T'Challa is the Black Panther, king of Wakanda, one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. He is among the top intellects and martial artists of the world, a veteran Avenger, and a member of the Illuminati. Using his powers and abilities, he has pledged his fortune, powers, and life to the service of all mankind.
Why did they call the black panther the black panther and make an issue out of his race? spiderman isn't called the white spiderman,also why did they make black panther an african prince?white superheroes aren't european princes,black panther should just be an average guy like spiderman who just so happens to be black,that would be a better story,that being said black panther has the best name and costume out of all the cat related superheroes(catman,wildcat.ect)though he has the worst backstory,catman has the best backstory.
Well he got his name during a time period when people's values were different. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as they don't continue the trend.
I like the idea of the African royalty. I mean Egypt did have pharaohs. I think Black Panther portrays African tribal aristocracy not necessarily European royalty. The last thing they should do is turn him into another street brawler. The problem with his kingdom is how it isolates itself. It might be more interesting if it was more open.
The problem with Black Panther is he needs to fine tune his back story. I mean for example, what does he represent exactly. For example, Batman has always been a great character, but he didn't truly begin to resonate with the public until he carved a niche as a psychological comic. When that happened goofy characters like the joker and Penguin finally made sense. X-Men have always been about civil rights essentially. What is Black Panther about?
Also, one big glaring problem is the fact that he has no trademark item. Wolverine has his claws and Batman has his cape and cowl and a whole bunch of gadgets. I know Black Panther has his vibranium claws, but this trademark is obscured by Captain America's Shield.
There are no "white" Spiders, but there are "black" panthers. Also, the Black Panther were a strong pro-African American rights group during the Civil Rights movement, so the name is actually quite clever. Black Lightning on the other hand....
Black Panther is named after the Militant black equality group of the 1960's, they made an issue out of his race because there were no black superheroes at the time and Marvel wanted someone to represent the African American people during a time when race was a big issue for people. He was made a prince because black people were thought of as being less than white people, they had few rights and Marvel wanted to show that a society run by black people could look like.
There's also the fact that Jack Kirby had all the subtlety of an elephant in a dark alley. Most of his black characters had the word "Black" in his name. Black Racer, Black Panther, Vykin the Black etc. To be fair to him, it was a different time, and they are pretty much the first black characters ever created in comics. They probably had the need to accentuate it at the time or something...
" There are no "white" Spiders, but there are "black" panthers. Also, the Black Panther were a strong pro-African American rights group during the Civil Rights movement, so the name is actually quite clever. Black Lightning on the other hand.... "
I believe white spiders do exist. But as someone else pointed out black panther also exists.
" A Black Panther is a type of animal, that's just the name of the animal. He actually predated the Black Panther Party. "
Really? I didn't know that. Well, there you go, Stan's always been ahead of his time :) "
He might actually have been named after the 761st Tank Battalion from WWII. It was a black unit nicknamed the "Black Panthers." But I don't think the "Black" in his name is supposed to completely refer to his skin color, it's not like they would have called him "Panther" if he was white.
" There are no "white" Spiders, but there are "black" panthers. Also, the Black Panther were a strong pro-African American rights group during the Civil Rights movement, so the name is actually quite clever. Black Lightning on the other hand.... "
I believe white spiders do exist. But as someone else pointed out black panther also exists. "
Well, yeah, they probably do, but Spidey's costume is blue and red... you get what I'm saying lol
" Black Panther is named after the Militant black equality group of the 1960's, they made an issue out of his race because there were no black superheroes at the time and Marvel wanted someone to represent the African American people during a time when race was a big issue for people. He was made a prince because black people were thought of as being less than white people, they had few rights and Marvel wanted to show that a society run by black people could look like. "
Well put.
It's interesting because a friend of mine the other day expressed to me that he hated the fact that there were minority studies. He claimed that history should be everyone's history not just one group of people. The irony in his statement is that is exactly why ethnic studies exist, because mainstream history is told from a very Euro-centric point of view. If this were a perfect world history classes would be taught from multiple perspectives (the winner, the loser, men, women, property owner, slave), but it isn't. Often times only the elite write the history books, Therefore, because of our nation's (and every other nation for that matter) dysfunctional way of dictating history, people feel that ethnic studies are needed to balance everything out, although, unfortunately, most non-ethnic students shy away from these type of classes. So, essentially what I'm trying to say is...don't hate the character, hate the racism that lead to his creation (the white supremacy of the times).
