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Black Panther

1,091 appearances · Silver Age · 1966–2026 · 40 key issues

Who is Black Panther?

Few debut moments in comics carry the weight of Fantastic Four #52 — when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Black Panther to the world in 1966, they planted a flag for the Silver Age that still flies today. Over six decades and more than a thousand catalog appearances, this Marvel titan has proven himself one of the medium's most enduring and significant figures, headlining his own long-running series while sharing pages with the likes of Captain America, Spider-Man, and Iron Man. With 40 key issues to his name, Black Panther isn't just a character with history — he is history, a cornerstone of Marvel's universe whose importance only deepens with every passing year.

Teams & affiliations

Avengers

★ First appearance

Fantastic Four #52

Jul 1966

Trivia

Marvel briefly rebranded T'Challa as Black Leopard in the late 1960s — a short-lived editorial sidestep taken because 'Black Panther' had become politically sensitive in the wake of the Black Panther Party.godyears.net
Black Panther holds the distinction of being the first Black superhero in American mainstream comics, making his debut a genuine publishing milestone rather than simply another early Marvel introduction.godyears.net
His inaugural story stands as one of the earliest Marvel tales to anchor a superhero narrative around vibranium, national sovereignty, and the foreign exploitation of an African nation — giving T'Challa an unusually political foundation for the era.godyears.net
Roy Thomas has written more of Black Panther's comics than any other writer in our catalog — 55 issues.