10 Major Milestones In Comic Book History

6. Black Panther - T'Challa - Is Introduced In 1966

Almost thirty years on from Superman making his debut in Action Comics, Black Panther - the first black superhero to be featured in a mainstream American comic book - made his first appearance. Said appearance came in Fantastic Four #52, which was written and drawn by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and saw the Four head to Wakanda by invitation of the king himself.

The fact that it took as long as it did to have a hero of colour in a comic book is scandalous in itself, but what's particularly amazing about T'Challa's creation is his superhero identity. The Black Panthers were, of course, a radical self-defence organisation founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale at the peak of the Civil Rights movement, so to feature a superhero bearing their name during the same period was, while not intentional, quite revolutionary in itself.

Three years later, Marvel would also introduce The Falcon, Captain America's longtime friend and eventual successor, before DC would bring in characters like John Stewart and Black Lightning. T'Challa undoubtedly paved the way however, and with a cinematic solo feature releasing next year, it's important to illustrate just how important the character really is.