Black Panther, Vol. 2 #9-12 "Enemy of the State" is the conclusion to the first year of Black Panther, Vol. 2. In the previous eight issues, writer Christopher Priest created an elaborate tale of deceit, betrayal and conspiracy. This story resolves the subplots and wraps up the loose ends developed in the first two story arcs. During the course of the story, we learn that T'Challa's homeland of Wakanda has taken on refugees from the wartorn country of Ghudaza. One of the Ghudazai, a Reverend Dr. Michael Ibn al-hajj Achebe, has apparently engineered a coup d'état and forced T'Challa into exile. The story becomes considerably more complex when the hellspawned Mephisto becomes involved. The Black Panther seems unable to fully comprehend the events that are occurring around him. In "Enemy of the State," we discover that far from bewildered, the Panther has merely been collecting intelligence during the previous story arcs, in preparation for a final confrontation with the true engineers of his political demise. He blows the lid on a Byzantine plot that involves the Russian mafia, the secret service of a Latin American nation and rogue elements of the U.S. intelligence community. With Wakanda being the world's sole supplier of the rare metal, vibranium, its strategic importance is indisputable. By removing T'Challa from power, the aforementioned conspirators hope to destabilize his country and get in better position to control access to the vibranium. As king of Wakanda, T'Challa addresses the United Nations and all but declares war on the United States for its complicity in his country's affairs. As the Black Panther unravels the threads woven by the many conspirators, he deals with each of them in turn, and harshly. He confronts Captain America and the Avengers to notify them about the coup d'état and to explain his recent actions. Several other players surface, all of whom T'Challa carefully assesses to determine their trustworthiness. One such element is the White Wolf, T'Challa's foster brother and former chief of the Wakandan secret police known as the Hatut Zeraze. Ultimately, the Black Panther makes his way back to Wakanda to confront Achebe and reclaim his throne. Unfortunately, Achebe has unleashed the Prowlers, Wakandan doomsday machines that are wreaking havoc on the nation's populace. Undaunted, the Panther plays his hand and the true nature of all the players involved stands revealed. At the risk of sounding pretentious, "Enemy of the State" reads much like the concluding act of a Shakespeare play. In the first act, the players are identified and the elements of the story are laid out. In the second, the nature of the characters is revealed and the plot develops. In the final act, everything is laid out on the table and all elements of the story are resolved.

Writer: Christopher Priest Artists: Mike Manley, Mark Bright "Enemy of the State" wraps up the first year of Black Panther, Vol. 2 with an action-packed sequence of events that rival an Indiana Jones flick. All of the loose ends are tied up masterfully by writer Christopher Priest. The only complaint I have is a questionable choice of artists. While Mike Manley is certainly a capable penciller, his animation-style illustrations in #9 and 10 do not mesh well with the story. However, if the Black Panther were ever to become an animated series, Manley would be the guy to do the character designs. Fortunately, pinch hitter Mark Bright comes in for the final two installments of this story and does a beautiful job, perhaps the best work I've seen from him. "Enemy of the State" is best enjoyed if you've read the prior eight issues of the series. While the action scenes are well orchestrated and will be appreciated by any comics fan, this story is really meant to be the final act of a three-act play.

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