" A Black Panther is a type of animal, that's just the name of the animal. He actually predated the Black Panther Party. "
Really? I didn't know that. Well, there you go, Stan's always been ahead of his time :) "
He might actually have been named after the 761st Tank Battalion from WWII. It was a black unit nicknamed the "Black Panthers." But I don't think the "Black" in his name is supposed to completely refer to his skin color, it's not like they would have called him "Panther" if he was white. "
Yeah, I don't really think it was done to say "Hey, check this out, we got a black guy in our comic!". His costume is black, and as you said; Black Panther sounds way more awesome than Panther.
Black Panther is named after the Militant black equality group of the 1960's, they made an issue out of his race because there were no black superheroes at the time and Marvel wanted someone to represent the African American people during a time when race was a big issue for people. He was made a prince because black people were thought of as being less than white people, they had few rights and Marvel wanted to show that a society run by black people could look like.
That is so wwhat I was gonna say lmao hahahaha...yeah what he said!!
The Black Panther character was, is, and always will be contrived. He is a comic book character that came out of Marvel's think tank, not a character imagined in a particular individual (or individuals) dream.
Because he is un-iconic (he changes pretty much every time Marvel attempts to ressurect the character), The Black Panther as an ongoing series always fails.
Black Panther actually predates the Black Panthers by about 3 months, however the symbol was based on the organisation's predecessor, the LCFO and as Jotham said, there was a tank batallion during WWII called the Black Panthers.
"There are no white european king superhereos because there aren't any european kings with real power anymore. With that said, Namor and Dr. Doom are both kings, and they are white. "
So there are african "kings" these days who DO have power? Are you talking about criminals like Taylor?
"There are no white european king superhereos because there aren't any european kings with real power anymore. With that said, Namor and Dr. Doom are both kings, and they are white. "
So there are african "kings" these days who DO have power? Are you talking about criminals like Taylor? "
We are still missing the point , Blackpanther was simply created to add more color in the marvel u, thats why there think tank came up with a name like that, they ment well but some of there ideas did come across as not racsist but, they didnt know what the heck to do with black characters at the time. Example Luke cage was a horrible adaptaion of afr americans until marvel revamp him and made him much cooler. BP was simply created to add more color and culter to the marvel seen. I must admit they did a better job then DC, look at black lighting and turok lmao ahahaha too embarassing, and lets not forget the black kryptonians epic fail lamo hahaha ( please excuse the spelling im also working at the sane time thanks )
I think the name is fitting. There is actually a Black panther/leopard/Jaguar. And it is indigenous of Africa as well as central America.
I also like Black Panthers backstory. Tchalla son of T'chaka. The Black panther being a hereditary title. The heart of Wakanda granting abilities. His educational pedigree. That's awesomeness right there.
The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least.
The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least.
Wakandan military IS as advanced as the US. Maybe more.
he's probably called Black Panther for the same reason they call Wanda Maximoff Scarlet Witch or why Norrin Radd is called the Silver Surfer. just look at them. Wanda wears red, Norrin is silver colored, and BP wears all black. also the whole panther god thing. i really doubt it has anything to do with race or politics. i think people just look to deeply into it.
" Black Panther is named after the Militant black equality group of the 1960's, they made an issue out of his race because there were no black superheroes at the time and Marvel wanted someone to represent the African American people during a time when race was a big issue for people. He was made a prince because black people were thought of as being less than white people, they had few rights and Marvel wanted to show that a society run by black people could look like. "
Well put. It's interesting because a friend of mine the other day expressed to me that he hated the fact that there were minority studies. He claimed that history should be everyone's history not just one group of people. The irony in his statement is that is exactly why ethnic studies exist, because mainstream history is told from a very Euro-centric point of view. If this were a perfect world history classes would be taught from multiple perspectives (the winner, the loser, men, women, property owner, slave), but it isn't. Often times only the elite write the history books, Therefore, because of our nation's (and every other nation for that matter) dysfunctional way of dictating history, people feel that ethnic studies are needed to balance everything out, although, unfortunately, most non-ethnic students shy away from these type of classes. So, essentially what I'm trying to say is...don't hate the character, hate the racism that lead to his creation (the white supremacy of the times). "
" I think the name is fitting. There is actually a Black panther/leopard/Jaguar. And it is indigenous of Africa as well as central America. I also like Black Panthers backstory. Tchalla son of T'chaka. The Black panther being a hereditary title. The heart of Wakanda granting abilities. His educational pedigree. That's awesomeness right there. The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least. "
The spears and shields are just ceremonial. For actual fighting they use guns.
