Saturday, February 23, 2013

The First Black Superhero-The Black Panther

The Black Panther was the very first black superhero in mainstream comic books. Created by Stan Lee (writer) and Jack Kirby (artist), for Marvel Comics; he made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #52.

He was the king of a small African nation (Wakanda); a position he gained after much training, after his father, King T'Chaka was slain. The Black Panther's real name was T'Challa.

He eventually had many crossover adventures with other Marvel superheroes from the U.S.A., until ultimately, he joined the superhero group, The Avengers; (The Avengers #52); an affiliation which lasted for many years. He made many shifts between the U.S. and his home nation of Wakanda. He also married his  love interest, Ororo Munroe (the super-heroine Storm, who was part of the X-Men).

The Black Panther got his first solo feature in Jungle Action #5, which lasted through issue #24. He then received his own comic book "The Black Panther", which lasted for 15 issues and was drawn by his original artist; the great Jack Kirby. He endures to this day, through many comic book series.

His abilities included superhuman senses,strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, agility, genius level intelligence, as well as hunting, tracking and combat skills (enhanced by a heart-shaped herb from his home nation).

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