Black Panther (comics)

Black Panther is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #52 (cover-dated July 1966) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Black Panther's real name is T'Challa, and he is depicted as the king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Along with possessing enhanced abilities achieved through ancient Wakandan rituals of drinking the essence of the heart-shaped herb, T'Challa also relies on his proficiency in science, rigorous physical training, hand-to-hand combat skills, and access to wealth and advanced Wakandan technology to combat his enemies.

Black Panther is the first protagonist of African descent in mainstream American comics, having debuted years before early black superheroes such as Marvel Comics' the Falcon (1969), Luke Cage (1972), and Blade (1973) or DC Comics' John Stewart in the role of Green Lantern (1971). In one comic book storyline, the Black Panther mantle is handled by Kasper Cole, a multiracial New York City police officer. Beginning as an impersonator, Cole would later take on the moniker of White Tiger and become an ally to T'Challa. The role of Black Panther and leadership of Wakanda was also given to T'Challa's sister Shuri while he was in a coma for a short time.

Black Panther has made numerous appearances in various television shows, animated films and video games. Chadwick Boseman portrayed the character in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's films: '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), '' Black Panther'' (2018), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), and voiced alternate versions of the character in the first season of the animated series '' What If...?'' (2021).

Concept and creation

Name

The Black Panther's name predates the October 1966 founding of the Black Panther Party, though not the black panther logo of the party's predecessor, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO), nor the segregated World War II 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion. Scripter Stan Lee denied that the comic, which pre-dates the political usage of the term, was, or could have been, named after any of the political uses of the term "black panther", including the LCFO, citing "a strange coincidence". He is the first black superhero in American mainstream comic books; very few black heroes were created before him, and none with actual superpowers. These included the characters in the single-issue, low distribution '' All-Negro Comics'' #1 (1947). Reprinted from ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' February 28, 1997, pp. 32, 34, 37-38. Article includes reprinted editorial page "All-Negro Comics: Presenting Another First in Negro History" from ''All-Negro Comics'' #1 Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who starred in his own feature in the omnibus title ''Jungle Tales'', from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics and the Dell Comics Western character Lobo, the first black person to star in his own comic book. Previous non-caricatured black supporting characters in comics include U.S. Army infantry private Gabriel Jones of ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos''.

In a guest appearance in ''Fantastic Four'' #119 (February 1972), the Black Panther briefly used the name Black Leopard to avoid connotations with the Party, but the new name did not last. The character's name was changed back to Black Panther in ''The Avengers'' #105, with T'Challa explaining that renaming himself made as much sense as altering the Scarlet Witch's name, and he is not a stereotype.

Co-creator Stan Lee recounted that the name was inspired by a pulp adventure hero who has a black panther as a helper. Jack Kirby's original concept art for Black Panther used the concept name Coal Tiger. Influences on the character included historical figures such as 14th-century Mali Empire sultan Mansa Musa and 20th-century Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, as well as Biblical figures such as Ham and Canaan.

Publication history

The origin of the idea for the character was disputed by both Kirby and Lee. Jack Kirby claimed sole credit for the creation of the character in ''The Comics Journal'' #134, from February 1990, stating that a realization that there were no black characters in his comics demanded some be added for "human reasons". Stan Lee claims the character was created by his desire in the mid-60s to include more African and African-American characters in Marvel Comics. While there is no documentation showing which version of the creation is closer to the truth, by 1966 Kirby is thought to have been largely plotting the book on his own and was having to explain the stories to Lee when the pages arrived in the Marvel offices, as had happened a few issues prior with the Silver Surfer in ''The Fantastic Four'' #48 (March 1966). In a 1968 interview Lee stated:

In an interview, Kirby shared the same genesis as Lee, "I came up with the Black Panther because I realized I had no blacks in my strip. I’d never drawn a black. I needed a black. I suddenly discovered that I had a lot of black readers. My first friend was a black! And here I was ignoring them because I was associating with everybody else."

