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Saturday 24 February 2018

Godzilla: The Kaiju in the Shadow of History

Gojira
Since his debut in 1954's Gojira Godzilla has remained a hallmark of popular culture. From fighting King Kong to space aliens to stomping through model cities Godzilla has a certain perception in the media. However, Godzilla has his origins in a dark part of Japan's history. When we watch the later Godzilla movies we often forget how dark and foreboding the first movie was - after all when Godzilla is destroying Tokyo a mother clutches her sons saying 'We'll be with daddy soon'. Since 1954 Godzilla has represented fears of both the past and future. 

Japan Before Godzilla
The ruins of Hiroshima
In 1945 Japan's attempt at empire came crashing down. On 16 July 1945 years of work as part of the Manhattan Project succeeded in creating the most destructive weapon in human history: the nuclear bomb. On August 6 the destructive potential of the bomb was shown to the world when 'Little Boy' was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later another, 'Fat Man', was dropped on Nagasaki. A brief flash of bright light precipitated a loud boom and firestorm which tore through the two cities. Twelve square kilometers of Hiroshima and 30% of its population were wiped out by the fires of Little Boy. Meanwhile, Nagasaki burnt as winds pushed the bomb's fires through the city, but due to the lack of fuel density which Hiroshima had no firestorm occurred in Nagasaki. Thanks to the two bombs somewhere between 129,000 and 226,000 people were killed - most of whom were civilians. Despite the destruction of two cities in such a manner it would take until the obliteration of the Kwantung army by the Soviet Union for Japan to surrender.

After Japan's surrender until 1952 Japan was occupied in theory by the Allied powers, but in reality it was just the United States - it can also be argued that as the US has military bases on Okinawa the Occupation is still happening. The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), George MacArthur, oversaw a radical shift in Japanese society, aided by Japanese officials themselves, to ensure that Japan would never be a threat to primarily the US again. As mentioned Japanese officials often aided SCAP with the Occupation; for example, many politicians were in favor of Article 9 of the Constitution which prevents Japan from declaring war or holding an official army (although the Self-Defense Force is an army in all but name). We could easily devote an entire post to the Occupation but for discussing Godzilla we need to look at one thing in particular: censorship.
SCAP had this image of MacArthur with Emperor Hirohito distributed The Japanese press tried to censor it but SCAP overrode them
Censorship was a current during the Occupation. At first SCAP authorities, and Japanese officials, applied censorship only to Japan's imperial past where texts which venerated the empire, and to an extent the emperor, were heavily censored. Although it must be noted that freedom of expression did increase under the Occupation. One key example of SCAP's censoring is the censoring of textbooks. Since 1868 Japan had focused heavily on schools and had used them to basically indoctrinate children. Until new textbooks could be printed entire sections of existing textbooks were blotted out! SCAP was fearful of criticisms of the Allies and the Occupation as criticisms could allow the increase in support for the old Japan, or possibly garner support for communism which had become a major issue for the US in East Asia - especially after the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. As a result negative discussion of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were censored, and when it was discussed it wasn't treated particularly seriously. For example, the 1952 movie Never Forget the Song of Nagasaki features the bombing as a side-note to romance story where a beautiful hibakusha (survivor of a nuclear bomb) overcomes her hatred of Americans when she falls in love with a kind GI. Only after the end of Occupation did criticism of the bombings happen.

