Showing posts with label black panther. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black panther. Show all posts

Friday, August 16, 2024

Friday Fun / Trump Reading Room UNQUOTABLE TRUMP "Jumbled Action: Black Voter"

From Now Until Election Day, We'll Be Presenting Examples of How Creatives See Don da Con...
...often using his own words, as in this example from Unquotable Trump by cartoonist R. Sikoryak, based on the cover for Marvel's Jungle Action (featuring the Black Panther) #5 (1973) by artist John Romita Sr!
Non-Don da Con Trivia: Though the cover was new, the story inside was a reprint of Marvel's Mighty Avengers V1N62 (1969)...
...which had a different cover by John Buscema and George Klein!

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by R. Sikoryak
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Friday, February 3, 2023

Friday Fun: CALVIN

The Black Panther was not the first Black Marvel character to get a cover-featured series!
He wasn't even the second!
He was the third!
First was Luke Cage, who received his own title...
...and was the star of his own Netflix series!
Note: Though the series ended, three of the stars have gone on to headline other shows...
Simone Missick (Misty Knight) on All RiseMike Colter (Luke Cage) on Evil and Rosario Dawson (Clare Temple/Night Nurse) on the upcoming Ahsoka!
(BTW, Luke Cage is now available on Disney+!)
The second character was...
WHO???
Several months before Prince T'Challa took over a reprint book, Jungle Action, and began a memorable series that served as part of the plot of the billion-dollar blockbuster movie...
...this character took over another reprint book and began a series that nobody remembers!
You can read every never-reprinted tale featuring Calvin and his buddies HERE!
What makes the strip even more fascinating, beyond the vaudeville-level humor, is the identity of the writer-artist behind it!
"Kevin Banks" was not a pseudonym for an already-established creative, but an editorial staffer at Marvel in the early 1970s who received his "big break" with this strip!
Trivia: Kevin was the first (and so far, onlyMarvel creator to have a head shot illustration on an on-going series!
Even the ever-amazing comics researcher Nick Caputo could find little about the mysterious Mr Banks, as seen HERE.
What did Banks did after working at Marvel?
Did he work in advertising?
Become an art instructor?
Switch careers and become an accountant or fireman?
We may never know the answer...

BTW, this is our 5,000th post!

Friday, February 5, 2021

Friday Fun CALVIN: Marvel's First African-American Humor Character!

The Black Panther was not the first Black Marvel character to get a cover-featured series!
He wasn't even the second!
He was the third!
First was Luke Cage, who received his own title...
Note: Though the series has ended, two of the stars have gone on to headline new CBS series!
Simone Missick (Misty Knight) on All Rise and Mike Colter (Luke Cage) on Evil!
Plus Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple/Night Nurse) is appearing on The Mandalorian!
The second character was...
WHO???
Several months before Prince T'Challa took over a reprint book, Jungle Action, and began a memorable series that served as part of the plot of the billion-dollar blockbuster movie...
...this character took over another reprint book and began a series that nobody remembers!
[You can read every never-reprinted tale featuring Calvin and his buddies HERE!]
What makes the strip even more fascinating, beyond the vaudeville-level humor, is the identity of the writer-artist behind it!
"Kevin Banks" was not a pseudonym for an already-established creative, but an editorial staffer at Marvel in the early 1970s who received his "big break" with this strip!
Trivia: Kevin was the first (and so far, onlyMarvel creator to have a head shot illustration on an on-going series!
Even the ever-amazing comics researcher Nick Caputo could find little about the mysterious Mr Banks, as seen HERE.
What did Banks did after working at Marvel?
Did he work in advertising?
Become an art instructor?
Switch careers and become an accountant or fireman?
We may never know the answer...

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Gone Too Soon...Chadwick Boseman 1976-2020

I didn't know he had cancer...
...and he didn't publicize the fact, preferring to perform and create memorable cinematic personas, both real and fictional.
As a Brooklyn boy born the year the Dodgers left town, I grew up with my dad (who hated the Yankees) telling the story of Jackie Robinson and the incredible guts he had in order to do what no Black man had done before!
When the movie 42 hit theaters, I rushed out to catch it, and see the tales my dad told me about (including some of the really-nasty, racist shit) brought to life.
Boseman's Jackie Robinson wasn't a pure, larger-than-life icon, but a guy who wanted to do something he loved, no matter what it took.
When he was cast as The Black Panther (and yes, I bought Fantastic Four #52 at my local candy store in early 1966), I knew he'd have the physical prowess to make the character convincing on-screen, but wasn't sure he'd pull off the persona, not to mention the accent.
I shouldn't have worried.
He was great!
Now he's gone.
What can you do to pay respect?
VOTE!
No matter what it takes!
It's what Jackie and T'Challa Would Do!
So, let your voice be heard!
If You Haven't Already Done So...Register!
#WhenWeAllVote
#Vote2020

Sunday, February 9, 2020

The FIRST Black Hero to Have His Own Comic was...a Cowboy???

