July 1966: The Mystery of the Black Panther

In the 1930s through the 1950s, the actual American power structure was reflected in fantasy by the American “superpower” structure.

Female superheroes remained rare curiosities, and nonwhite superheroes were unheard of (unless they were green).

“(T)hemes of difference, alienation and mutantism make superhero stories an excellent genre for exploring the concept of ‘the other,’ the person who is different and never quite gets accepted by society,” noted Alex S. Romagnoli and Gian S. Pagnucci in their book Enter the Superheroes: American Values, Culture and the Canon of Superhero Literature.

But the creators were almost entirely white males, and that had an impact on representation. And whatever the creators might have preferred, magazine publishers weren’t about to introduce elements of racial diversity that might threaten sales — not until the mid-1960s, when writer/editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby introduced the world’s first black superhero, the Black Panther (Fantastic Four 52, July 1966).

In this house ad, Lee built anticipation for the new character by keeping what was “sensational” about him completely under wraps. The old mystery sell.

“Previews in other titles that month suggest Marvel couldn’t decide how much of him to show — or how to characterize him,” observed Sean Howe in Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. “Once Marvel committed to a policy of representing black characters, however, change came quickly.”

“The Panther’s first appearance happened during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and Marvel’s editorial staff were probably watching the newscasts that showed black Americans getting brutalized by police as they sought to change the prejudicial law of the land,” wrote Evan Narcisse.

“Given the times that he was created in, it’s very plausible that the Black Panther was Lee and/or Kirby’s way of saying that a black person was as capable of being a hero as their white characters. Even more daring, the Panther seemed to be more cunning and intelligent than some other heroes.”