Issue(s): Jungle Action #6, Jungle Action #7, Jungle Action #8
Cover Date: Sep 73 - Jan 74
Title: "Panther's Rage" / "Death regiments beneath Wakanda" / "Malice by crimson moonlight"
Credits:
Don McGregor - Writer
Rich Buckler - Penciler
Klaus Janson - Inker

Review/plot:
OK, a bright spot in these mid-70s doldrums. Here we have a book that was originally jungle story reprints, and the editor Don McGregor decided to create some original material. Working with the interesting Rich Buckler and the experimental Klaus Janson, he created a series about the Black Panther that is quite good, and very different. The Panther never contributed much in the Avengers. This was partly due to the fact that the technological aspect from his first appearances in the FF were ignored, so he was basically just a guy in a suit that was good at jumping around, and partially due to the fact that he didn't have much of a personality. McGregor definitely addresses the second problem. McGregor's T'Challa is developed subtly, and his love, his conflict, his philosophy, and his quiet sense of humor all show themselves from time to time.

As for the first problem, McGregor sets up an interesting conflict between the new technology and the old tribal ways in Wakanda. This was perhaps necessary due to the few depictions of Wakanda post-Fantastic Four #52-53, which mainly showed a primitive setting and not Kirby's techno-jungle.

The Black Panther and his soldiers, as well as his adversaries, do use technologically advanced devices and weapons, but they are viewed with distrust by a percentage of the Wakandan population. This gives a good explanation as to why T'Challa may have eschewed such gadgets, especially during times when his subjects were doubting his commitment to them.

One potential area of complaint in this series is its wordiness. There are often huge chunks of text, and even people's dialogue is very verbose.

This is not the wordiness of a Roy Thomas, however. It isn't just exposition that duplicates the efforts of the art. McGregor's captions and word balloons compliment the text, often addressing issues on a different level than the visual.

The art is very good. Buckler's figures are strong and realistic, which is especially enjoyable at a time when so much of the art looks rushed and sketchy. Janson's inking adds a further dimension, however. Unlike most inkers, he is not afraid to be seen, and his use of shadow and darkness will define this series even after Buckler leaves.

These first three issues set the stage for the Panther's Rage series. The Panther rescues an old man from a pair of goons (the two henchmen, Tayete and Kazibe, whose unfortunate encounters with the Panther will be a source of subtle comic relief throughout this series)...

...but the man dies soon after. This is the opening salvo in a civil war launched by Erik Killmonger. Taking advantage of the unease among the people due to technological improvements that T'Challa has introduced and the fact that he has spent so much time away from the country (and the fact that he brought an outsider, Monica Lynne, home with him), Killmonger leads a rebellion that results in the massacre of a village. Panther hunts Killmonger down and the first issue of this arc ends with Killmonger defeating the Panther and throwing him off a waterfall.

T'Challa survives, barely, and is found downriver by Monica as she bathes.

Killmonger, thinking T'Challa dead, sends his lieutenant Venomm, a white snake charmer with an acid-scarred face...

...to the Vibranium mound along with a Death Regiment. They have apparently been secretly mining the mound from below. Black Panther defeats and captures Venomm.

Then another agent of Killmonger named Malice infiltrates the royal Wakandan palace...

...but fails to rescue Venomm. Taku, the pensive communications officer, spends time talking with Venomm. W'Kabi, the military director, attempts to control his rage over T'Challa's seeming lack of action. Monica continues to get herself in trouble with the Wakandans as she interrupts the Black Panther's training rituals.

The Panther's Rage story is difficult. It is very wordy and there are several layers of context. Attempting to read it as a simple action story is possible...

....but not very rewarding, especially since the books are so verbose and the plot isn't paced just for fight scenes. Reading so many other comics from this time period, i had to deliberately shift gears in order to fully enjoy these issues. This is the one time so far where my chronological placement of books potentially hindered instead of helped; it may make more sense to read this series in isolation. Nonetheless, the Black Panther's history up until this point is relevant. McGregor doesn't create a new character to tack onto the Black Panther shell; he uses BP's history and past continuity to analyze and develop this complex character and interesting setting.

Per Mark's comment, here's the updated map from issue #8:

Issues #6-7 both have reprints from Lorna the Jungle Queen in the back. Issue #6's reprint features Lorna herself (if you're interested, it's from Lorna the Jungle Queen #6, and she fights another woman who dresses up as her, but her monkey is able to determine which one is real). Issue #7 reprints a story from Lorna the Jungle Queen #22, and it's about Pondo the Elephant. Pondo is challenged by a young bull named Kindu, but Kindu learns to respect Pondo and allows him to retain control of the herd while he guards Pondo from afar. They're fun, simple stories.

Dwayne McDuffie once wrote a nice write-up of this series. That link has rotted away, so i'm preserving it in full here:

Alan Thompkins interrupted my one-on-none backyard basketball game with some important news. "The Hulk is gonna fight Thor. It's supposed to be out already."

