Fantastic Four # 52. "Smilin" Stan Lee (writer), "Jolly" Jack Kirby (penciller), "Gentleman" Joe Sinnott (inker), "Hammy" Sammy Rosen (Letterer)
Accolades:
The Plot: The Fantastic Four get a free KirbyTech flying airship thing gifted to them by an African chieftan, called... the
Black Panther! (Sic Stan) BP invites them to come visit his country that he is the boss of (!) in Africa and "arrange the greatest hunt of all time in honor of your visit." Then the Black Panther splits 'em up and tries to hunt the crap out of them because OF COURSE HE DOES! You guys have been superheroes for 52 freaking issues! How did you not see this coming?!?!
The Panther handily manages to take down and capture the Human Torch, the Invisible Girl, the Thing and Mister Fantastic (in that order) with relative ease with sleep gas, magnetic anti-polarity beams, sspecially prepared titanium cuffs, and the power to make the sun shine out of crotch.
Luckily, the Human Torch's American Indian friend Wyatt Wingfoot (who just happened to come along) frees them and all five of 'em gang up on poor BP. Who - being no fool - decides the hunt is o-ver. He then takes off his mask, and
HOLY FRIGGIN’ CRAP IT’S A BLACK GUY!
“Of course he’s a black guy” you say. He’s in Africa. His name is the black panther, every other native of the Panther's home country who is shooting at the Fantastic Four with a polarity gun on panel is black, and his. name. is. the. Black Panther.
But on the other hand… The Black Panther basically split the difference between “Jungle Lord” and “costumed Superhero” and the former group...
Tarzan. Ka-Zar. Sheena. Friggin’ Leopard Girl... Allll the way back to Mowgli
friggin' honkies, all of 'em.
And superheroes, at least the 1965 variety, weren't a whole hell of a lot more diverse than the Jungle Lords and Ladies.
In fact, there weren't many black action heroes in American popular culture
en toto in 1965. (Bill Cosby in I Spy? Damn, I can’t really think of anyone else and my 26 minutes of internet research didn’t do much better.) There were black leads in musicals and serious Sydney Poitier-esque vehicles, but not a lot of bad-ass black action heroes.
There were, however, a handful of black supporting characters in war
comics (starting with Jackie Johnson of Sgt. Rock's Easy Company in 1961) and even one
western headliner. (Poor Lobo lasted a grand total of two issues but, dammit, he was first!)
So when the Black Panther introduced himself as ".. [the] hereditary chieftan of the Wakandas.. and perhaps the richest man in all the world!" this was (A) a big deal, (B) an overtly political statement by the creative team, and (C) one of the very few times where American mainstream comics led (not followed) the more dominant mass media or radio, tv, and movies.
Of course, in a commercial art form like comics “groundbreaking” and "socially progressive" can translate into “lost sales" and there was some real nervousness about introducing the Panther and maybe losing the all-important racist dollar. For all their good intentions, Stan and company at Marvel were all-to-aware that selling comics was their primary goal Which means they didn't so much "introduce" the first black superhero as try to sneak him in. The
original cover of FF # 52 dresses the Panther in a half-mask, which would leave no doubt as to his African Africanness. (I'm trying to find the African equivalent of "African American." ALSO I am failing miserably at finding the African equivalent of African American.) This was scrapped and the Panther' face was hidden by the mask we all know and love... which means that there's no indication on the cover or, indeed, in the first 19 pages of this 20 page story that this guy was any blacker than Tarazan. "Get‘em hooked, THEN let them know they’re reading about a black guy and… end on a cliffhanger! MAKE ‘em come back for the next installment! Heh heh heh." Slick, Stan, reaaal slick.
Source:
Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good 
So, wait, did the Black Panther beat the Fantastic Four? Less important than the previous section, fer sure, but this is an important milestone in the Panther's history (
Future Panther writer Christopher Priest basically frames it as the most important) so I want to talk about it.
So did he?
Maybe.
Sorta.
He sure did defeat the Invisible Girl in a straight-up fight.
But he certainly didn't beat the rest of the FFs head to head; he attacked them by surprise, fought them individually, and had traps prepared for them to blunder into. The text makes it fairly clear that the Panther would have little-to-no chance against the Thing mano a mano; as of FF # 52 the Panther is 'bout the equivalent of Captain America or Daredevil, super-powerwise - with a couple major differences. (A) He has access to futuristic technology. Alright, alright, alright. I concede that every-damn-body in the Marvel Universe has access to futuristic technology, but the Panther is operation way above, say, Paste Pot Pete level, (B) he doesn't seem particularly concerned with fighting fair, and (C) he's got a helluvalotta chutzpah.
All of these traits would be hugely important in future Panther storylines.
Jack Kirby is a good Artist: I really like how Kirby has the Panther move and interact his environment. He's catlike, often
almost being down on all fours, generally hiding in the shadows, and always (always!) climbing on things.
See, climbing. Always with the climbing.
He's superhero-as-ambush-predator, and that is a freaking cool idea.... and, sadly, one that was quickly abandoned for the rest of Panthers' comics career.
Jack Kirby is a good artist II:
The Panther's country is, essentially, a traditional African village used as a Clark Kent style disguise for a technological utopia. "It's truly a jungle... but like nothing ever spawned by nature." "The entire topography and flora are electronically-controlled mechanical aparatus! The very branches about is are composed of delicately constructed wires...."
Kirby's greatest uncopyable strengths as an artist are (A) his portrayal as technology-indistinguishable-from-magic, and (B) mythological grandeur. The Panther's afro-primo-futurism is pretty dang close to the sweet spot between these two. Hell, if you ask me the whole Panther saga is one of the best drawn of Kirby's 102 (plus annuals!) issues of Fantastic Four. This is a great looking comic.
So the book ends with the Panther stating "My tale is one of tragedy... and deadly revenge..."
So I guess we'll get to that next time! The Origin of the Black Panther! The secret of Wakanda! Giant, Red Elephants! The coming of Klaw the por speler! The Black Panther totally smoking cigarettes!
I'm pretty psyched.
So, till next time, may the rays of the sun ever shine from your crotch.
