Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers #1: Review

The Black Panther is T’Chaka, father of T’Challa. The story takes place early in Cap’s career: he still has the triangular shield and the Howling Commandos have never heard of him. The indicia gives the title as BLACK PANTHER/CAPTAIN AMERICA: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS.

This limited series is a greatly enhanced retelling of Captain America's foray into Wakanda told in flashback in Black Panther(1998) #30. The original story slid easily into Cap's established continuity. This series is much more difficult to place. The original story was simple. This series has everything thrown in, including the kitchen sink. Note that the heads of Nazi soldiers on spikes is a detail taken from a 2-page version of the encounter in BP(2005)#1. In the original story there were no Nazis, costumed or otherwise. The original story occurred in either early 1941 or late 1940, before Cap met Bucky and was given his round shield, partly made from Wakandan vibranium. The range of dates doesn't indicate uncertainty in the sequence of Cap's appearances but depends on a choice of dating system, as I described in my Comments on BP#30. This series' place in Cap's history is more debatable. For instance he is accompanied by Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos. But accepted Marvel history (from SFHC#34 to Marvels Project #8) says Fury's friend Red Hargrove was killed at Pearl Harbor before the Howlers were formed. (Those two tellings diverge in other ways however. SFHC#34 says Fury joined the army with Red, MP#8 says he joined up after Red was killed.) So this series either says the Howlers were active before the US joined the war, or Cap didn't have any adventures with Bucky and the round shield until after Pearl Harbor. Incidentally the Howlers seem to have increased their numbers and ethnic diversity with a member called Jes?s. Note that a German scientist says they want vibranium to 'insure that a missile never gets knocked of its course', which was exactly Reed Richards reaction to learning of the properties of the metal in Fantastic Four #53.