Against the skrulls they used spears and shields because they used a special weapon to knock out all technology, so the skrulls had to use melee weapons also.
" I think the name is fitting. There is actually a Black panther/leopard/Jaguar. And it is indigenous of Africa as well as central America. I also like Black Panthers backstory. Tchalla son of T'chaka. The Black panther being a hereditary title. The heart of Wakanda granting abilities. His educational pedigree. That's awesomeness right there. The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least. "
The spears and shields are just ceremonial. For actual fighting they use guns. Against the skrulls they used spears and shields because they used a special weapon to knock out all technology, so the skrulls had to use melee weapons also. "
If that has changed then I am glad. But for the longest time in comics and still in cartoons and animation they are shown to dress in ancient ways and wield spears and bows and arrows. And why didn't they simply use firearms when they Knocked out all technology? Firearmsare essentially mechanical devices which require no electricity/electronics and bullets are propelled using chemical reactions. If they knocled out all electrical/electronic/energy based technology firearms would still function as they only require a small amount of kinetic energy and chemical reactions.
" I think the name is fitting. There is actually a Black panther/leopard/Jaguar. And it is indigenous of Africa as well as central America. I also like Black Panthers backstory. Tchalla son of T'chaka. The Black panther being a hereditary title. The heart of Wakanda granting abilities. His educational pedigree. That's awesomeness right there. The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least. "
The spears and shields are just ceremonial. For actual fighting they use guns. Against the skrulls they used spears and shields because they used a special weapon to knock out all technology, so the skrulls had to use melee weapons also. "
If that has changed then I am glad. But for the longest time in comics and still in cartoons and animation they are shown to dress in ancient ways and wield spears and bows and arrows. And why didn't they simply use firearms when they Knocked out all technology? Firearmsare essentially mechanical devices which require no electricity/electronics and bullets are propelled using chemical reactions. If they knocled out all electrical/electronic/energy based technology firearms would still function as they only require a small amount of kinetic energy and chemical reactions. "
It's a comic book technology disabler. There's no logic in it, it disables all weapons.
"Well he got his name during a time period when people's values were different. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as they don't continue the trend. I like the idea of the African royalty. I mean Egypt did have pharaohs. I think Black Panther portrays African tribal aristocracy not necessarily European royalty. The last thing they should do is turn him into another street brawler. The problem with his kingdom is how it isolates itself. It might be more interesting if it was more open. The problem with Black Panther is he needs to fine tune his back story. I mean for example, what does he represent exactly. For example, Batman has always been a great character, but he didn't truly begin to resonate with the public until he carved a niche as a psychological comic. When that happened goofy characters like the joker and Penguin finally made sense. X-Men have always been about civil rights essentially. What is Black Panther about? Also, one big glaring problem is the fact that he has no trademark item. Wolverine has his claws and Batman has his cape and cowl and a whole bunch of gadgets. I know Black Panther has his vibranium claws, but this trademark is obscured by Captain America's Shield. "
agreed if they had caled "Blue marvel", "Black Marvel" I would have had a problem with it
" I think the name is fitting. There is actually a Black panther/leopard/Jaguar. And it is indigenous of Africa as well as central America. I also like Black Panthers backstory. Tchalla son of T'chaka. The Black panther being a hereditary title. The heart of Wakanda granting abilities. His educational pedigree. That's awesomeness right there. The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least. Not spear and hide shield and bow and arrow wielding troops. Black panther would be much to intelligent not to equip his men with the most advanced weapons and equipment possible and Black Panthers arsenal would rival batmans at the very least. "
The spears and shields are just ceremonial. For actual fighting they use guns. Against the skrulls they used spears and shields because they used a special weapon to knock out all technology, so the skrulls had to use melee weapons also. "
If that has changed then I am glad. But for the longest time in comics and still in cartoons and animation they are shown to dress in ancient ways and wield spears and bows and arrows. And why didn't they simply use firearms when they Knocked out all technology? Firearmsare essentially mechanical devices which require no electricity/electronics and bullets are propelled using chemical reactions. If they knocked out all electrical/electronic/energy based technology firearms would still function as they only require a small amount of kinetic energy and chemical reactions. "
It's a comic book technology disabler. There's no logic in it, it disables all weapons. "
It disable all technological weapons.Not all weapons. Not kinetic ones or ones using chemical reactions or else a bow wouldn't work...nor would our their muscles. It was simply poor writing and the propensity for the writers to arm Wakandas with archaic weapons which makes no sense.
