This anniversary is one that I think truly deserves to be recognized and celebrated, so we will enjoy the Black Panther’s 60th birthday on Wednesday, February 11, 2026!
FROM THE FF TO HIS OWN MARVEL MOVIE!
Many call the Black Panther the first black superhero, which is rightly deserved! I’m actually old enough to remember T’Challa’s first appearance way back in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. Since then, he’s been all over the Marvel Universe, including being an Avenger for many years.
I remember that there was some controversy about the character’s name because there was a group of activists in New York City, among other places, that wasn’t always seen in a positive light, called the Black Panther Party. It’s interesting to me that T’Challa has long outlived that group. Not many people even remember the Party!
He made his first appearance in the MCU in the Secret Wars movie, and that led to him getting his own film titled, appropriately enough, Black Panther. That film exceeded all expectations, making its star, Chadwick Boseman, very popular and easily recognized.
Sadly, the actor passed away soon after the film left the theaters, and that has affected the following movies as well as the comics. He’s been so strongly identified with the character that the Panther, unlike say Batman or James Bond, hasn’t been switched to another actor. He was recently granted a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, so his popularity continues to this day.
There was also a Black Panther animated series that was based on a comic series for a while. Since one of my favorite Marvel characters, the Black Knight, was changed into one of T’Challa’s opposite numbers, who was quite the Christian apologist, to put it mildly, I never warmed up to either. It was nice to see the Panther on the small screen, though!
T’Challa also entered into a relationship with Storm for the X-Men for a time, which made sense since they both were in the African continent. I never quite heard why they broke up, but two very strong heroes rarely make a good pairing.
THE FF HAVEN’T BEEN THE SAME!
The Black Panther is a good example of what made the FF such a must-read at the time. The Fantastic Four were not crime fighters like Batman, having their own FF signal (although the Torch would often float a fiery number four in the sky to call the members back to the Baxter Building).As Mark Waid once said in an interview, the FF were instead adventurers, exploring the nooks and crannies of the Earth and nearby planets and universes. Wakanda was an ultra-advanced country hidden in Africa. That was one of the locations the FF made famous in Marvel, even though no one seemed able to find it.
Sadly, since those days of Wakanda, the Inhumans, and other undiscovered societies, the FF has lost a lot of that exploration imperative. I understand that they can’t always find “strange new worlds,” but some occasional new discoveries would be welcome, at least by me.
WHAT’S A PUBLISHER TO DO?
There will be a special issue released to honor of the Panther on February 11. It will bring back together several of the best Panther creators for another time to tell a T’Challa tale.I’m sure the hope at Marvel is that this book will help rekindle interest in the Panther so more stories can be told in the months ahead.
I find it interesting that many of the Panther stories will be tales from the Panther’s past, but to keep the Panther going, they’ll need to look ahead as well.
We’ll see what this 60th celebration means for the Panther moving forward! I’m sure fans are hoping for big things to happen that will bring the Panther back to the forefront of the Marvel universe!
About Author