Godzilla's Origin
On 1 March 1954 the US tested a new thermonuclear weapon in the Bikini Atoll in the present-day Marshall Islands. The fallout through unexpected weather spread outside the danger zone and into the path of a tuna trawler named Lucky Dragon 5. The crew of the trawler were exposed to radiation and the radio operator, Kuboyama Aikichi, died of the poisoning which caused Japan to go into panic. Soon memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came to the forefront and fears over nuclear bombs permeated every section of society. Things were amplified a year later when 12-year old Sadako Sasaki from Hiroshima died of leukemia caused by the nuclear bomb. With memories of the bombs circulating in Japan director Tanaka Tomoyuki became inspired. Tanaka had seen the movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms - a movie about a monster freed from the Arctic ice by nuclear weapons and then went on to attack New York - and had wanted to make his own kaiju (giant monster) movie. He had been in Jakarta trying to get the Indonesian government to release an Indonesian-Japanese movie about the Japanese occupation (which he failed to get approved), and when flying back home he imagined making a movie where a sea monster rose from the depths to attack Japan like the Rhedosaurus in 20,000 Fathoms. This idea blended with the news of the Lucky Dragon 5 to create Gojira. Director Honda Ishiro was brought on board and soon cinematic history would be made.
Godzilla as a mushroom cloud
Godzilla was initially envisioned to be a gorilla-whale hybrid and his Japanese name was meant to be a mixture of the Japanese of 'gorilla' and 'whale' (gorira and kujira) but it was changed to be a dinosaur mutated by American bomb tests. Gojira's design was heavily inspired by recent memories of nuclear warfare. His head was constructed was so that at certain angles it would resemble a mushroom cloud and his scales were meant to resemble the burns caused by the bomb on hibakusha. When Godzilla marched around he emitted radiation and the opening of the movie a boat with 'No.5' on the side is destroyed in a white blast. The movie also focuses on dead tuna, poisoned by Godzilla's radiation, as a metaphor for what was happening in Japan. Following the Lucky Dragon 5 Incident Japan faced a tuna shortage as the government banned fishing in case irradiated fish went onto the markets. Finally, Gojira's destruction of Tokyo resembled the destruction caused by American bombing of Japan's cities during the Second World War. Gojira is only killed by an even more destructive weapon than the nuclear bomb, the oxygen destroyer, and its creator went down with the weapon to avoid its secret getting out. When Gojira was released in the US, under the name Godzilla: King of Monsters!, it was heavily edited for an American audience (something common at the time). However, distributors feared a backlash thanks to the movie's allegories so cut out most of the references to nuclear bombs and the Second World War - over thirty minutes were cut out of a ninety-six minute long movie. Despite this Godzilla's fame erupted in both the US and Japan, but this would not be the last Godzilla movie to feature allegories and metaphors.

