Comik Bros

Black Panther Transforms into a Street Knight

After the espionage drama involving various sinister plots worldwide, T'Challa decided to abdicate the throne and accept a sentence of exile from his homeland, Wakanda. However, Black Panther believed that Wakanda still faced numerous threats, both internal and external. Thus, he made a secret decision to return to Wakanda, becoming a mysterious vigilante lurking in the shadows. On one hand, he hunted down emerging criminal forces to protect the kingdom, while on the other hand, he had to evade the law and authorities.

In short, the Black Panther chose to cosplay as the neighborhood's friendly Spider-Man.

The primary location for Black Panther's current operations is the city of Birnin T'Chaka, a relatively young city on the borders of Wakanda. Despite its relative prosperity, it received little attention from the royal family, to the extent that T'Challa was completely unfamiliar with it. This is precisely why he decided to visit. Here, he witnessed a peculiar paradox: although the basic needs of the people were being met, with everyone having food, clothing, and shelter, crime still persisted, and some individuals were trapped in dire circumstances within a seemingly abundant society. Determined to find answers and save the city named after his father, Black Panther embarked on a journey. Accompanying him on this quest is N'Yobi Umaru, a young lawyer and the son of a former royal advisor who served under the late King T'Chaka. N'Yobi will serve as T'Challa's guide through this familiar yet unfamiliar city.

This is the storyline for Black Panther 2023, issue 1.

FLASH OF 20 YEARS LATER

This version looks beautiful, but it doesn't have any other title besides Flash, so let's call it that for now. True to its name, this is a future version of The Flash Barry Allen, set 20 years ahead. In this future, Reverse Flash Daniel West accidentally caused an accident that resulted in Wallace's death instead of him becoming Kid Flash, and Iris became disabled. Instead of hastily running back to the past to fix it, this Barry decided to sit down and thoroughly investigate why he couldn't appear to prevent the accident. He discovered that the consequences of multiple time-traveling using the Speed Force had warped time, causing certain events to "drift" away from him, making him unable to intervene. The tragedy of the West family was just one of many incidents that Flash should have been there to stop, but due to the time distortion effect, he couldn't be present.

For many years thereafter, Barry tirelessly researched and developed a specialized tech suit not only to travel back in time and prevent accidents but also to repair the temporal anomalies within the timeline. With this new suit, Barry began running against the flow of time, intervening and fixing all the accidents he previously couldn't prevent. The years spent immersed in tragedy turned Barry ruthless and cold-blooded, sparing no hesitation to eliminate any threat he encountered during his time-traveling journeys to prevent future catastrophes. Old adversaries like Grodd, Mirror Master, Reverse Flash, and others were all given a one-way ticket to oblivion. When he arrived in the present, Future Barry decided to take the final step to stabilize the Speed Force... by sacrificing the present Barry (and if you wonder about the time paradoxes, the future Barry had already severed himself from the timeline, so he wouldn't be affected). However, the present Barry was saved by Wallace West, thanks to the intervention of Future Barry, which altered his future, allowing him to survive and become Kid Flash. Wallace realized that the future Barry's plan had a margin of error that could make things worse, so he ran back to the past to prevent the older Barry.

In the end, after a chaotic battle involving the three Speedsters, Wallace sacrificed himself to stabilize the Speed Force, ending the time distortion effect. The present Barry gained a free ticket for time travel, while the future Barry underwent a rejuvenation process and decided to live in the present as a replacement for the current Barry for a while.

However, the future Barry couldn't suppress his violent and cold-blooded nature, continuing to eliminate those who would become future criminals. This nearly ruined Flash's reputation, but luckily, the present Barry returned in time to salvage the situation. Subsequently, the future Barry sacrificed his life to protect the present from other enemies.

