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...
The second character was...
...this character took over a reprint book and began a series that nobody remembers!
Written and penciled by Kevin Banks and inked by "NT", this never-reprinted tale from
Marvel's Li'l Kids
#11 (1972) was part of a brief, 3-issue run of one-page gags and 3-5 page
stories that seemed recycled from vaudeville routines and 1940s-50s
comic strips.
BTW, you can read our other
Calvin re-presentations
HERE!
What makes the strip somewhat more fascinating is the identity of the little-known writer-artist behind it.
"Kevin Banks" was
not a pseudonym, but a staffer at
Marvel in the early 1970s!
Even the ever-amazing comics researcher
Nick Caputo could find little about the mysterious Mr Banks, as seen
HERE.
What Banks did after working at
Marvel is unknown.
Did he work in advertising?
Become an art instructor?
Switch careers and become an accountant or fireman?
We may never know the answer...
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