Allegories since '54
During the 1960s and 1970s the Godzilla franchise was geared firmly at a family audience with Godzilla becoming a friendly defender of humanity represented by a man (Nakajima Haruo) in a rubber suit. 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah largely continued this trend but decided to adopt a darker tone as it brought in the issues of the 1970s. Other than the LSD-inspired party, with a random cat, vs. Hedorah features a major issue of the 1970s: environmentalism. One of the movements to come from the 1960s was environmentalism and many were inspired to act by Rachel Carson's warning about DDT in Silent Spring. The 1970s green politics started to become a factor and if a green party didn't exist there would be significant support for it among the public. Japan's industrial economy proved to be a fertile breeding ground for green politics and environmentalism. Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture was known for high rates of asthma caused by air pollution. Hedorah was a kaiju from space which grew to gigantic proportions by feasting on Japan's pollution. Later, in 1984's The Return of Godzilla Godzilla once again came to represent nuclear fears. In the 1980s Ronald Reagan was president and with him came a conservative campaign built on intense anti-communism. Reagan took a hard stance against the Soviet Union and at times of his early presidency there were genuine fears that nuclear war would break out; it is no surprise that this was shown in the media with 99 Luftballons by Nena and the movie WarGames being released around this time. In Return Godzilla destroys a Soviet submarine which almost escalates to nuclear war when the US is blamed for it. Meanwhile, in the 1990s reaction against nuclear power started growing, especially in Japan, and this was again shown in Godzilla vs. Desotroyah. In this movie it is revealed that Godzilla's heart is a biological nuclear reactor and is going into meltdown which potentially could destroy life on Earth. Several nuclear incidents during the 1980s and 1990s had turned many against nuclear energy with 1986's Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine hitting many with the fear that nuclear energy could potentially wipe out humanity. In Japan this blended with memories of 1945 and 1954, and then again in Godzilla.
Godzilla going into meltdown
Since the 1980s memory in Japan has shifted. By the 1980s the generation which grew up under the militaristic/fascistic governments of the 1930s and 1940s started coming to prominence in society, and this mixed with virtual uninterrupted rule of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party since 1947. Since the 1980s casting Japan as a victim of the Second World War, something which began in the 1950s according to historian James Orr, began more and more mainstream. Among this was the ongoing textbooks controversy where Japan's war crimes, including the Rape of Nanjing and 'comfort women' (women forced to be sex slaves for the military), became downplayed or overlooked. Hiroshima and Nagasaki became symbols of Japanese victimhood, although nothing was done to actually help surviving hibakusha. A virtual culture war over history is still going on in Japan comparable to the memory of the Confederacy in the US, Churchill in the UK, or the History Wars in Australia. Vitriolic debates between sections of society who wished to downplay/whitewash Japan's role in World War Two, and those who argues that it should be acknowledged. This is still happening: the current prime minister, Abe Shinzo, is firmly on the denial side. Godzilla eventually waded into this debate, and then very firmly on one side. In 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack the new Godzilla is actually the souls of all those who died thanks to Japan during World War Two which are seeking revenge for Japan's denial of its past. 
Godzilla in GMK
Finally, we have the two most recent movies: the Gareth Edwards' Godzilla (2014) and Shin-Gojira (2016). Quite interestingly Godzilla mixes Godzilla's fictional origin with his real-world origin: the 1954 thermonuclear tests were really an attempt to kill Godzilla. Edwards treats Godzilla as a force of nature and watching the aftermath of the San Francisco battle stark images of Hurricane Katrina can be seen. People queue for medical aid, water damaged buildings are seen everywhere, and thousands wait in stadiums for aid. Like Katrina Godzilla is a force of nature which humanity cannot hope to match. Shin-Gojira treats Gojira as both a force of nature and humanity's mistake. Memories of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 caused by the earthquake is evoked in Shin-Gojira. Gojira evolves rapidly causing a wave of destruction like an earthquake that emits radiation. The endless meetings and quibbling of bureaucrats in the movie is reminiscent to the government's lethargic reaction to Fukushima. One can read Shin-Gojira as an either left-wing movie or a right-wing one. Military attacks on Gojira make matters worse, (especially US intervention), the government (heavily based on the Liberal Democrats) are portrayed as being more concerned about their own position than the loss of human life, and that Japan's greatest threat is itself. Meanwhile, continued international (i.e. US) intervention is needed to ensure Gojira doesn't return, the Self-Defense force are the ones to defeat Gojira, and the movie definitely lacks the anti-war message of 1954's Gojira. Abe Shinzo has even praised the supposed nationalism in Shin-Gojira

Over sixty years after Godzilla's debut he has consistently represented the fears of the day and memory of the past. From the ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the Fukushima disaster Godzilla has always been the kaiju in the shadow of history.

Thank you for reading. For future blog updates please check out our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby. The sources I have used are as follows:
-Jason Barr, The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema's Biggest Monsters, (Jefferson: McFarland & Co, 2016)
-William Tsutsui, Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
-James Orr, The Victors as Hero: Ideologies of Peace and National Identity in Postwar Japan, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001)
-Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
-John Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Aftermath of World War II, (London: Penguin, 2000)

Friday 9 February 2018

Comics Explained: Venom (Eddie Brock)

Venom
Yesterday, as of writing, Sony released a teaser trailer for their new upcoming movie Venom set to be released in October 2018. This movie is not associated with the MCU despite Venom being one of Spider-Man's greatest foes. Venom is personally one of my favorite Marvel villains, just after Ultron and Dr Doom, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the version of Venom which we'll be seeing on the big screen: the Eddie Brock version. Eddie Brock was the first to bear the title of Venom and he is one of two people to be considered the best Venom, the other being Flash Thompson. Despite only appearing as Venom in 1988 Eddie Brock has had a huge publication history, so today we'll only go over certain aspects of his history.

