Marvel’s Black Panther is a vitally important hero to the company; as one of the first major African heroes (not African American, as T’Challa was famously born in Wakanda and rules as the king), Black Panther is a role model for many readers. So successful is his franchise that 2018’s Black Panther film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe easily crossed the one billion dollar-mark at the box office. But his first solo title was quite unfortunate (and Marvel quickly fixed their blunder).
Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four comics during the Silver Age. Stan Lee desired to create a black superhero while also designing a character that would be seen as non-stereotypical for the time. As such, T’Challa hailed from Wakanda, an incredibly technologically-advanced country that had never been invaded or conquered by European powers. Black Panther initially fought against the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #52 – but this battle was a test and T’Challa never intended to kill them.
Marvel realized that Black Panther was becoming rather popular. At the same time, the Marvel book Jungle Action was facing a problem: even though the stories largely took place in Africa, the protagonists were almost universally white. This was brought to Marvel’s attention by writer Don McGregor, who was in turn told to write new material for the book. Thus, Black Panther was brought in as a featured character. However, the book technically wasn’t Black Panther’s own series; beginning with Issue #5, the line was retitled Jungle Action Featuring: The Black Panther.
It was unfortunate that such a stereotypical title would be the home of Marvel’s first major black superhero, at least for a while. For what it’s worth, Jungle Action Featuring: The Black Panther was well-received, especially after Panther’s Rage, one of the first multi-issue, self-contained story arcs. The series would continue until Issue #24, when the entire book was unceremoniously cancelled due to low sales numbers.
Black Panther did not get his first truly self-titled solo series until Black Panther in 1977, written and illustrated by Jack Kirby himself (there remains some doubt as to exactly how much input Stan Lee had on the overall creation of the character). The history of Jungle Action pre-Black Panther was long-forgotten, but despite the unfortunate title, the stories themselves are well-remembered. Since his inception, Black Panther has had multiple new series, the latest of which was released in 2021, and they show no sign of stopping now.