In terms of power, fundamentally, this older Barry is still Barry Allen and possesses all the abilities of a Speedster. However, 20 years of dedicated research have given him significant advantages over the present Barry. Firstly, his suit is equipped with technology specifically designed to counter Flash's enemies. It continuously calculates and gathers data from the Speed Force to perform time adjustments and can also regenerate body parts for Flash (in a battle, he once had his arm severed, but the suit immediately created a mechanical replacement to continue the fight). Secondly, the future Barry has become a master martial artist, honing his close combat skills from Lady Shiva, Batman, and Deathstroke. So, even though he may not be faster than the present Barry, he can effortlessly defeat his past self with a flick of his hand.

BATMAN FACES OFF AGAINST NEWMAZO

Newmazo's plan to capture Batman ultimately backfired in a significant way. Although Batman couldn't escape his confinement on his own, he managed to rally other imprisoned billionaires and mad scientists to form an alliance and devise a plan to destroy Ultramorpho's Kryptonite-infused body, thereby freeing Superman. Other superheroes from the Justice League also arrived to assist in the assault on Newmazo's stronghold, and Firestorm used his elemental manipulation powers to deliver the final blow to Ultramorpho, rescuing all the prisoners. Newmazo's plan was temporarily thwarted as a result.

It seems that Newmazo immediately recognized the threat posed by Batman and decided to eliminate him immediately. He copied shapeshifting abilities (possibly from Plastic Man?) to impersonate Supergirl and infiltrate the ranks of the heroes who came to assist, getting close to Batman. Then, taking advantage of the others being occupied with dealing with the dangers posed by the robot uprising that he initiated, Newmazo revealed his true form and unleashed his copied powers to overwhelm Batman.

According to Dr. T.O. Morrow, the only mad scientist not involved in this incident, he simulated a battle between Newmazo and every superhero on Earth, and Newmazo always emerged victorious. So, Batman will have to devise a plan on his own to escape this dire situation.

Reference: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest issue 16.

2. DARK SUPERGIRL

Dark Supergirl is a dark version of Supergirl created when Kara is exposed to Black Kryptonite by Lex Luthor. The story goes that Lex, guided by Darkseid, was given a chunk of Black Kryptonite, which was said to "reveal the true nature of Kryptonians," although in reality, it simply amplifies their evil tendencies or creates a dark counterpart. Lex used this opportunity to attack Supergirl, and due to Kara's momentary lapse, she was almost killed by Lex. However, instead of finishing her off, Lex decided to use the newly acquired Black Kryptonite. As a result of the influence of the Black Kryptonite, Supergirl's body underwent a transformation, donning a black costume and becoming Dark Supergirl. While Kara went to Earth to protect and care for Kal-El, Dark Kara believed that her true mission on Earth was to kill Kal-El and become the sole heir to Krypton's legacy.

Contrary to Lex's intentions, Dark Supergirl, although a corrupted version of Supergirl, did not harbor any fondness for someone who had just attempted to kill her. She immediately launched an attack on Lex. Unlike the original Supergirl, Dark Supergirl fought mercilessly, showing no mercy and taking extreme risks. Despite being injured by Lex's weapons, she fought back like a raging monster. Lex was left battered and had to seek help from the Justice League, although Dark Supergirl defeated almost the entire team (except the Trinity). Fortunately, the original Supergirl regained consciousness and rushed into a struggle with her dark counterpart, eventually bringing them both crashing down to Earth. At this moment, the Trinity also caught up and joined the battle. After a fierce fight, Wonder Woman managed to restrain both Supergirls with the Lasso of Truth and asked, "Who is Kara Zor-El?" This caused Dark Supergirl to merge back into the original body. Later, it was revealed that the implanted false memories of the mission to kill Superman led to the creation of Dark Supergirl as a consequence of Kryptonite poisoning from outer space before Kara arrived on Earth, with the intervention of a Monitor to test her.

Dark Supergirl was erased from existence thereafter, but there was another instance where Kara cosplayed as her dark counterpart to deceive a villain as a covert operative.