First things first: if you haven’t seen Black Panther yet, GO! What are you waiting for?! It is truly a work of art, and far more politicized and relevant than anything Marvel has ever produced before. It’s taking the world by storm for a reason.
The character of Black Panther (AKA King T’Challa) was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966, right in the context of the Civil Rights Movement here in the United States. The Black Panther Party was also founded around this time. This was an organization primarily meant to help Americans of African descent protect themselves from police brutality and other forms of racist violence. Stan Lee denied any ties from the character to the party, probably in an effort to “not get political”. This is hypocritical, I think, given that Captain America was created as a figurehead of American power to counter Nazi Germany, but I digress.
While there were other characters of African descent in Marvel Comics at the time, T’Challa was the first to be a main character, and the first to have superpowers. He originally debuted in The Fantastic Four, later making appearances in Captain America and Avengers storylines. He didn’t have his own story arc until 1973, in a series of comics called Jungle Action (yes, that is really what Stan Lee called it).
It was in Jungle Action that Black Panther took on a more politicized role: he fought the Ku Klux Klan.
While the storyline of the series primarily took place in Wakanda, T’Challa’s African country of origin, a specific arc took him to Georgia, where he battled the Ku Klux Klan. This was a significant moment both for Marvel and the character himself, as it was proving that Marvel could take on political issues that did not just pertain to white men, and also gave their audience a real black hero fighting for real black issues.
This, of course, should be taken with a grain of salt since that storyline was written by a white man named Don McGregor. It wasn’t until 1998 – more than 30 years after the character had been created – that a black writer named Christopher Priest got the chance to write for T’Challa.
Priest gave T’Challa (and Wakanda) a more developed backstory, delving into Wakanda and its resources, such as Vibranium, which is what Captain America’s indestructible shield is made of. Wakanda was the only African nation that resisted colonization by the Western Powers and is therefore highly developed and wealthy. This is an interesting piece of information, as it makes us ponder what the rest of Africa would look like if it had not been colonized by Americans and Europeans: flourishing, perhaps?
Fun fact: King T’Challa is the wealthiest character in the entire Marvel Universe; even richer than Tony Stark!
Finally, after 15 years worth of movies about white superheroes, a movie about Black Panther has graced the silver screen to an unprecedented level of success. It’s fascinating to compare the circumstances of Black Panther’s creation (the Civil Rights Movement) and this time period of renewed interest in the character– as the United States is experiencing a period of violent racial relations and tendencies. I saw the empowerment from this movie, and I applaud the representation of a powerful African black man that we so dearly need in these times.
Furthermore, I have to commend the amount of female African representation in the movie. Not only are three of the main characters female, but they’re also fierce warriors, cunning spies, and brilliant inventors. This is the kind of dialogue of power, intellect, and humanity that should have been surrounding African and black people forever.