Base of Operations: across the USA?, based out of Georgia

Aliases: Circle of the Dragon, Cult of the Dragon Circle, Soldiers of the Dragon Circle, Dragon Cult, Dragon Soldiers;
Spiritual Light Society (SLS)

First Appearance: Jungle Action#19 (January, 1976)

History: The Dragon Circle is a cult of unknown origin, who diverged from the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) at some point.

The Dragon Circle somehow evolved into a racially diverse organization, more interested in political power than the Klan's racial and religious views (according to the story, the Klan was also originally more about politics). It was taken over by the Reverend, Addison Blackburn. The Reverend had a number of members of the Dragon Circle infiltrate the KKK to keep him informed of their plans and activities.

(Marvel Premiere#52(fb))-The Reverend recruited the prison inmate Hector Santiago, whom they outfitted to become Windeagle.

(JungAct#21(fb))-Angela Lynne investigated the crooked real estate deals in which the Dragon Circle were involved. A gun went off and she was found dead. The Reverend is apparently the culprit of this murder.

(JungAct#19)-Members of the Dragon Circle ambushed, and apparently intended to kill Monica Lynne, as she visited the grave of her sister, Angela. The members were fought off by Monica, and her on-and-off lover, the Black Panther (with the added assistance of Kevin Trublood). The cult members were soon released on bail paid by a wealthy backer (presumably the Reverend).
That night, the home of the Lynne family was unintentionally simultaneously attacked by members of the Dragon Circle, and the KKK. The Black Panther drove off both organizations, who sought to torch the house.

(Jungle Action#20, 21)-Members of the Dragon Circle assaulted Monica and the Black Panther in a local grocery store, which increased the distrust the local citizenry had for the costumed Panther. After recovering, the Panther invaded a meeting of the KKK, who attacked him, and succeeded in overpowering him by strength of numbers. They tied him to a cross which they set afire.
He eventually broke free and escaped, but was hospitalized for a few weeks, recovering from his injuries. He later appeared at a KKK rally, where he was again attacked. This time he fought off his attackers.

(Jungle Action#22)-Jessica Lynne related the story of Caleb Lynne to the Black Panther. Lloyd and Monica, and Kevin Trublood were also present.

(Jungle Action#24(fb))-The Black Panther questioned Leroy Carter, and then Ambrose Ellis, about Angela's death. Afterwards, he was attacked by Windeagle, who was sent by the Reverend to attack him. The struggle continued for a short time until Dragon Circle members rammed the Panther with their car, and they captured him.

(Jungle Action#24)-The Panther was tied to a water wheel, apparently as part of some kind of James Bond-leave them to die, so they can escape and foil your plans-scheme. The Panther broke freed, but was again subdued by Windeagle and the Dragon Circle

(Marvel Premiere#53(fb))-The Panther was taken to the Dragon Circle's headquarters, where the Reverend attempted to brainwash him into joining them. T'Challa's will proved to be too strong for them to overcome, but they did succeed in submerging his memories of all of the recent events. He lost all memory of the Dragon Circle, and even his sometime lover Monica, and headed off on a separate mission.

(Black Panther I#14, 15)-Monica Lynne and Kevin Trublood traveled to New York to find the Panther. They were trailed by Windeagle.

(MarvPrem51)-Windeagle attacked the Black Panther at the Wakandan consulate. He was defeated and contained. Monica and Kevin confronted the Black Panther, and helped him realize that part of his memory had been repressed. Windeagle broke free and attacked again, but he was shot and killed by an unidentified sniper.

(MarvPrem52)-After learning the past of Windeagle, the Panther, Trublood, Monica, and Omoro Kaysbe were trailed by members of the Dragon Circle. The Panther picked up on this and led them to a lumberyard, where they defeated the men. The last of the involved members was slain by an unknown sniper. The Panther found a KKK card on the dead cultist, and investigated a KKK rally, where he was confronted and attacked by the mysterious Soul Strangler. The Strangler vanished after a short battle, and the Panther escaped from a mob of angry Klansmen.

(MarvPrem53)-The Reverend declared war on the KKK, but after his meeting with the rest of the Dragon Circle broke up, he was confronted by several Klansmen. They took him deeper into the swamp, and planned to execute him, but reality changed around them, and they seemed to be back in 1867, at the home of Caleb Lynne. Both the Reverend and the Klansmen watched in astonishment as the Panther, who had been trailing the Reverend, battled and defeated the Soul Strangler. The Panther then subdued and brought in the Reverend and the Klansmen. The Reverend and his involvement were exposed, and he was sent to prison. Some members of the Dragon Cult turned evidence on other members, and the cult apparently broke up.

COMMENTS: Created by Don McGregor and Billy Graham.

This collected story is referred to as "The Panther vs the Klan." There are 10 parts to it.
Jungle Action#23 reprinted Daredevil I#69, due to a missed deadline. The story continued in Jungle Action#24.

Changing writer syndrome. McGregor's plot was dropped when Jungle Action was discontinued, and the Panther went off in a new direction under Kirby in the original Black Panther (see the current Black Panther for a continuation on that saga. You will NOT be disappointed). Jerry Bingham and Gene Day touched on it in the last two issues of the Black Panther, at which point it continued in the Marvel Premiere series, under Ed Hannigan and Jerry Bingham.
The second to last issue of the saga had a next issue blurb that promised all of the answers. I don't think we got ANY answers, except finally seeing the face of the Reverend (who went from Rev. Addison in the previous issues to Rev. Blackburn in the last issue).
--What was the goal of the Dragon Circle? It was a big deal that there were people of color in this group, which had spawned from the absolutely white KKK. How did this happen, and what was the purpose/goal of the group?
--Who shot Windeagle? (someone in the Dragon Circle) Leroy Ames got blamed for it, but it still seemed to be uncertain.
--It was a big deal at some point in the story, that Windeagle's costume was like the Falcon's, which was originally of Wakandan design. This meant that there were Dragon Circle members in Wakanda, in a position to get hold of this advanced technology. This was never dealt with.
--What was the significance, besides the obvious, of that clock that was stopped at 2:06 am by the bullet that killed Angela Lynne?
--What was the Soul Strangler's connection to the Dragon Circle?
--How many times will I re-read these issues, trying to figure the whole saga out? (5 and counting--and still confused).
It's definitely an intriguing story. It holds your interest the whole way through, but you're left thinking, "Huh?"

The Reverend..."reverend" is an adjective, meaning highly revered. That's like having a judicial character known as "The Honorable." He was referred to only as the Reverend for the initial story by McGregor, et al. He was later named as Reverend Addison, and later as Reverend Blackburn. His full name, Rev. Addison Blackburn is confirmed in the Marvel Comics Index Part 9B.

In one of the issues, they make mention of the fact that the name, the Ku Klux Klan comes from a Greek word meaning Circle, with the word Klan added due to the strong Scots-Irish content. You can see the Dragon Circle coming from the Grand Dragon of the KKK, and the "Circle" Klan.
--I cannot believe that organizations like these can even exist in modern society.

This storyline also revealed that the "T" in T'Challa is silent...or at least the start of the name goes together and sounds like the letters in "catch."

The Dragon Circle has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook.