Jungle Action #5 reprints the recent Avengers #62, which moved Panther back to his homeland, and original material started with issue #6. Right from the splash page, Black Panther finds that Wakanda is being ruled by Killmonger, who is introduced as a ruthless foe.
He’s whipping Panther with a spiked belt.
We also meet Venomm, a less-important member of Black Panther’s rogue’s gallery.
The opening story, titled, “Panther’s Rage,” stretched from issues #6-18). One long, 13-issue arc—the longest in Marvel history thus far. McGregor would end up writing this title for several years. The mandate: You can do whatever you want with him, but make sure all the stories take place in Africa.
The tale introduced the theme of Panther being a “returning” hero to his people–a theme that would, frankly, eventually become an overused trope.
And it also made Wakanda a “real” place….
…By providing a map, as well as a blueprint for the Royal Palace.
Overall, the tale was about Wakanda’s revolution against their leader, The Black Panther. You could make valid arguments that the issues are a little too wordy, but the reality is that these are some of the best comics of the 1970s—maybe even of all time—and few people remember them. Yes, they’re wordy and occasionally clunky—but it’s important to remember that this was still the eras of Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, and nobody was wordier than them. The issues were popular on college campuses, but didn’t get widespread, mainstream comic reader appeal.
“The issues were popular on college campuses, but didn’t get widespread, mainstream comic reader appeal.” So true, and that was a damn shame. At the time, my personal weekly comics-budget would not permit me to pick up this excellent series, and I sorely regret that to this very day, however, I did manage to somehow accommodate a copy of issue#8 into the budget, and I really enjoyed it on every level- incredibly, I STILL own that copy of issue#8, to this very day. Just amazing!! I thought the late, great, Jumbo John Buscema was the ultimate, definitive artist for the lithe, viral, muscular Black Panther. This thirteen-issue Magnum Opus obviously served as the creative template for the very first ‘Black Panther’ movie from 2018, which cleared an absolutely STAGGERING one BILLION DOLLARS during it’s first month of theatrical release, and made the careers-and personal fortunes-of everyone involved in it. I am the proud owner of a very prestigious hard-bound black edition reprint volume of “Panther’s Rage”, and it is one of the pearls of my personal collection. Excelsior!
It used to be cool for college students to read comics.