July 11, 1966: Marvel Comics Introduces the 1st Black Superhero

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa

July 11, 1966, 60 years ago: Marvel Comics publishes Fantastic Four #52, introducing the character of Black Panther, generally considered to be the 1st black superhero in mainstream comic books.

The name "Black Panther" long predates the character -- and the Black Panther Party, which formed a few weeks later. In World War II, the U.S. Army's segregated 761st Tank Battalion was known as the Black Panthers. And Portugal's Mozambique-born soccer star Eusébio, already world-famous but about to become more so as the World Cup began, was already nicknamed "The Black Panther." (He was also nicknamed "The Black Pearl," as was his fellow Portuguese speaker, Brazilian star Pelé.)

There had been black heroes in comic books before, but no major publisher had dared try it. In 1947, with Jackie Robinson debuting in Major League Baseball and Joe Louis as Heavyweight Champion of the World, All-Negro Comics #1 was published. But it sold so poorly that there was no issue #2.

Marvel, under a previous name, Atlas Comics, had published Jungle Tales, including Waku, Prince of the Bantu, clearly an inspiration for the character to come. But that magazine ran only 7 issues, from September 1954 to September 1955, and, as was all too common at the time, indulged in too many stereotypes. In 1963, Marvel had included Private Gabriel Jones in the World War II-themed book Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.

With the knowledge that the Lone Ranger had been partly inspired by an African-American lawman named Bass Reeves (1838-1910), Dell Comics released Lobo in December 1965. Bearing no resemblance to the later DC character of the same name, which is Spanish for "wolf," this was a gunslinger who bore stylistic resemblances to the protagonists of 2 current TV series: Dr. Richard Kimble of The Fugitive and Captain Jason McCord of the Western Branded: The cover identified him as "Branded for Life: An honest man... blamed for a crime he did not commit!"

On the heads of his defeated foes, would leave a gold coin imprinted with the letter L and the image of a wolf, similar to the Lone Ranger leaving a silver bullet and Zorro using his sword to cut a letter Z on his opponents' shirts.

Lobo #1 was released after the March On Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- but also after the riots in Harlem, North Philadelphia and Watts. It didn't sell well, not even in black neighborhoods. When Marvel released the issue of Fantastic Four with Black Panther, Dell thought to try again, and, in September 1966, released Lobo #2. But that didn't sell well, either, and, except for a brief revival in 2017-18, the character has never appeared again.

A character's in-story origin sometimes gets embellished, but rarely has substantive change. But, as was often the case with Marvel and its boss man, Stan Lee, there is a dispute as to this character's real-world origin. Smilin' Stan said that a black hero was the next step in Marvel's progress.

But Marvel's main artist, Jack Kirby, said, "I came up with the Black Panther because I realized I had no blacks in my strip. I'd never drawn a black. I needed a black. I suddenly discovered that I had a lot of black readers. My first friend was a black! And here I was ignoring them because I was associating with everybody else." Lee's story was backed up by writer Roy Thomas, who later succeeded him as Marvel's editor; while Kirby's story is backed up by documentation, including drawings that predate the issue.

With Black Panther, the in-story origin of the character is not the only thing that matters: There's also the origin story of his homeland, the African nation of Wakanda. At some point in the past, a meteorite landed there. It was made of vibranium, and this fictional material allowed Wakanda to develop technology beyond anything the world had yet seen, including the ability to conceal themselves from the outside world. Their King decided to do this, for fear that the technology could be stolen. (Vibranium would eventually be found elsewhere, and was used to make Captain America's shield.)

In-universe, the title "Black Panther" is a rank of office, chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan. As chieftain, the Panther is entitled to consume a special heart-shaped herb which, in addition to his mystical, shamanistic connection with Bast, the Panther Goddess, grants him superhumanly acute senses, strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, healing, and reflexes. In essence, he has the powers of Spider-Man, without the addition of web-shooters.

