Black Panther

The **Black Panther** is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. It is primarily the title of T'Challa, but has frequently been taken up by his sister Shuri, and has been occasionally worn by other individuals.

## Bibliography

* *Fantastic Four* 1961 (FF61)
* *The Avengers* 1963 (AVE63)
* *Jungle Action* (JA72)
* *Black Panther* 1977 (BP77)
* *Black Panther* 1988 (BP88)
* *Black Panther* 1998 (BP98)
* *Black Panther* 2005 (BP05)

## History of portrayal

### Origin and background

In T'Challa's first appearance (FF61
#52), the Black Panther is established as the hereditary chieftain of the Kingdom of Wakanda. Under Christopher Priest's '98 *Black Panther* run, it is established that the Black Panther is only the chieftain of Wakanda's **Panther Tribe**, and that the office of King and Black Panther can be held by different individuals.(citation needed) However this has at times changed.(citation needed)

T'Challa rose to leadership of Wakanda by completing "two *final* tests provided for by [his] father"; the defeat of "half a dozen of [Wakanda's] finest *warriors*", (AVE63
#87, p.7) and the eating of a "heart-shaped, forbidden *herb*" that grows on the Great Plateau near the border of Wakanda. (AVE63
#87, p.8)

#### Historical Black Panthers

Bashenga was the first Black Panther.(citation needed)

Captain America encountered the Black Panther pursuing a group of Nazis into Wakanda; thanks to Marvel's sliding timescale, this was at first T'Challa's father T'Chaka(citation needed) but was later described as his *grand*father Azari the Wise.(citation needed)

After T'Chaka's death and before T'Challa grew old enough to compete in ritual combat for the title, T'Chaka's brother and T'Challa's uncle S'Yan wore the title.

### *Black Panther* (1998-2003)

Defeating T'Challa in ritual combat, Erik Killmonger became the Black Panther for some time.(citation needed)

In issue #50 of Priest's *Black Panther*, biracial American police officer Kevin Cole took over the mantle of Black Panther, borrowing an old costume kept in the custodianship of T'Challa's companion Sergeant Francis Tork. Though Cole had T'Challa's support as the Panther for a short time, the end of the series saw T'Challa take back up the mantle and Cole become the White Tiger.

### *Black Panther* and *Doomwar* (2009-2010)

T'Challa being rendered comatose by Victor von Doom, Shuri took the mantle of Black Panther until his complete recovery.(citation needed)

## Abilities and paraphernalia

T'Challa becomes the Panther through a "ritual" involving a panther idol that rises to the country's surface from an underground silo (p. 4): "a series of delicate *control buttons* at the base of the gigantic, feline figure" reveal "a bank of *electronic computers*" and a compartment containing the Black Panther's costume (p. 5). This costume includes claws able to emit "a harmless sleep gas" (p. 15). T'Challa's own abilities include "feline agility" enough to avoid attacks from both Richards and Johnny Storm (p. 11), and senses "as sharp as a *jungle cat's*", allowing him to hear the foot-falls and detect the scent of an invisible Sue Storm (p. 14) and to see in the dark (DD64
#52, p.5).

T'Challa has "jungle bred instincts, nurtured and aided by *herbal medicines* and rigorous, oft-repeated *religious ceremonies*" (JA72
#9, p.12)

Early on in the '98 depiction, the Black Panther's night vision was described as not a superpower at all, but rather a feature of the technology in the Panther's mask.(citation needed) By the end point of the series, during Cole's stint as the character, it again seemed to be one of the Panther's inherent abilities.(citation needed)