What has been joined by god let no man tear asunder…..
It’s already making waves across the net and even though I planned to not react, this is it, the marriage of Black Panther and Storm is no more!
Featured in Avengers vs X-men #9 is the panel showed above.But before we talk about the ending lets reminisce about the beginning.
Black Panther and Storm wed in Black Panther #18 written by Reginald Hudlin in 2008. To date that is the single best selling issue of the Black Panthers career, topping 69’000 issues sold in it’s first printing. Also of note was the epic Storm mini which lead up to the wedding penned by Eric Jerome Dickey. That mini also won a 2007 Glyph fan award. Despite the simply divine nature of their pairing the execution and both characters being pulled in different directions caused this “power couple” to be better as fan service than practical application.
Mounting Problems
As soon as the dust settled Storm became almost a trophy Wife for the king. Only in the Chris Yost penned X-men Worlds apart was she ever given a regal role in the kingdom. Since she got married the Xenophobic Wakandans have also wanted her head on a platter. Her allegiance to the X-men above all else was also bound to cause added baggage to an already strained relationship. There was also the literal impression that Storm was head over heels for T’challa while he valued the Kingdom above all else, Doomwar #2 clearly pointed that out! There leadership styles were at odds, Storm leads with her heart and T’challa with his mid. After Doomwar while T’challa was playing in Daredevil’s old stomping ground of Hell’s Kitchen they were “separated” and only met up once when she helped him deal with Kraven the Hunter. He then gave her his spot on the Avengers but failed to warn her when said team was about to attack the X-men. During the Avengers Vs X-men event we realized they were going to couples therapy. They the straw that broke the camel’s back Namor attacked Wakanda in Avengers vs X-men #8 Wakanda’s captal was devastated by her teammate and hundreds if not thousands lay dead. She had clearly chosen the X-men over her supposed subjects in Wakanda so the High Priests have annulled her marriage. Though in her defense no one except Emma Frost knew Namor was heading to Wakanda.
THE END….RIGHT?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AxsA3F70aI&feature=player_embedded]
Small nitpick! Why Storm is asking T’challa if he isn’t the “high priest”? That makes no sense because the events of Fantastic Four #608 would have happened before this issue and she was present in wakanda, so she should be aware he’s no longer the king of Wakanda or leader of the panther cult, nor does he make the rules anymore. His sister SHURI is ruler, T’challa is just a prince with no real clout anymore…….
SOUND OFF BELOW OR ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE,
did you like them as a couple?
Is this a bad move?
Good?
What are your thoughts?
Damn!!! Well, I guess I should be happy that marriage was not destroyed in a negative stereotypical way. Like man from jungle suffering from jungle fever. Although I would like to see a What If of Sue Storm hook up with the Panther. But that would taint her purity for ever in the eyes of most.
I had a feeling this event was coming when the Avengers vs. Xmen started. I was hoping it wouldn’t, but T’challa, I believe, has become more hardcore since Doomwar. He had no time or patience for a marriage….or a wife who is challenging his new principles.
I really like them married. I hope this does not last long.
This systematic destruction of Wakanda and the Black Panther has happened after the best writing for the character, done by Christopher Priest, elevated the character to a pinnacle of performance. This current stereotyping is exactly the kind of thing done to Black characters for decades. Either they are written poorly, stereotyped so badly they simply cannot be take seriously, or handled in such a way, no reader could take them seriously either though giving them lame powers, bad artists, poor costuming or pitiful story arcs that do not allow the character the opportunity to shine.
Luke Cage, got his superpowers by being a criminal and having experimentation done on him, in a fashion similar to the Tuskegee syphilis experiments. He was illegally tested on and was the only survivor of such experimentation. Since then he has been portrayed as a thug with super-powers having only recently been inducted into the Avengers. How long he stays is unknown.
The Prowler, a Black self-trained genius who gained popularity during the seventies alongside Spider-Man. Where Peter Parker has gone on to become a member of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, The Prowler has vanished back into the obscurity from whence he came, even though he and Parker were contemporaries in nearly every way that mattered.
Monica Rambeau – The Black Captain Marvel was one of the most powerful Black superheroes ever created. So powerful she challenged the might of Avengers such as Thor, Hercules, and Circe. Bet you have never heard of her. First she was depowered, then her name was taken and replaced with Photon, and vanished into obscurity, appearing in second-hand comics, getting trotted out long enough to keep the copyright, active.
Static Shock – One of the most popular characters from the Dakotaverse, moved onto television and had a show that was considered successful by any stretch of the imagination. When DC rebooted their universe, the character was given to an editor who did not know the character, did nothing to support the development of the character and ignored a writer who had a history of writing the character, successfully.