In the comics, the King of Wakanda, and thus the Black Panther, is named T'Challa, whose father and predecessor, T'Chaka, was murdered by a rival. Thus, like so many other superheroes, T'Challa is motivated to fight for justice in remembrance of, and to avenge, a parental figure. Just as so many other heroes protect a city -- or, in the case of Daredevil, just one neighborhood -- T'Challa protects an entire country.

In the story that introduced him, he invited the Fantastic Four to Wakanda, and then tested their abilities. The tests passed, he made amends by explaining that he needed to see if they would be worthy allies. They subsequently fought a would-be invader. Black Panther later joined the Avengers, and, for a time, was married to Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm of the X-Men.

T'Challa made his television debut in the 1994-96 Fantastic Four animated series, where he was voiced by Keith David. Djimon Hounsou provided the voice of T'Challa for a 2011 animated series. Chadwick Boseman played the character in 4 live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe films: Captain America: Civil War, in 2016, in which he's on the pro-registration side; Black Panther, in 2018, the 1st superhero film with a black lead that wasn't a comedy (I'm counting Wesley Snipes' Blade films as more horror than superhero films); Avengers: Infinity War, also in 2018, in which he was one of the heroes who was "snapped away" by Thanos; and Avengers: Endgame, in 2019, in which the Hulk snaps him back, and he leads Wakanda's army in the final battle against Thanos.

Boseman, who had previously played black American icons Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown, became beloved all over the world for his portrayal of T'Challa. Unbeknownst to the world at large, he was already battling cancer during the filming of Endgame, and died in 2020. So, while the character still lives in comic books, in the MCU, the 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever reveals that their version of T'Challa has died from an incurable illness, and his sister, Shuri, played by Letitia Wright as in the previous film, becomes the new Black Panther. 

May 1, 1971: Spider-Man vs. Drugs

May 1, 1971, 50 years ago: Marvel Comics takes on their most insidious bad guy yet: Drugs.

Previously, the Comics Code Authority forbade the depiction of illegal drugs, even as a warning as to their dangers. But President Richard Nixon wanted to wage war on drugs -- a great idea that turned out to be spectacularly poorly carried out.

Elliot Richardson, then the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, wrote to Marvel boss Stan Lee, and asked him to publish an anti-drug message in one of the company's leading titles.

Lee, already 48 years old, but always willing to stay on the cutting edge, agreed. And so, with The Amazing Spider-Man #96, with a list date of May 1971, he began a 3-part story arc involving drug use.

Smilin' Stan Lee. Excelsior, true believers!

At this point in his life, Peter Parker, secretly the New York-based superhero Spider-Man, is in college, with a side job as a photographer for a newspaper, The Daily Bugle. He shares an apartment with Harry Osborn, and they've been friends for a long time, in spite of the fact that Harry's father, industrialist Norman Osborn, is Spidey's arch-enemy, the Green Goblin, and the Goblin knows Peter's dual identity.

As the 2002 film Spider-Man would eventually show, having the Goblin die would devastate Harry. On top of that, Smilin' Stan was one of the few people in American public life in the 1960s who addressed the issue of mental illness, writing that Spidey knew that Norman's split personality between Harry's dad the genius scientist businessman and the arch-criminal wasn't his fault. So he had to subdue the Goblin without really hurting him with his strength, proportionally that of a spider.

The last time before this that they had fought, Spidey had defeated the Goblin, and Norman developed retrograde amnesia: He didn't remember anything he experienced after becoming the Goblin, including Peter's secret identity.

But Norman's troubles, and his treatment of Harry, led Harry to seek solace in prescription drugs. Peter sees him taking them, and says, "When did you become a pill-popper?" When the pill makes Harry fall asleep, Peter suddenly realizes that Harry had been doing this for a while: Pills to help him sleep, and pills to help him stay awake.

