Black Panther, Vol. 2 #6-8 "That Business With the Avengers" picks up where the first Black Panther, Vol. 2 story arc ("Lord of the Damned") leaves off and serves as the second arc of a trilogy. The story continues to be narrated by Agent Everett K. Ross of the Office of the Chief of Protocol (OCP), oddly enough as he's chased through the halls of the White House by an angry President Clinton. The Black Panther has discovered that he has been lured to the United States so that a madman by the name of Achebe can perform a coup d'état in Wakanda. The Panther considers Achebe to be a minor threat, and stays in the U.S. to attend to other matters. Clinton organizes a formal reception for King T'Challa and his entourage which is embarrassingly short of black people (other than the king, himself). To rectify this, Senator Kamal Rakim, an old colleague and one-time rival of T'Challa's, makes a few phone calls and before you know it, the streets of New York are filled with over 100,000 African-Americans intent on seeing the king of Wakanda in all his glory. T'Challa dons the ceremonial garb of the Black Panther and goes to the hotel rooftop only to be attacked by Kraven the Hunter (Alyosha Kravinov, son of the dearly departed original Kraven). After a nasty brawl, Kraven manages to capture the Black Panther and turns him over (along with Ross) to Manuel Ramos, a drug dealer who was rousted by the Panther in the previous story arc. Ramos, thirsty for revenge, interns the Panther and Ross in a nearby building and attempts to "cap" the Panther, only to find that his vibranium-laced suit is bulletproof. Ramos and his thugs set the building on fire and leave the Panther and Ross to their fates. The Black Panther quickly escapes, saves Ross, and attacks Ramos. Knowing that Ramos has neither the means nor the brains to hire an A-list villain like Kraven, the Panther interrogates him to find out who is operating behind the scenes. As he expects, it is Hunter, a.k.a. White Wolf and head of the Hatut Zeraze, the deposed Wakandan secret police. Kraven then attacks the Black Panther again, claiming that he has much to learn from the great Panther. This time, the Black Panther quickly takes the upper hand and beats Kraven within an inch of his life when who should arrive but the Avengers! Iron Man demands that the Panther stop what he's doing and explain what's going on. By now, the thousands of people in the streets are growing restless and want to hear T'Challa speak. T'Challa questions their motives. To these people, T'Challa is a symbol of greatness, a man of their ethnicity to be looked up to and admired. But T'Challa is not an African-American...he's African. He doesn't share their experience and thus has nothing to say to them that will meet their expectations. The Panther asks Captain America to address the people instead and he leaves the scene. Moments later on the high rise, the Black Panther discovers his long-lost love, Monica Lynne, armed with a sniper's rifle, and training the weapon on the crowd, below. He quickly discovers that she has been captured by Achebe and outfitted with a robotic exoskeleton that controls her movements, forcing her to become an unwilling assassin. Controlled by Achebe, she fires a shot into the crowd which hits Thor, miraculously knocking him unconscious. Worse yet, she's strapped with a several bricks of C-4 explosives which are set to explode in moments. As if that's not enough, Achebe has also randomly selected one of the people in the crowd and armed him with an incendiary device which is also set to explode. Using his Komoyo communications device, the Black Panther enlists the Avengers, already overwhelmed with keeping the crowd and NYPD calm after the rifle shot, to help him find the unwitting victim among the masses. Using their powers, the Avengers team up to locate the victim and remove the device. The Panther than disarms Monica's explosives seconds before detonation. During the chaos, the Black Panther admits to Achebe that he first joined the Avengers many years ago to spy on them for the sake of Wakandan national security. Unfortunately, the Panther makes this statement while on radio with all of the Avengers. The story concludes with a deepening mystery for the Black Panther to solve and a new status quo for his long relationship with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Writer: Christopher Priest Artist: Joe Jusko "That Business With the Avengers" goes a long way in establishing the Black Panther as a formidable and crafty man who has no compunctions about doing whatever it takes to defend his native country. In an unusual bit of retconning, we discover that the Black Panther's long service with the Avengers was less than altruistic on his part. While retcons have the uncanny ability to make many fans groan, this one makes a surprising amount of sense. Just why else would the Black Panther have spent so much time away from Wakanda unless he had something very important to do that benefitted his country? Priest's out-of-sequence, Pulp Fictionesque narrative continues in this arc as Ross relates the events of a wild evening at the Waldorf Astoria to Nikki...all while rollerblading through the White House with the president in hot pursuit and wielding a hockey stick as a weapon! The arc is lushly painted by comics master, Joe Jusko, whose photorealistic style works well in this story. There are a lot of characters, ranging from heads of state, drug dealers, normal people on the streets and yes, super heroes, all of whom Jusko handles with equal aplomb. Priest's portrayal of the Avengers as "gaudily dressed fascists" was somewhat controversial among comics fans (not to mention the controversy that erupted around Thor's head injury!), but it's apparent that Priest is willing to give the Avengers their props. Initially they're overwhelmed by a scenario that's unlike any they've faced before: trying to quell a potential riot and simultaneously protecting the people from harm. True to form, the Avengers find a way to get the job done. Perhaps the best thing about this story is that it takes chances. The Black Panther and Ross continue to develop as characters. We see the Black Panther in a light that we've never seen him in before. More and more, the reader sees that he's not a "super hero" at all, but a crafty and cunning (though just and good-hearted) head of state with his own agenda. As events swirl around him, he takes it all in and deals with the threats that present themselves in a pragmatic and efficient manner. Priest has primed us for the final arc ("Enemy of the State"), which brings it all together and shows just how deadly and determined the Black Panther can be.

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