Roy Thomas has made claims that support Lee's version of events, while Kirby was supported by his wife and prior artwork. In 1963, they included a black character, Gabe Jones, in the ensemble cast of ''Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos'', and Lee encouraged artists to include black characters in crowd scenes. In a 1998 interview, Lee explained his motivation: "I wasn't thinking of civil rights. I had a lot of friends who were black and we had artists who were black. So, it occurred to me... why aren't there any black heroes?" Soon after Black Panther was introduced, Marvel also added two more recurring black characters: Jill Jerrold in ''Modeling with Millie'', and Bill Foster in '' The Avengers''.

There was some internal debate at Marvel with Lee being unsure about how far to go with the commercially risky introduction of a black superhero. In the first version of the cover for ''Fantastic Four'' #52, Kirby drew the Black Panther wearing a cowl that exposed his face. In the published version, the cowl became a full face-mask. Previews in other comics did not show the cover at all, indicating that Lee was hesitant.

Following his debut in ''Fantastic Four'' #52–53 (July – August 1966) and subsequent guest appearance in ''Fantastic Four'' Annual #5 (1967) and with Captain America in ''Tales of Suspense'' #97–99 and ''Captain America'' 100 (January – April 1968), the Black Panther journeyed from the fictional African nation of Wakanda to New York City to join the titular American superhero team in '' The Avengers'' #52 (May 1968), appearing in that comic for the next few years. During his time with the Avengers, he made solo guest-appearances in three issues of '' Daredevil'', and fought Doctor Doom in ''Astonishing Tales'' #6–7 (June & August 1971), in that supervillain's short-lived starring feature.

He received his first starring feature with ''Jungle Action'' #5 (July 1973), a reprint of the Panther-centric story in ''The Avengers'' #62 (March 1969). A new series began running the following issue, written by Don McGregor, with art by pencilers Rich Buckler, Gil Kane, and Billy Graham, and which gave inkers Klaus Janson and Bob McLeod some of their first professional exposure. The critically acclaimed series ran in ''Jungle Action'' #6–24 (September 1973 – November 1976).''Jungle Action'', Marvel, 1973 Series
, at the Grand Comics Database.

One now-common format McGregor pioneered was that of the self-contained, multi-issue story arc. The first, "Panther's Rage", ran through the first 13 issues. Critic Jason Sacks has called the arc "Marvel's first graphic novel":

The second and final arc, "Panther vs. the Klan", ran as mostly 17-page stories in ''Jungle Action'' #19–24 (January – November 1976), except for issue #23, a reprint of ''Daredevil'' #69 (October 1970), in which the Black Panther guest-starred. The subject matter of the Ku Klux Klan was considered controversial in the Marvel offices at the time, creating difficulties for the creative team.

African-American writer-editor Dwayne McDuffie said of the ''Jungle Action'' "Black Panther" feature:

Though popular with college students, the overall sales of ''Jungle Action'' were low, and Marvel relaunched the Black Panther in a self-titled series, bringing in the character's co-creator Jack Kirby—newly returned to Marvel after having decamped to rival DC Comics for a time—as writer, penciler, and editor. However, Kirby wanted to work on new characters and was unhappy at being assigned a series starring a character he had already worked with extensively. He left the series after only 12 issues and was replaced by Ed Hannigan (writer), Jerry Bingham (penciler), and Roger Stern (editor). ''Black Panther'' ran 15 issues (January 1977 – May 1979).''Black Panther'', Marvel, 1977 Series
at the Grand Comics Database Due to the series getting discontinued, the contents of what would have been ''Black Panther'' #16–18 were published in ''Marvel Premiere'' #51–53.

A four-issue miniseries, ''Black Panther'' vol. 2, (July – October 1988) was written by Peter B. Gillis and penciled by Denys Cowan.''Black Panther'', Marvel, 1988 Series
at the Grand Comics Database McGregor revisited his Panther saga with Gene Colan in "Panther's Quest", published as 25 eight-page installments within the bi-weekly anthology series '' Marvel Comics Presents'' (issues #13–37, Feb.–December 1989). He later teamed with artist Dwayne Turner

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