So Lee wrote a monologue for Spidey, as he swung through the City, talking about how drugs could hurt people. And then he sees an example: A black kid on the edge of a roof, stoned out of his gourd. Spidey fails to save him.

That night is the premiere of an Off-Off-Broadway show, starring Peter's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, who says, "If it were any more off Broadway, it would be in Hoboken!" Also friends of Mary Jane, Norman and Harry attend together.

So does a black man about Peter's and Harry's age, who knew the younger guy who fell. This man knows that Norman is rich, and has influence to go with his money, and demands that he use it to help ghetto kids. They argue, and this triggers Norman's split. At the end of the issue, Peter and Norman are both in costume, and they know who each other is.

At the end of the 2nd issue, #97, Harry overdoses. At the start of the 3rd, #98, Peter is standing over Harry in his hospital bed, when the Goblin hovers on his glider at the window, ready to kill the uncostumed Peter. Peter shows the Goblin his son, and, in a moment of clarity that he is also Norman, he backs off. They fight later in the issue, Peter wins, takes an unconscious Norman home, and burns the Goblin costume, hoping that will put an end to the Goblin personality. Harry recovers. All is well. With them, anyway.

Until Peter's original girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, returns, during one of Peter's periodic breakups with Mary Jane. And Norman's Goblin personality kicks back in, and he makes a new costume and new weapons. In Spider-Man #121, June 1973, there is no title on the title page. Instead, the last panel shows the title, with Spidey holding Gwen, killed by the Goblin: "The Night Gwen Stacy Died!" In #122, the Goblin dies, in a scene recreated for the 2002 Spider-Man film.

The Comics Code Authority heard about the anti-drug story, and refused to issue its seal of approval, which had been a must for any comic book wanting to stay in business, ever since the publication of the anti-comics screed The Seduction of the Innocent by Frederic Wertham in 1954.

Lee decided that publishing these 3 issues, especially the 1st one, was more important that staying in business. He rolled the dice that people would buy The Amazing Spider-Man #96 without the seal of approval. His roll came up 7: It sold so well that the Authority revised its Code.

DC Comics, Marvel's rival, accepted that they also needed to publish an anti-drug message. So they published Green Lantern #85, with a list date of August 1971, and a headline, "The shocking truth about drugs!" #85 had the title of "Snowbirds Don't Fly," and #86, the conclusion of the story, was titled, "They Say It'll Kill Me... But They Won't Say When."

Green Lantern, in civilian life a test pilot named Hal Jordan, often teamed up with Oliver Queen, a businessman without powers but with great archery skill, who fought crime as Green Arrow. Queen had adopted a teenage boy named Roy Harper, and, giving him a red outfit similar to his own green one, made Roy "Robin" to his "Batman."

Why would a superhero with an archery theme, rather than a speedster, be called "Speedy"? With the 1940s "Golden Age" versions of the characters, Roy once got into costume and out of their hideout while Ollie was still getting his costume on.

But Roy had a secret beyond his crimefighting identity: He had become addicted to heroin. Fans of the 2012-20 CW Network TV series Arrow, which shows Oliver as a more Batman-like, haunted, brooding figure, might be surprised to know that the comics' Green Arrow was, like the 1st Robin (Dick Grayson) and Spider-Man, a quipster, dropping bons mots while taking bad guys down. This time, as Hal suggested, Ollie did not have the answer, aside from taking down the gang that had gotten Roy hooked, and getting Roy to "go cold turkey."

DC had done it well, even taking it a step further by showing a superhero getting addicted to an illegal drug, not just a prescription. But Marvel had done it first, and better. As Smilin' Stan himself would have said, "'Nuff said!"

Nixon would eventually appoint Elliot Richardson to be U.S. Attorney General, but he resigned that post in 1973, rather than fire the Special Counsel investigating the Nixon Administration over "the Watergate matter," leading to a series of moves that became known as "The Saturday Night Massacre."

In 1980, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) was split into 2 separate departments: The Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).