If Alan said so, it must be true. He knew more about comic books than anybody in the whole neighborhood. Even though my interest in the subject was a good deal less fanatical than Alan's, this was definitely worth checking out. Much of our rapidly-dwindling summer vacation had been spent in heated arguments over who would emerge victorious is such a contest. I was quite certain that the incredible Hulk would have no problem waxing a little guy who wore a cape and feathers in his hat. Alan however favored Thor, citing the Asgardian's mighty Uru hammer and mystical control over the weather as the likely decisive factors. Maybe so but then, Alan also preferred Joe Fraiser to Muhammad Ali.

In any case, the solution to our debate was suddenly at hand. Only one obstacle remained. Lindsey Drugs, the "good comic store," was over three miles from my house and I was expressly forbidden from going there. I concocted a clever story to cover my illicit tracks, "I'm going over Alan's, okay?"

Mom went for it.

Alan and I hopped on our bikes and made the long ride. It was 1973.

We ran into the drug store and scanned the comic racks. The Hulk vs. Thor comic was nowhere to be found. Alan consoled himself with a bag of "Gold Rush" bubble gum. I had twenty cents burning a hole in my pocket and was determined to buy a comic book. I'm very glad I did.

The comic book was JUNGLE ACTION #6. It featured a super hero I'd never heard of called the Black Panther, but then, I'd never heard of the Black Panther political party either. The irony of a black character being the lead in a book called Jungle Action escaped me completely. What didn't escape me was the powerful sense of dignity that the characters in this book possessed. I was instantly and hopelessly hooked.

The Black Panther wasn't the first black character I'd seen in comics. Blacks had already appeared in crowd scenes and even occasionally as supporting characters (the Panther himself first appeared in THE FANTASTIC FOUR). One Black character even starred in his own book. Marvel's LUKE CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE had been running for over a year when I first discovered JUNGLE ACTION. But I never connected with Cage, a super-strong "angry black man" who wore chains around his waist, didn't seem particularly bright and spoke in a bizarre version of "street slang" that didn't even remotely resemble the speech of any Black people I knew. Spider-Man made sense to me, Cage? I just couldn't relate.

In those days, when black people in comics weren't busy being angry, they appeared either as faithful sidekicks, or worse, as helpless victims who begged white super-heroes to rescue them ("How come you never did nothing for the Black skins, Mr. Green Lantern?" And this was actually progress). The Black Panther was nobody's sidekick and if there was any rescuing to do, he'd take care of it himself, thank you. Moreover, the Black Panther was king of a mythical African country where black people were visible in every position in society, soldier, doctor, philosopher, street sweeper, ambassador -suddenly everything was possible. In the space of 15 pages, black people moved from invisible to inevitable.

I've spoken ad nauseam about the importance of multiculturalism in fiction, as in life. I've preached about the sense of validation a kid feels when they see their image reflected heroically in the mass media. This particular summer afternoon, reading about the dastardly (but nuanced) Eric Killmonger's villainous plot to usurp the Black Panther's rightful throne, is precisely when it happened to me. I realized that these stories could be about me, that I could be the hero. Years later writing in my own comic I'd describe that wonderful feeling as "the sudden possibility of flight." Milestone Comics was, among many other things, an attempt to pass that feeling along. It's all about gaining the high ground. From up there, you gain the perspective to allow you to see the many possibilities open to you. This issue of JUNGLE ACTION single-handedly revealed to me that there were new heights to reach, new vistas to view. It also, not incidentally, entertained the Hell out of me.

Thank you, Don McGregor.

Of course, if you're currently a comic book fan, you probably know that BLACK PANTHER is again among the best books on the stands. In the hyper-talented hands of writer Christopher "Don't Call Me Chris" Priest (and whoever might be drawing it this week) the BLACK PANTHER monthly is a thoughtful, contemporary take on the Lee/Kirby creation that changed my life. If you haven't tried it, you should. It's much too good to pass up. That said, in my opinion the current run, terrific though it is, still comes in second by several lengths to writer Don McGregor's epic JUNGLE ACTION saga, "The Panther's Rage."

For 13 bimonthly issues, over the course of nearly three years (yeah, I know. Let's just say that Marvel wasn't exactly a stickler for shipping dates, back in the seventies), aided and abetted by a number of artists, including the late, great Billy Graham, "The Panther's Rage" was everything a super-hero comic should be. This overlooked and underrated classic is arguably the most tightly-written multi-part superhero epic ever. If you can get your hands on it (and where's that trade paperback collection, Marvel?), sit down and read the whole thing. It's damn-near flawless, every issue, every scene, a functional, necessary part of the whole. Okay, now go back and read any individual issue. You'll find in seamlessly integrated words and pictures; clearly introduced characters and situations; a concise (sometimes even transparent) recap; beautifully developed character relationships; at least one cool new villain; a stunning action set piece to test our hero's skills and resolve; and a story that is always moving forward towards a definite and satisfying conclusion. That's what we should all be delivering, every single month. Don and company did it in only 17 story pages per issue. Compare this to the bloated, empty, ill-planned "story arcs" you see in many of today's comics. Four 22-page issues to tell about one issue's worth of story seems to be the norm. Ah, but now I'm just bitching.

