool their resources and hire KRAVEN THE HUNTER to go after him. Kraven ambushes Panther at the Waldorf, delaying Panther while the crowd and the police presence increases outside. THE AVENGERS respond to official requests for crowd control (and to support their teammate). Achebe seizes on the moment to have Monica Lynne, strapped into a remote-controlled exo-skeleton, fire on the crowd, nailing Thor in the head and inciting the riot everyone was there to prevent. During the course of their efforts to quell the riot, Panther reveals, via comm. link, that the only reason he joined the Avengers in the first place was, essentially, to spy on them. Once the heroes have won the day, the Avengers confront Panther, assuming his revelation was a ruse meant to mislead Achebe, but Panther confirms his statement was true- driving a wedge between himself and the team. Art by Joe Jusko. Edited by Joe Quesada, Nanci Dakesian and Jimmy Palmiotti

BLACK PANTHER #9-12
enemy of the state

The Black Panther finally learns who was actually behind the coup d'etat in Wakanda- the United States! Panther goes about proving this by rousting high-level intelligence agency officers and unearthing a JFK-level conspiracy between factions of the US Intelligence community, the Russian Mob, and the LCL (LCL = Los Cuarenta Ladrones = "The 40 Thieves," a dismissive colloquialism for El Ministerio de Asuntos Internacionales Armó Servicio de Volcan Domuyo, the Volcan Domuyan Secret Service). In a wildly complex thriller that pits Panther against his old friend Captain America (and introduces Daki, Achebe's hand puppet!), Panther issues a de-facto declaration of war on the United States, and soon finds nearly every intelligence agency in the world is out to kill him! "Enemy" wraps up in Wakanda, with a showdown between Panther and Achebe and the White Wolf, and the Panther regains his crown at a great price. Ross is banished to Iceland for having failed to reign the Panther in. Art by Mike Manley (#9-10) and MD Bright (#11-12). Edited by Joe Quesada, Nanci Dakesian and Jimmy Palmiotti

  Black Panther Year Two