First Appearance of the Suit
The first appearance of the black suit
Venom first appeared in Marvel comics as an alternate version of Spider-Man's suit. In Amazing Spider-Man #252 Spider-Man suddenly appeared in a black suit just before the Secret Wars event. It was in Secret Wars #8 that we got the origin of Spider-Man's black suit. During this event, (which involved many heroes and villains being transported to Battleworld), Spider-Man's suit became damaged so he went to a machine which, according to the Hulk, could create clothing via thought. When he sees the machine a black glob attaches to his suit and spreads across his body forming the now iconic black suit. As Spider-Man had been thinking about the design of Spider-Woman's suit it changed to replicate that, and he also found out that it could mimic street clothing as well as produce webbing. What meant to be an interesting design choice ended up infuriating fans who loathed the new suit design. So much so that in Amazing Spider-Man #258 they got rid of it. Speaking to the Fantastic Four it was revealed that the glob was a sentient being which wanted to permanently bond with Peter Parker but it was also weak to loud sounds and heat. It turned out that the Fantastic Four failed to rid his suit of the symbiote so in Web of Spider-Man #1 Parker went to a church where he used the bells to create enough sound to rid the symbiote. However, by this point the fans had grown to like the suit design so the writers had Black Cat make him a cloth variant which he used interchangeably. 

Marvel has also given an in-universe origin of the symbiote itself. In several stories we found out aspects of the symbiote's life before Battleworld. The symbiotes were an asexual parasitic lifeform from the planet Klyntar which would bond with a host. These parasites would give the host powers but the symbiotes would slowly drain them of their adrenaline until they died. In Venom Super Special #1 it was revealed that after several hosts the Venom symbiote refused to drain the life of its host so, as a result, was seen as an aberration contaminating the gene pool. The symbiote was imprisoned until its prison was incorporated into Battleworld where its first host was actually Deadpool as apart of one of his zany adventures.

Eddie Brock
Brock was made by David Michelinie and Todd MacFarlane, someone who would later go on to create Spawn. Eddie Brock's origin was explained in a short series called Venom: Dark Origin and Venom:Lethal Protector. Eddie's mother died giving birth to him so as a result his devout Catholic father never bonded with his son and kept his distance. He was so devoid of his father's affection that he would steal items from classmates and then return them pretending he had 'found' the missing item in hope this could make him their friend. Brock decided to go into journalism and became a reporter. He thought he got a hot scoop when someone claiming to be the serial killer Sin-Eater offered to do an interview. Quickly the story hit headlines but his fame soon came crashing down. Spider-Man captured the actual Sin-Eater and the man whom Brock had interviewed turned out to be an impostor. Brock was fired and was forced to become a tabloid journalist. Shortly after his wife left him, he became diagnosed with cancer, and went into a spiral of depression. Brock started bodybuilding to exorcise his depression and anger, but nothing could shake his hatred of Spider-Man who had allowed his life to get into this state. Eventually, he went to pray at the same church where Parker had rid the symbiote and it was attracted to Brock. With a shared burning hatred of Spider-Man and Brock's physique through bodybuilding made him the perfect host for the symbiote.
Spider-Man trying to get rid of the suit
Venom's actual first appearance had a big build-up. However, Michelinie never originally intended to have Brock be Venom. Instead Venom was meant to be a woman. Michelinie has since stated his very dark origin for her; a pregnant woman has her husband flag a cab but as the car driver is distracted seeing Spider-Man fighting a villain hits the husband killing him. The woman goes into labor but the baby tragically dies. After briefly losing her mind she blames Spider-Man and then encounters the symbiote. When Michelinie had Venom sneak up on Parker several times in Web of Spider-Man. One time she pushed Parker onto a subway line just as the train was coming. Marvel editors thought fans wouldn't believe that a woman would be a physical threat to Spider-Man so Michelinie invented Brock and made him a body-builder. Venom would finally make his appearance over three issues in The Amazing Spider-Man #298 to #300. #298 has a figure in shadow observing him and the reader can see something black covering his hands. #299 in the last panel Venom appears and frightens Mary Jane setting up #300 where we go over Venom's origins, and they fight. Since then Venom has gone from villain to anti-hero flicking between the two regularly. Thanks to the symbiote Brock also knows that Parker is Spider-Man. Due to how many appearances Venom has made we'll go over a few major ones today.
First Appearance