I followed Don's work and became a hard-core fan, first of the Panther, then Marvel and then of the medium. Meanwhile, Don McGregor has continued to turn out gems like KILLRAVEN, SABER, RAGAMUFFINS, NATHANIEL DUSK, ZORRO and LADY RAWHIDE. If you want a taste of the good stuff for yourself, run directly to the comic shop this instant. You may still be able to grab copies of the two exquisite DETECTIVES, INC. graphic novels Don recently re-released through Image. One has art by Gene Colan, the other by Marshall Rogers. You pays your money, you picks your genius. Or better yet, buy them both.

Quality Rating: A-

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - beginning of Panther's Rage.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• We learn a little of Killmonger's origin. He was originally N'Jadaka, a Wakandan boy that was beaten and enslaved by Klaw during Klaw's colonial invasion depicted in a flashback in Fantastic Four #53
  
• Killmonger hitched a ride back to Wakanda "during that time we had the trouble on Panther Island". Panther Island, to my knowledge, only appeared during Fantastic Four annual #5, although the Avengers are shown in the panel (which also says that Killmonger first recognized the Panther in the States when he saw him with the Avengers).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

A 2nd more detailed map of Wakanda(with corrected ocean) appears in #8.

An editorial explaining the series' genesis appears in #7, written by Steve Gerber, who had otherwise nothing else to do with the title(although he may have handled the letters column).

I'm reading this series and it is pretty enjoyable. Out there in terms of creativity that reminds me of what Jim Steranko did with Nick Fury. I am very surprised that fnord graded this with an A. Even the great stories so far, I've seen him grade with a B or B+ so this shows he must've really enjoyed this run.

Klaus Janson confirmed in Amazing Heroes #155 that this was his first comics work.

Just pulled out My Jungle Actions and if it were not for these issues developing the many layers that take T'Challa to a very 3-Dimensional character, he would only satisfy basic face value needs of having a African-American guy in the line-up. Instead, he is now an introperspective soul and a Man of inspired will first.

Here's a link to a great, transcribed Skype interview with Donny McG,
where he describes how he came to write Jungle Action, his attitudes towards the work,
and what he accomplished with his team, and how. http://comicsbulletin.com/essential-black-panther-part-one/ I hope I get to speak to him when he's well, before the movie comes out.

I'm looking forward to reading this now that I picked up the Black Panther Panther's Rage TPB.

As Clyde did, I recently acquired the Panther's Rage TPB. So far the stories and art have been fantastic, but fnord's assessment of the text is spot on. While the story payoffs are worth the slog and mind-wandering that may accompany them, Don McGregor makes Chris Claremont look like he utilizes an Ernest Hemingway-like economy. Still, the discerning reader cannot help but applaud McG's efforts at creating a more literate approach to the superhero story. By the way, I hope I didn't let my own propensity for $10 run wild and make this comment a slog or yawner for those who see it.:-)

Correction:My own propensity for $10 WORDS run wild. Guess that's what I get for using said words!:-)

In the aforementioned Panther's Rage TPB, along with T'Challa's first appearances in FF #52-53, there are bonus features including alternate covers, layouts, pages of plot and script, and even photos of Don McGregor from the time period. Seeing those old pictures was neat because, at least to these four eyes, McG bears a resemblance to the late, great comedian George Carlin, with the long hair but minus the beard.

In an interesting article about this, Brian Cronin explains that the reason Jungle Action became a Black Panther book was because Don McGregor went to the editors and argued that the old "white savior" Tarzan rip-off stories they had been reprinting in the book up to this point were out of date and racist.

Given the serious intentions McGregor had when he wrote this, the names of the bad guys are pretty silly, particularly Lord Karnaj.

In fairness, Lord Karnaj's name gets ribbed a bit in the story itself, where it's shown to be a name he picked himself. In the big climax, issue #17, there's a nice bit where another Killmonger lieutenant, Malice, gets an earful from him for calling him merely "Karnaj" instead of "Lord Karnaj." A page later, after whining about he'd do something cool if only he had his sci-fi guns, he gets knocked out by T'Challa almost in passing. More generally, the story is at pains to show that these are names, like Killmonger's own, chosen for their theatricality. There's a similar bit in a few issues with Baron Macabre: once T'Challa sees past the artifice, Macabre is basically a nobody using a mask and a name to turn himself into a frightening insurgent.

There's a fine write-up of this story in The Comics Journal that digs into some of the core themes and ideas in this arc. One of its nicer points is that the goofy villains Killmonger is creating -- and the series does show that the process of creating them is rather horrifying -- are his way of taking all that American-style superheroing T'Chlla was doing instead of living up to his responsibilities and both mocking it and shoving it right down his throat.

Whoops! I forgot to link tot hat write-up, so here it is:

http://www.tcj.com/fear-of-a-black-panther/