Is anyone of you guys aware that Kirby originally wanted to call Black Panther the Coal Tiger? Check it - http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/15/comic-book-legends-revealed-256/ This quick little article has some very cool info in it and basically explains the costume, backstory, and other jazz about the Black Panther. Very cool. To be honest, I've never really thought about the Black Panther as a racial thing. I always thought of it in the same vein as the Black Widow. Named after creatures.
@xybernauts said:
"Well he got his name during a time period when people's values were different. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as they don't continue the trend. I like the idea of the African royalty. I mean Egypt did have pharaohs. I think Black Panther portrays African tribal aristocracy not necessarily European royalty. The last thing they should do is turn him into another street brawler. The problem with his kingdom is how it isolates itself. It might be more interesting if it was more open. The problem with Black Panther is he needs to fine tune his back story. I mean for example, what does he represent exactly. For example, Batman has always been a great character, but he didn't truly begin to resonate with the public until he carved a niche as a psychological comic. When that happened goofy characters like the joker and Penguin finally made sense. X-Men have always been about civil rights essentially. What is Black Panther about? Also, one big glaring problem is the fact that he has no trademark item. Wolverine has his claws and Batman has his cape and cowl and a whole bunch of gadgets. I know Black Panther has his vibranium claws, but this trademark is obscured by Captain America's Shield. "
One thing I think that Black Panther has always had going for him is his status as king of an isolationist nation. Thusly all the decisions he makes have this sort of added weight. He wants to help the world to a degree, but his country's code sort of forbids it. While he isn't always written that way, I saw him as acting opposite to Peter Parker's "with great power comes great responsibility" gimmick. Instead of forcing himself to act like Peter, the Black Panther essentially would do the opposite, because of his nation's great power, his responsibility is to make sure the world is ready before they reveal their amazing advancements. think it's an interesting dynamic.
" First appearance of the Black Panther: July 1966Foundation of the Black Panther Party: October 1966 "
Nice one. LOL.
@Roxanne Starr said:
" Because he is un-iconic (he changes pretty much every time Marvel attempts to ressurect the character), The Black Panther as an ongoing series always fails. "
He's only been through one particular change, and that was right before Doomwar. They may have added things to his character to make him a bit more before all that (gadgets and stuff), but he was relatively the same before Doomwar. As far as the series failing, I can agree with that in terms of sales.
"The only thing I disagree with is that wakandas military should as advanced as the us at least.
Maybe this will help.
"
Carrying Spears makes no sense from a strategical standpoint. I have always known that Wakanda has superior technology. But when it is shown it is usually utilized in some ineffective way. I can see them carrying spears during certain ceremonies. But in a military excursions it puts them at a disadvantage vs those armed with guns and/or lasers and energy weapons. T'challa is too astute a leader to even allow them to be outfitted with anything less than the best wakandan weaponry available.
Perhaps spears similar to the Jaffa staff weapons below would be utilized. But not simple stone or flint or obsidian headed spears such as the one The Black Panther and many of his warriors are wielding in the scan above.
@Enigman: That entire army in the picture is his. It's not just the guys with spears. When was superior tech used ineffectively, though? Not only that, maybe to T'Challa just likes the best of both worlds (using primitive weapons along state of the art weapons, judging by the scan).
" Why did they call the black panther the black panther and make an issue out of his race? spiderman isn't called the white spiderman,also why did they make black panther an african prince?white superheroes aren't european princes,black panther should just be an average guy like spiderman who just so happens to be black,that would be a better story,that being said black panther has the best name and costume out of all the cat related superheroes(catman,wildcat.ect)though he has the worst backstory,catman has the best backstory. "
Why then don't you make a big deal about Black Widow,Black Tarantula,etc? They aren't black.It's not a big deal.Black Panther is a good character name.Catman and Wildcat are pretty weak.
" @Enigman: That entire army in the picture is his. It's not just the guys with spears. When was superior tech used ineffectively, though? Not only that, maybe to T'Challa just likes the best of both worlds (using primitive weapons along state of the art weapons, judging by the scan). "
Also spears are a part of African heritage.I'm sure that they are more symbolic than anything.Wakandan's are effective with them.
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