In 1966, the year the Black Panther debuted in Marvel's Fantastic Four...
...Dell Comics went them one better, introducing the first Black hero to get his own comic!
Other Black characters had their own series in anthology titles, but Lobo was the first to have his name AS the comic's title! 
Lobo combined a couple of popular plot concepts...
Man on the Run for a Crime He Did NOT Commit
Exemplified by then-hit tv series The Fugitive, Lobo was framed, but couldn't prove his innocence.
Lone Western Hero
A loner wandering the Old West, righting wrongs was an especially popular genre in tv Westerns.
Variations on the theme included gamblers (Maverick) and martial-arts experts (Kung Fu)
Note: the tv series Branded also combined both the Loner and Man Framed themes!
...as well as a new concept:
Prominent Black character
Black characters (except for sterotypes like Amos 'n Andy) were few and far between on tv until the mid-1960s, and even then only as supporting characters (usually servants).
1960s urban dramas like Naked City and East Side, West Side, which dealt with current social themes had Black guest stars including James Earl Jones and Diana Sands, but no Black regulars.
Star Trek (1966) had both a Black regular character (Lt. Nyota Uhura) and Black actors in prominent roles as scientists and high-placed officers (admirals, etc,).
But, at that point, there were no tv series with a Black lead or Black title character!
(Diahann Carroll's groundbreaking series Julia didn't debut until 1968, two years later!)
So, Lobo was, to say the least, a daring experiment, albeit one with as many popular themes as possible to maximize sales potential!
Dell writer/editor Don (DJ) Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico felt the time was right, and managed to convince their publisher to take a chance.
(You can read Arneson's tale of Lobo's creation HERE.)
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Many vendors outside of East Coast cities refused to even put a comic with a Black hero on their racks, and the book had an almost 90% return rate.
Lobo the comic only ran two issues.
It's rumored that a script and unfinished art exist for a third issue, but that's never been confirmed.
You can read both issues of Lobo HERE and HERE.

And don't forget our line of Lobo comic collectibles, including t-shirts, mugs, and other goodies at...

Saturday, March 3, 2018

The SEQUEL to the Swinging Seventies Black Super-Hero You NEVER Heard of...ACE OF SPADES II!

In 1971, two years before The Black Panther received his own series...
...a Black Super-Hero hit the newsstands of America for a two-issue run almost nobody remembers!
Who is he?
Where did he come from?
And why don't even the most obsessive comics fans remember him?
These, and other equally-valid questions are now answered at...
Warning!
The Answers May NOT Be Suitable For the Faint-Hearted!
Click HERE at Your Own Risk!

Saturday, February 24, 2018

The Swinging Seventies Black Super-Hero You NEVER Heard of...ACE OF SPADES!

In 1971, two years before The Black Panther received his own series...
...a Black Super-Hero hit the newsstands of America for a two-issue run almost nobody remembers!
Who is he?
Where did he come from?
And why don't even the most obsessive comics fans remember him?
These, and other equally-valid questions are now answered at...
Warning!
The Answers May NOT Be Suitable For the Faint-Hearted!
Click HERE at Your Own Risk!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

How the Black Panther Became the Black LEOPARD...then Went Back to Being the Black PANTHER! Conclusion

...The Black Panther changed his name to "Black Leopard" in Fantastic Four #119 (February 1972)...
...then, several months later, changed it back to "Black Panther" in Daredevil #92 (October 1972)...
Why?
When he appeared a month later in Avengers #105 (November 1972)...
...with the first cover caption since 1969 to use his super-hero name...
...even Hawkeye was confused...and the other Avengers were curious as well...
This was Steve Englehart's first Avengers story, and while most of it is Englehart's material, this particular aspect is clearly editor/departing writer Roy Thomas' doing.
Roy is an incredible continuity fan, and has never left a plotline unresolved if he could do something about it!
With this issue, the Panther became a full-time Avenger again until #126...
...when, after kicking a disguised Klaw's ass yet again, he departed for Wakanda to begin his own series in Jungle Action #6 (1973)!
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(reprinting the complete stories we excerpted here...but in black and white!)

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

How the Black Panther Became the Black LEOPARD...then Went Back to Being the Black PANTHER!

Many stories providing background for the new Black Panther movie mention how, in Fantastic Four #119 (February 1972), T'Challa changes his super-hero name...
But none of them mention when or why Marvel reversed the name change!
As we pointed out HERE, Marvel had been using the Panther's civilian name on covers, which was a little silly since he was in costume...
...even on the book where he changed his name from Black Panther to Black LEOPARD...
...thus, T'Challa's name change was firmly established!
Or was it?
T'Challa's next appearance was in Daredevil #92 (October 1972)
...where this symbolic cover shows Daredevil, the Black Widow, and the Black Panther!
Nope, I'm not kidding!
A villain kidnaps the Black Widow and figures out Matt Murdock is Daredevil!
He sends a martial arts-trained assassin to kill Murdock...
Note something a little...off..about 'ol Hornhead?
Figure out what's going on?
Clue: Daredevil doesn't use his billy club...his primary weapon!
T'Challa's calling himself "Black Panther" again!
Why?
Did writer Gerry Conway forget the name change in FF #119?
Guess what, True Believer?
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
(which reprints the complete story we excerpted...but in black and white)