The Rise of Carnage
Venom v Carnage
Carnage is Marvel's Joker and is one of my other favorite Marvel villains, (you can tell I really like Marvel's symbiotes). In The Amazing Spider-Man #333 the symbiote seemingly died but in reality it went into a comatose state. When it woke it returned to Brock, who was in prison, which he then used to break out. However, the symbiote asexually reproduced during the break out and its offspring attached itself to Brock's cellmate: Celtus Kasady. Kasady was made by Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley with him being a more darker version of the already dark Venom. Kasady was a sadistic serial killer who had an insatiable blood lust and bonded with Venom's brood they became Carnage. Unlike Venom which regularly uses plural pronouns to refer to themselves, Carnage considers itself one entity. Regretting allowing a psychopath like Kasady to get hold of a symbiote Venom teams up with Spider-Man to bring him down before turning on one another. Carnage has since been another one of Spider-Man's main villains.

Lethal Protector and Maximum Carnage
When Brock saw Spider-Man save his ex-wife Ann from a collapsing ferris wheel it made the villain try and do good. He moved back to San Francisco - where he had grew up - and decided to become the lethal protector of an underground homeless society. This became the plot of 1993's Venom: Lethal Protector by Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley. Venom would fight and lethally deal with those who threaten them. However, a corporate survivalist group named the Life Foundation captured Venom hoping to use the symbiotes for their own advantage. They successfully extracted five symbiotes, attached them to hosts, and released them into San Francisco to commit violence to test their abilities. Spider-Man headed to San Francisco where he teamed up with an escaped Venom where the two seemingly destroyed the symbiotes and the facility. Later in a fourteen issue series with Spider-Man Unlimited #1 the 'Maximum Carnage' story happened. When being moved to a new prison the symbiote inside Kasady reawakened allowing him to slaughter his guards and move onto New York. There he recruits a group of followers and they begin wrecking havoc. Feeling guilty in indirectly creating Carnage Venom returns to Manhattan, but Spider-Man refused his help for his violent actions. However, in the end Spider-Man had no choice but to fight with Brock where they finally defeated Carnage.

Other Hosts
Agent Venom
Eddie Brock isn't the only Venom host. His ex-wife Ann briefly was a host. Ann was shot by the new Sin-Eater so he gave her the symbiote to heal, but it started controlling her and she killed two muggers with it. Eventually Brock regained the symbiote. After 2004 Brock tried to get rid of the symbiote, although he still has hallucinations of it, and the symbiote bonded with Mac Gargan. Gargan was originally the villain Scorpion but adopted the symbiote in 2005's Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9 after being enticed by the prospect of more power. However, Gargan was weaker than Brock and Spider-Man found it easier to beat him - Spider-Man believed this to be the fact that Gargan hated Spider-Man a lot less than Brock did. Unlike with Brock the symbiote had more control causing Gargan to become more violent and even cannibalistic, the symbiote made Gargan eat the Iron Spider's hand. The last host which we'll look at is a fan favorite: Flash Thompson. Flash was Peter Parker's bully but they eventually reconciled, and Flash went on to serve in the army which cost him his legs. In a government attempt to control Venom it was given to Flash who turned into Agent Venom. As Flash refused to kill the symbiote started to stop wanting to kill and began to have a genuine strong bond with Flash. In the recent Marvel Legends publications when the symbiote got a new host it refused to let him kill and tried to escape him to be with Flash. 

Anti-Venom and Return
Anti-Venom
Despite rejecting the symbiote Brock still had aspects of the symbiote in his blood. With his cancer killing him Brock decided to die quietly doing something good and continued helping the homeless by working in a homeless shelter. However, the owner turned out to be Mister Negative and when Negative touched Brock on the shoulder his powers awakened the symbiote in Brock's blood and cured his cancer. In The Amazing Spider-Man #569 in 2008 Mac Gargan was hunting Spider-Man and sensed a former host. Believing this to be Spider-Man he burst into the homeless shelter and attacked Brock. Coming into contact with the current Venom caused the symbiote in his blood to violently react turning Brock into the Anti-Venom. He would continue his Lethal Protector style of being an anti-hero violently killing drug dealers and he even formed an alliance with the Punisher. In 2012 he became the new Toxin, a symbiote born from Carnage, where he tried to destroy the Venom symbiote.

