The Black Panther (T'Challa) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). He is the first black superhero in mainstream American comics, debuting several years before such early African American superheroes as Marvel's Luke Cage, the Falcon, Storm and Blade; and DC Comics' Tyroc, Black Lightning and John Stewart.
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, nor the segregated World War II Black Panthers Tank Battalion.[1][2] He is the first Black modern superhero in mainstream comic books; few black heroes were created before him, but none of them had actual super powers. These included Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who starred in his own feature in the omnibus series Jungle Tales, from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics and the Dell Comics Western character Lobo, the first Black man to star in his own comic book. Previous non-caricatured Black supporting characters in comics include Daily Bugle managing editor Joseph "Robbie" Robertson in The Amazing Spider-Man, and U.S. Army infantry private Gabriel Jones of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.
