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Justin Becerra Ms. Bell English IV August 28, 2013 Comic Books Comic Books have been around officially for many years, but unofficially, they have been bringing entertainment to us for much longer. Although comics did have a few rough patches, where at one time they were almost banned, they have progressed through many stages since they were first written. The influence of comics have greatly affected many aspects of our lives in subtle but noticeable differences. After all, everything must start somewhere. The History In 1842, the first actual comic book to be published in the United States is The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck. This however, is not revered as the first ever comic book since it was not as main stream as the other well known comics and he was not considered a superhero. Comic books were much greater then just a form of entertainment for kids, they were used as a serious and sophisticated form of art that binds itself with historic constructs and cultural formulas. The two main publishers of comic books have been DC Comics and Marvel, which have gone through what the readers have distinguished as time periods based on writing style, storytelling techniques, and marketing strategies [Coogan 2006]. The time periods varying between 5 different specific ages. The writing style of todays comic book can perhaps be traced to the ancient format of sequences of narrative cave paintings [Hayman and Pratt 2005]. Many

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of us know the first superhero as Superman who starred in Action Comics, both making there first appearance in 1938. Him along with Batman pushed the comics into a more superhero train of thought giving rise to a great deal of other well known superheroes which fell into the Golden Age of comics. During this time the dawn of heroes were also aided by the thought of patriotism as WWII endured giving us the great Captain America. As the Silver age rolled in and comics lost there spark, the major publishers created a Comics Code Authority in order to self-police themselves and earn back the readers [McCloud 1993]. Marvel further revolutionized the ideal superhero by creating characters who had some kind of flaw, like the Hulk or Spiderman. They were misunderstood outsiders and this spoke directly to public disorientation. As the silver ended and comics still declined, the Bronze Age for publishers forced them to license out there characters for television revenue and to have a new outlook on there characters. This truly showed in the iron age with heroes who began focusing on there own mortality as superman dies in Louis lanes arms and the comic book genre turns on itself. Yet comic book publishing companies still try and revitalize there heroes by focusing on the Golden and Silver Ages greatly incorporating marketing to aid during the Modern Age. The Choice The comic book I choose to write about is the Black Panther. I choose this superhero mainly because he really didnt get the appreciation he deserved, and the fact that he is feline associated. The Black Panther was created by two people, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. His very first appearance was in the Fantastic Four issue #52 in 1966. The Black Panther is just the start of mainstream black superheroes. He is comic books first major or mainstream if you will, African hero. Although falcon was the first original

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black superhero. A long time ago, a huge meteorite that was composed of a rare mineral now known as vibranium, crashed in the land of Wakanda. The Black Panther Bashenga, who was the king at the time, harnessed the mineral and used it to aid in developing his nation. Thousands of years later, while ruled by The Black Panther TChaka, Wakanda's level of technological and economic advancements continued to exceed the expectations far beyond those of the ordinary world. The Black Panther is traditionally the warrior king of the extremely technologically and advanced African nation, Wakanda. With the power he gained consuming the Wakanda heart-shaped herb that granted him his superhuman senses, combined with his enhanced panther-like abilities, he split his time between being a king and crime fighter. As his land was now exposed to the outside world and the Panther being suspicious of all super-human kind he deiced to join forces with the Avengers, even becoming one of there veteran members, all while ruling his kingdom. The Writer Jack Kirby, born August 28, 1917 was an American comic book artist and writer who was referred to by many as one of the most influential creators of comic books. He grew up in New York City poor and got into the comic business in the 1930s under several different pen names. He created numerous superheroes for what would be know later on as DC Comics. After serving in the war in teamed up with marvel to create the Xmen and the Fantastic Four. While feeling as he was treated unfairly he left the company to rejoin DC Comics. Along with Jack Kirby, Stan Lee also aided in the creation of the Black Panther. Born December 28, 1922, he was an American comic book writer, publisher, television host, and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. He was

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entertained by dreams of writing a Great American Novel and even graduated high school early at the age of 16 . He most notably collaborated with Jack Kirby to create some of the most well known superheroes we know today. He happened to lead the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large mainstream multimedia corporation. The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor. The Comic The comic book I read consisted of 24 pages and was issue number 1 of volume 4 on the Black Panther. In this issue it portrays a man who is speaking to another man that is locked in some kind of special prison. He tells the prisoner about the history of Wakanda and how they seem to have never been conquered. Then the man mentions how the person who rules these people is known as a black Panther and he is there King. Explaining to the prisoner about the feats they have triumphed over and how easily they did so. In one piece of there battles during the 5th century A.D. they have giant crossbows catapulting hundreds of arrow as there attackers were using spears and shields, Waknadans evidently way ahead of the rest of the world. During the 19th century they are attacked yet again with men who have muskets and Gatling guns with them. As they approach wakanda the Black Panther meets there front line with a large mechanical machine, causing the muskets to misfire and explode in there very hands. He speaks of how the government is interested in the native people and how they have been able to accomplish there achievements. Again the government sends another team to Wakanda, but this was a one man team, it was none other then Captain America who was searching for Nazis that sought to infiltrate the Wakanda technology during WWII. As the Captain

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engaged in extended hand to hand combat against the Black panther, he ended up being not even a close match even though he was the militarily, and scientifically enhanced Captain America. As the governments officials talk about this, they cannot believe it and are outraged, but then a scientist mentions that the Black Panther even beat the Fantastic Four. The story then ends as the man asks for the prisoners help as the Black Panther has also taken something of him, his hand, and says, He made one mistake though, the mistake of not killing me, The KLAW. The Review My thoughts on the comic The Black Panther were mainly good ones. I enjoyed the fact that the storyteller covered the Black Panther from way in the early ages, then progressed to a later time period and kept becoming more current from there. The reason I thought this was a good choice because it allows for example the next comic book to continue where the first one left off, or the chance to hear more about the events of the Wakandan people and there opposing forces in battle way before the current time period. There were also a few things I disliked about the story such as how the current storyteller was a victim of The Black Panther, and how for some reason he was discussing the Wakandan people background with a prisoner. The way this kind of jumps directly into the events of another person telling it, rather then the basis of how the Black Panther is chosen and what happens after or before he becomes the Black Panther I found unfavorable. My overall view of the comic is that I was glad to hear about the Black panthers triumphs over the invaders who attacked his land, and how the battles proved that the Wakandan people were technologically advanced even though it is told from the point of view of a villain.

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Works Cited Coogan, Peter. 2006. Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre. Austin, TX: MonkeyBrain Books. Hayman, Greg and Henry John Pratt. 2005. What Are Comics? A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts. Ed. David Goldblatt and Lee Brown. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 410-424. McCloud, Scott. 1993. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press. Meskin, Aaron. 2007. Defining Comics? The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 65:4, 369-376.