Black Panther: The Young Prince

The technological jungle that T’Challa invites the Fantastic Four to in the first two installments of this collection is a motif that introduces the theme of The Conflict Between Technology and Tradition. The jungle itself is designed to look as natural as possible, with machinery taking the form of branches, flowers, and even vines. This results in what at first appears to be a natural world. However, when the Fantastic Four observe more closely, they notice its mechanical, unnatural design:

The entire topography and flora are electronically-controlled mechanical apparatus! The very branches about us are composed of delicately-constructed wires...While the flowers which abound here are highly complex buttons and dials! (11).

The notion that technology and the natural world can be so seamlessly blended hints at the more serious conflict that exists between technology and tradition explored more closely in the later story arcs. By creating a mechanical jungle, T’Challa adapts his natural surroundings to better support and integrate the technology he brings to Wakandan society. In later issues of the comic, this idea of technology and tradition coexisting is explored not through the ways in which technology can shape the natural world but also how it can shape traditional society. While the jungle seems to be a seamless union, such developments as medicine and hospitals are not so successfully integrated together, leaving doubt and distrust among T’Challa’s people, who cannot achieve the harmony of the technological jungle.