The interstellar war hits home for T’Challa, the Black Panther when Wakanda comes under siege from alien forces and ancient magic, in EMPYRE: The Invasion of Wakanda. This June, Wakanda’s last defense against a plantlike colossus threatening the hidden nation is a towering, mecha-vibranium panther wrought in the semblance of the iconic protector of the realm. Writer Jim Zub and artist Lan Medina construct a monstrous tale of iron giants and creepy kaiju in the upcoming tie-in.
The epic EMPYRE event launches this April and the cosmic story arc spans several Marvel titles including Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, while the sustained invasion touches even more one-shots and miniseries such as Ghost Rider, the UK-based Union, Savage Avengers, and EMPYRE: Invasion of Wakanda. The incursion of Earth has begun and Wakanda is under siege from alien forces — with T’Challa in the ranks of Avengers fighting the war off-world, General Okoye and the Agents of Wakanda represent the vanguard of the resplendent nation’s resistance.
The formidable Wakanda is not without its defenses and T’Challa’s strategic and martial prowess is legendary. Yet, little might prepare the secretive sci-tech nation from the alien weapons and arcane forces being brought to bear against it in EMPYRE. The key to Wakanda’s wealth and the source of the realm’s advanced technology lies in the Great Vibranium Mound within their borders and, in EMPYRE: The Invasion of Wakanda, mysterious invaders set sights on their most valuable resource. With the Black Panther alongside the Avengers in the greater war in space, the defense of Wakanda falls to manifold talents of General Okoye, super-scientist Shuri, The Wasp, Fat Cobra, the Immortal Weapon, Gorilla-Man, and the larval Broo of the alien Brood.
June solicitations for Marvel Comics’ newest titles highlight artist Dustin Weaver’s cover for EMPYRE: Invasion of Wakanda, depicting a staggering clash of the titans, as a tendriled kaiju battles a panther-mech in the midst of the Golden City. The Mecha-Kanda Panther, a sleek, mobile weapons platform of massive proportions, wields the trademark claws of the Black Panther and what might be dubbed wings — glowing rings similar to Stark Industries repulsor-tech with luminous pinions radiating out from its armored form. Like Marvel’s fabled Shogun Warriors, the giant robots Raydeen, Combatra, and Danguard Ace, Mechagodzilla from IDW’s Godzilla: Half-Century War, and the legendary defender Voltron seen in the pages of Devil’s Due Publishing and Dynamite Entertainment, the immense Mecha-Kanda Panther tangles with a plant-like monstrosity as a shaken city crumbles around them.