In Venom Vol. 3 #1 the symbiote gained a new host in the form of gangster Lee Price. In #6 Brock agreed to help the FBI and Spider-Man in separating Price from the symbiote. He succeeded and became Venom once more after a period of over ten years. Meanwhile, in Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Alpha #1 Flash hoped to regain the symbiote and it did try to return to Flash. However, Flash in the process became the new Anti-Venom.

That is a broad outline of the Venom version of Eddie Brock's history. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. For future blog posts please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.

Sunday 4 February 2018

Comics Explained: Wakanda

Wakanda
Black Panther is my favorite Marvel hero so I am currently very excited for Black Panther which will be released in the UK very soon. Judging by the trailers a huge section of the movie seems to be set in Wakanda which, of course, is a fictional place. Hence, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the country of Wakanda.

Real World Origins
Wakanda's First Appearance
Wakanda first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 alongside the Black Panther itself in a story by Stan Lee in 1966. In this story T'Challa invites the Fantastic Four to Wakanda, and then defeats them in a test to see how good they are. For years comic books had been trying to be more progressive but had been shackled by the intense discrimination of the United States. After de jure racial discrimination had mostly ended in 1965 thanks to the Civil Rights movement comic books could move from allegories, such as the X-Men, to actually including minorities. Africa was going through a period of time which historian Martin Meredith described as an 'African Renaissance'. The European colonies by 1966 had been winning their independence and were being led by energetic and charismatic leaders like Julius Nyerere and Jomo Kenyatta. These new states experienced a boom in literature, had access to a mountain of resources, and with the discovery of Lucy the Australopithecus had the added pride of being the place where humanity originated. Lee and Marvel blended the end to legal racial hatred with Africa's bright future to create the Black Panther and Wakanda. 

Wakanda- Basics
An early map of Wakanda
One thing Marvel has been consistent about Wakanda is its location. Wakanda is in East Africa normally bordering Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Sudan, however, for its fictional countries Marvel is often vague about locations. The above map is from Marvel Atlas #2 which features several other fictional countries but that's the only time this version of Wakanda has really been shown. All other depictions have been consistent in showing Wakanda as being around Kenya and Ethiopia. Birnin Zana is the capital and also the largest city. Wakanda also happens to be the richest country in the world with Rob at ComicsExplained estimating the GDP, here, to be higher than the GDP of the rest of the world. The reason for this is due to vibranium, the metal which makes up Captain America's shield, and is worth about $10,000 per gram. Black Panther's father, T'Chaka, made Wakanda so wealthy by selling vibranium abroad, and when T'Challa became king he altered the trading policy to ensure that vibranium would only be sold to people with 'good intentions'. The profits from vibranium sales were funneled back into Wakanda where the profits were invested into health, education, and science. As a result, Wakanda is not only one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, (Dr. Doom's country Latveria may be the only other country to rival Wakanda in advancement), but also one of the most educated. Wakanda even has a cure for cancer but refuses to share it as it would be sold for profit, and one counselor in Black Panther Vol.4 #3 said 'If they care about their people's health they wouldn't sell them cigarettes'. They even split the atom around fifty years before the rest of the world did!

