Black Panther #9

[Cable]

After his big opening story, Ridley now begins a second arc

Full Spoilers:

Spoiler: show

Black Panther is expressing to Steve Rogers how life is meaningless and this causes Cap to question whether T'Challa is in the right mental state to be leading the Avengers. Cap asks about what caused Black Panther to be absent the past couple months but T'Challa says nothing. Thor interrupts this uncomfortable conversation by saying something very odd is going on outside. Captain Marvel comes in to say the same and they all go see it. I will try to explain what is here: what looks like a ghostly group of figures floating in the sky, one a man in a nice suit sitting on an elephant and he is speaking through an 'interpreter' that is an identical but smaller puppet version of that man in a nice suit sitting on a likewise miniature elephant, and those two surrounded by beautiful space alien ladies dancing with fans while speaking an unknown dialect that if understood would show they are asking for help and to be free. You get all that? He calls himself the Colonialist and apologizes for the earlier incident in which feral monsters attacked Iceland. He thought that the large area of the Earth meant nobody would mind if his 'cattle' grazed in that 'useless' area. He now asks for proper permission for thousands of his feral monsters to graze on Earth, to which Black Panther of course give hims a no. Colonialist apologizes again and exits through a portal, though the Avengers think they have not seen the last of this strange being. They need a plan on how to handle the monsters if they return because previously they were unkillable and only defeated by Dr. Strange teleporting them away. Strange is now unfortunately dead. T'Challa says he should be able to recreate the waveform used because the suits the Avengers wear have vibranium in them and the pattern would imprint on it. He gets to work on that but the others have to go into action because Captain Marvel detects Colonialist's energy signature reappearing in My Large Intestine, Texas. After they are gone T'Challa contacts Shuri who says that vibranium would not normally record mystic energy like this. He tells her now is not the time to ask questions and she agrees to help him. Over in Texas the Avengers find The Colonialist on a plantation with his monsters in a pen. He admits he lied to them but appeals to their sense of greed for a payoff. This does not work so Colonialist releases his monsters. The Avengers prepare to try to stop the creatures but to make matters worse come under fire from soldiers in uniforms that are over 100 years out of date yet have guns capable of piercing vibranium. They call themselves the Colonial Volunteer Auxiliary Reserve Expeditionary Fighting Force Fourth Battalion. While the Avengers fight these guys, Black Panther now arrives with the wave amplifier to stop the monsters but before he can he gets attacked by the Buffalo Soldier, a black man straight out of the wild west complete with a massive bison as his mount and a repeating rifle that also shoots through T'Challa's vibranium!

This is some weird shit lol. The villain is so bad that it's ridiculous but you are compelled to watch because it is all remarkably gonzo. And the issue isn't silly; it opens with a very serious discussion between Black Panther and Cap. But then they also go to a town improbably named My Large Intestine and jokes ensue. It is all just an unusual turn from the very down-to-earth nature of the opening arc. I feel like I gotta keep reading to see how this madness shakes out