The History of Marvel Comics: Black Panther

It’s 2021 and the Black Panther has become a lot more popular than he’s ever been. In fact, Black Panther has done something that no other Marvel hero or team has done before: expand beyond the one man behind the mantle, beyond T’Challa, and has created a world of its own: Wakanda-- a land, a people, and a cultural phenomenon.  It’s here that we’ll explore John Ridley’s take on the character, as we look back at the seeds that Stan and Jack planted all those years ago, a present that’s grown and branched out beyond its own roots, and finally a blossoming future of endless possibilities.

By the time we reach 2016, the Black Panther has experienced decades of adventures, fought countless villains, and teamed up with many of Marvel’s mightiest heroes— however, in Ta-Nehisi Coates' run, we find T’Challa struggling to define himself as a person, as a Super Hero, and as a leader of a world power. Far from the swashbuckling adventures of the character’s origins, this Black Panther is a ruler with a heavy burden. Ta-Nehisi Coates flips the paradigm on the character and finally puts the expectations of a people on its king. Can he live up to it?

It’s 2005, and Marvel has tapped film screenwriter, director, and President of Entertainment of BET, Reginald Hudlin, to write a new Black Panther book. Excitedly, Reggie shares this news with his friends and family. Their reaction? “Who is the Black Panther?” Written by Reginald Hudlin, “Who Is The Black Panther” was Reggie’s definitive response to that reaction— building off of previous Panther stories, and reintroducing T’Challa to the world by over-satisfying his community and his own desires for a black Super Hero.

In 1996, Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but the experimental Marvel Knights imprint was the light at the end of the tunnel. And after his first solo series, the Black Panther was in dire need of an upgrade. With the help of Joe Quesada, Mark Texiera and Marvel’s first African-American editor-writer, Christopher Priest, the Black Panther was in for the glow up of the century. This is the beginning of the Black Panther mythos we know and love today.

1973 saw Black Panther return to Wakanda, after a brief stint in the US with the Avengers, only to find his kingdom riven by infighting and sedition. Written by Don McGregor with art by Rich Buckler and Billy Graham, Panther's Rage picked up right where Stan Lee and Jack Kirby left off by presenting a counter to T’Challa’s crusade in America by establishing Wakanda, and the responsibilities that come with being a king, and the how those two worlds not only differ, but also struggle to coexist.