BLACK POWER
Sinking claws into black panther...
Rather than a formidable feline (well, it’s that too), the “Black Panther” of the Marvel-verse is an office ranking denoting the chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan – Wakanda being the fictional African nation that’s the setting of the Black Panther comics. Needless to say, it’s a big title, and one that young Wakandan T’Challa inherits when his father, T’Chaka, is killed by Ulysses Claw. Equipped with weapons made from vibranium – a super-strong element that crashed to Wakanda in the distant past – he uses the Heart-Shaped Herb to acquire super-strength, speed, agility, acute senses and healing abilities. As the people’s hero, he fights the secret police and the likes of Achebe (a farmer who sold his soul to the devil), Erik Killmonger, a political warrior, and Morlun, a vampiric villain who feeds on totems to acquire his super-power.
The first black hero to appear in the American mainstream, Black Panther first prowled onto the comic scene in the July 1966 issue of Fantastic Four. He then became a regular fixture in The Avengers from 1968. It wasn’t until July 1973, when the first issue of Jungle Action was printed, that he was gifted his first starring feature and an avalanche of rave reviews. The 13-issue arc, penned by Don McGregor, was lauded as the first comic created as a complete novel, and Black Panther quickly became a favourite among fans.
McGregor’s adventures were intense, while Jack Kirby’s version of the character opted for over-the-top, high-octane thrills. Throughout his history, Black Panther has run the gamut of incarnations, from a man in a loin cloth to a gadgeted vigilante in his own right. His most high-profile run was Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr’s 2005, Spike Lee-inspired series, but T’Challa’s story was boiled down beautifully by Christopher Priest in 1998’s graphic novel Black Panther, which fused political intrigue with vigilante activism. “McGregor created an amazingly detailed Pantherverse with which I mostly agreed and was immensely grateful for all the tools he left in the tool box,” Priest said. “I thought Panther could and likely should have been the Batman of the Marvel U.”