There are plenty of others I could name who have experienced similar treatment at the hands of hacks who call themselves writers at Marvel and DC. You can call it whatever you want to make you feel better. Stereotyping, bad characterization, poor quality sales, uninteresting character designs, but whatever you call it, you better not call it racism because it certainly couldn’t be that.
You my friend are ABSOLUTELY right. Black Panther in particular,and Black heroes in general have to be kept “In their place” lest Black children gain self esteem from them.Marvel has gone out of it’s way to erase Reginald Hudlin’s run on the character, and I don’t know about you,but I’m not holding my breath on a live action Black Panther movie from Marvel Studios either.Since they have stated that Wakanda is harder to bring to the screen than Asgard or apparently a space flick with an anthropomorphic raccoon.
I hope I’m not the only one who didn’t much care for their relationship, but it certainly seems that way. I could see it coming with the Avengers vs. X-men storyline and wasn’t at all surprised that it happened this way. I hope they actually make this storyline worth something and not just leave it boring or stupid like many storylines end up.
1st: l was w/ hordes of fans (Black & white) that felt Storm’s & BP’s union was contrived 2 begin with. Marvel took a cheap way out, by putting these two chayacters 2gether, when outside of their respective hue, their wouldn’t have been anything 2 draw these characters, 2gether.
That said; regardless as 2 how contrived it was 2 get these heroes 2gether, l nonetheless liked the fact that there was a “power” couple, that happened 2 be Black, that lMO was 2nd only 2 Reed n Sue, in stature in the Marvel 616.
l wonder; Ppl that r 4 this dissolving of this marriage (ln particular, my Black brethren) Who r their top five Black Super couples? 4 me, the only couple “l” can think of other than “this” one, is BumbleBee, and Guardian, way back in Teen Titans, and even then, l’m not sure they were a “couple”
Anyway…..that’s my two cents.
I’ve heard nothing but praise for the marriage between Black Panther and Storm. And I considered it a natural and smart pairing of characters in terms of story design while the pairing retained–in some instances enhanced–the nobility the characters deserved. In deciding to annul his marriage to Storm, he acted completely in character as Black Panther is a king, first, and husband, second; Storm understood (or T’Challa thought) her role as Queen, which meant following T’Challa’s lead, particularly in times of national crises. Storm choose to disregard her primary responsibility as Queen and proved herself unworthy to serve as Queen of Wakanda. Wakanda’s place as one of the most technologically and spiritually advanced country on earth–since the beginning of mankind–was due to its unique monopoly over vibranium, its gift of wisdom and knowledge by the goddess Bast and due to never having been conquered and exploited by a foreign power. Namor was the first to destroy Wakanda, an honorary distinction for Namor considering his arrogance, but this act threatened to destroy the symbolic and material primacy of Wakanda in the eyes of the world. Wakanda (and it’s African people) was a city that showed the world what humanity can and should be, a beacon of intellectual and spiritual progress for the rest of the humanity. Why do you think the Watcher was present at the wedding? Storm did not understand how important being the Queen of Wakanda truly is to the Wakandan legacy and to her King, T’Challa. Black Panther made the right decision, as a man and king. You can’t turn a “ho” into a housewife. Unless, of course, that “ho” reflects deeply about her indescretions, makes the right choices and never, ever crosses the line again.
This article has some problems. VAS is spot on though. Mcduffie wrote them just fine. And in Fantastic #608 made him King again, above Shuri..Kings of Kings..and only Reed aware of it.
Soooo… it’s ok for “whiter-than-white” Sue Storm to “entertain a dalliance” with T’Challa (and make no mistake, she DID give it a LOT of thought — see “Marvel Knights 4 Volume 4: Impossible Things Happen Every Day”), but Ororo’s made to look like a scarlet woman?!?
I don’t mean to get anything twisted here, but… what the?!??!?
My name is C.Chandler, I do believe this was a really bad move for both the panther and storm. I have been reading comics for many years and we all have watched heroes such as superman chase his love for lois lane, spiderman over mary jane and so on. The bond beween storm and panther was still brand new, having them fall apart over a conflict, was a chance for marvel comics to break them up. If reed and sue Richards can say married for over 50 years , why not marvel’s only black couple? I would like to other black comic book readers holla at me!
Than write your own comics. Books like the walking dead have shown that you do not need to be heavily marketed to be popular. The walking dead started in obscurity. If black people want to read books with strong prominent black characters than we should write them and support them when released. Books like truth and the crew from marvel weren’t promoted properly but I can’t blame that as the sole reason while sales were poor. If we want quality books than the dollars that we spend need to reflect it.
You are hilarious. But you seem to have a lot of knowledge…..hit me up at calwhitfield@yahoo.com. why? Because I am a magazine writer and could use a writer.