Politics
Wakanda is a monarchy under a king who takes the mantle of the Black Panther. T'Challa is the current Black Panther and his father was the previous one. The Black Panther is in charge of protecting Wakanda from outside forces which wishes to destroy or exploit it. Black Panther originally only joined the Avengers in order to spy on them in case they were a threat to Wakanda. However, the role of the Black Panther isn't hereditary and anyone in theory can become the Black Panther. To become the Panther one must first eat the heart-shaped root, a plant native to only Wakanda which Wakandans viewed as a gift from their god. If the consumer doesn't die they can go onto the next stage. In the past it was believed that if they died it was due to god being displeased but now they know that it is due to the vibranium in the root itself which can kill people. Survivors then go on to fight several of Wakanda's best fighters and if they win they become king. A current ruling Black Panther can be challenged for the position as well.
T'Challa with the Dora Milaje
Wakanda is still very tribal with the eighteen main tribes being represented in the Taifa Ngao in a sort of parliament. There's also the Black Panther's royal guard called the Dora Milaje. Centuries ago this guard was founded as a way for not showing favoritism to one tribe. Each tribe would hand over one girl to be trained to become the best bodyguard that she could be, and one would eventually be chosen as the king's wife. T'Chaka saw this as outdated and abolished it, but T'Challa brought them back with a twist. The Dora Milaje would still be loyal to the Black Panther but not in a potentially romantic way. After all he married Storm of the X-Men who is Kenyan. T'Challa turned the Dora Milaje into the world's fiercest, and best, fighting force with them knowing just about all fighting styles from across the world. 

For centuries Wakanda had been isolationist and to an extent under T'Challa, who ended the isolation, it still is. As mentioned earlier it refuses to share the cure for cancer, but at the same time it refuses to share its technology. Wakanda sent satellites into space in the 1950s to make sure the USA and USSR wouldn't challenge them, for example. T'Challa was even the first Wakandan to have an education outside of Wakanda - although Wakanda has one of the best education systems in the world, which is also free, so now there isn't really any need. Largely, Black Panther only takes part in the superhero community to see if they threaten Wakanda. Not all Wakandans accept the end of isolation with the Desturi being an example. The Desturi is a xenophobic, ultra-conservative group who strongly oppose the end of isolation.

Religion
The Panther Cult
Religion is very interesting in Wakanda. Wakandan religion evolved from Egyptian religion but the strange thing in Marvel comics all religions are real, and for the most part the gods are extremely powerful magical beings, like Odin and Thor. Each god has their own cult with the Panther Cult, worshiping Bast, being the main and largest one. Due to the Panther Cult we have the Black Panther. In the past the Lion Cult worshiping Sekhmet was the largest as Sekhmet would appear to all its followers, not just the priests, but over the years the Panther Cult became more popular. Sobek of the Crocodile Cult had a large following but has declined. Finally, the last major cult is that of Ghekre, the White Gorilla. In Wakanda there are white gorillas whose evolution was influenced by vibranium so when people ate white gorilla flesh they would get powers. However, doing so made them violent so the Wakandans outlawed the cult until years later when Man-Ape revived it. 

History
Wakanda had its roots 10,000 years ago. A meteorite full of vibranium crashed in what would become Wakanda. A local tribe led by Bashenga went to investigate and the vibranium caused several warriors to mutate into 'Demon Spirits'. Bashenga prayed to Bast to help defeat the Spirits who ended up granting him powers, and Bashenga became the first Black Panther. Over the centuries different dynasties holding the Black Panther mantle would rise and fall with the occasional invasion by outside forces including Romans, Crusaders, and European colonizers. A Belgian colonel who invaded to add Wakanda to Belgium's Congo empire was so thoroughly defeated that his soldiers brought what remained of him back to Belgium - an easy task seen as it was just his foot in a boot left. 
Captain America getting beaten by T'Challa's grandfather in 1941
In 1941 the Nazis attempted to invade Wakanda to seize hold of the Vibranium deposits but Captain America, with his original shield, went to aid the Black Panther and his son T'Chaka. T'Chaka was impressed by Cap' and gave him some vibranium which would then become his new shield. Under T'Chaka Wakanda would slowly start opening to the outside world with him selling small quantities of vibranium, however, a company called the Bilderburg Group wanted it all. They sent mercenaries under a man named Klaw, played by Andy Serkis in the MCU, to overthrow T'Chaka and seize the vibranium. Klaw would go on to kill T'Chaka but he would be defeated by T'Challa who cut off his hand (instead of Ultron in the MCU). T'Chaka's brother, S'Yun, would serve as Black Panther until T'Challa became of age when he went through the ritual of eating the heart-shaped herb and challenging S'Yun's best fighters. This brings us up to the modern day comics.

Thank you for reading and please leave any comments. For future blog posts please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby