After The Rage

With the events of "Panther's Rage" having at last reached their conclusion, we rejoin the Black Panther two months after the fierce raid of Erik Killmonger virtually wiped out all that stood in central Wakanda, as its ruler and its people begin putting their country and their lives back in order. Writer Don McGregor appropriately titles the story "Epilogue!", though an exclamation point seems out of place considering the destruction and loss of life; perhaps it's in the spirit of transition, and moving on. Yet while there is no celebratory spirit resonating among the Wakandans, there is no cloud of sadness hanging over the country, either; rather, the mood is one of resolve and continuation, for the traditions and commitment of these proud people endure and will be reclaimed. Lives have been upended, but not abandoned.

The story spends less time than you might expect on the characters "picking up the pieces," so to speak, from the prior issue, though we can easily presume that much of the labor and administrative tasks have been well underway for the past sixty days. That leaves just a few loose ends to tie up that involve secondary characters. For instance, the former operative of Killmonger known as Venomm, who intervened in the final battle when another operative, King Cadaver, attacked the Panther's communications commander, Taku, whom Venomm had struck up a trusting relationship with during his incarceration. We don't know the extent to which Venomm may have worked against Killmonger's interests that day; perhaps he simply abstained from further action on Killmonger's behalf.  Whatever occurred, it's clear that he's being released, perhaps even on his own recognizance.

The mixed signals McGregor and artist Billy Graham are sending in regard to Venomm's current status don't leave enough room to speculate much further on the subject. Led around in chains (wouldn't handcuffs do?), Venomm appears to still be considered a threat in the eyes of Wakandan authorities--yet the Panther is supplying a craft to return him to America, in essence letting him go free (unless he's being extradited, in which case he would have remained bound). At the very least, his departure provides one last look (in the truest sense, as it turns out) at the hapless trials of Kazibe and Tayete, formerly in the service of Killmonger but in time rejecting their allegiance to him.

There is also T'Challa's security head, W'Kabi, to check in on, who fell victim first to Venomm and then became further injured when one of Killmonger's dinosaurs crashed into the hospital where he was recovering. Today, we find him not only having lost his family, but something that even Wakanda's technology can't fully replace.

Later, W'Kabi joins the Panther in investigating the deaths of two men, whose murders are in the style of one who was only recently dealt with. Both men, unfortunately, will fall to the merciless foe who ordered these recent deaths--or, rather, the one who acts in her name.

The story of the man called Mute and his mistress, Madam Slay, has already been recounted elsewhere in the PPC, serving to bring to a close this saga of over two years which became a well-regarded feather in the cap of McGregor, Graham, original artists Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson, and Graham's predecessor, Gil Kane.

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Along the way, there were some noteworthy moments in "Panther's Rage" aside from the pages of the story itself. Additional insight into the story's plot and implications could be found in the book's letters pages, which, thanks to its bimonthly publication, were printed with as little as a two-issue gap between story installments rather than the usual four. There was unfortunately limited space for letters, for the most part; in fact, it's a fair observation that with a few less "filler" pages (as one letter-writer put it) of artistry and recaps, letters pages could have been expanded more frequently. In addition, many letters pages featured letters from the same writers repeatedly--among them Dean Mullaney, Ralph Macchio, and Peter Gillis (the latter two you may recognize as future Marvel Comics writers); it would have been nice to hear from a broader spectrum of readers, particularly since there was no lack of notices reminding readers that voicing their thoughts on stories made a real difference. (Though even one of Macchio's letters was omitted due to space limitations, it should be noted.)

And speaking of Machhio, he had the following food for thought on the deeper role that the boy and unexpected hero of the story's climax, Kantu, seemed to personify.

"When Erik Killmonger is pushed off the precipice in the climax, he is not pushed by either the Black Panther or Kantu. He is forced over the edge by the basic id portion of the Wakanda chieftan, T'Challa, for in truth, that is what Kantu really is. ... T'Challa and Kantu are inexplicably entwined, for each is but a different side of the same coin, with each emerging dominant in response to a given situation."

There were also two Editor forewords from those pages that followed the series and gave a virtual "Whew!" to the effort involved. Distilled and consolidated, they read as follows:

"It's all over.

"Two years and 209 pages later, the concept that began back in 1973 is finished. Oh, that concept changed subtly with the passage of time, as ideas reached their moment to become comic book reality: and the initial thrust expanded with each new chapter, sometimes adding more sagas to the entire "Panther's Rage" than had been originally planned: but even with the changes and expansion, it has ended.

"Don didn't realize what a controversial hornet's nest he was ramming into when he had T'Challa saved by that 'younger version of himself,' Kantu. Some were outraged by it. Some thought it negated the entire series. Others claimed that they didn't care how it ended except that was a stupid way to end it. On the other hand, there were positive responses also, and many of them, especially, were from you people who have been steady followers of the Marvel mythos."

Finally, to close out these PPC posts on "Panther's Rage" (and may I repeat:  "Whew!"), a sampling of splash pages which highlight the art of the letterer, so nicely coordinated with the work of Buckler and Graham.