Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther, Volume 1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, John Buscema, et al.

Mighty Marvel Masterworks Presents The Black Panther, Volume 1: Collecting The Fantastic Four Nos. 52-54, 56, Tales of Suspense Nos. 97-99, Captain America No. 100, The Avengers Nos. 52, 62, 73-74 & Daredevil No. 52

Collection published: 2022
Contents originally published: 1966-70
Read: January 2024

Writers: Stan Lee, Roy Thomas

Pencilers: Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Barry Windsor-Smith, Frank Giacoia
Inkers: Joe Sinnott, Syd Shores, Vince Colletta, George Klein, Johnny Craig, Sam Grainger, Tom Palmer
Letterers: Sam Rosen, Art Simek

I've been reading Black Panther comics in original publication order, but read this out of sequence because it's a collection of material from 1966-70 that wasn't released until after I'd read other material from this era. I didn't discover it until I'd got up to the early 2000s; I jumped back to read it after finishing Christopher Priest's run. Confusingly, it's called Mighty Marvel Masterworks Presents The Black Panther, Volume 1 but the stories collected are totally different to those collected in Marvel Masterworks Presents The Black Panther, Volume 1. Not sure why Marvel would have two so similarly titled reprint series, but I'm sure it must make sense to someone. (Note that the marketing calls this volume Claws of the Panther, but that title doesn't actually appear on the cover, title page, or copyright page of my digital copy from Hoopla.)

The story collects the Black Panther's original two appearances in Fantastic Four #52-53 (which I had already read, so I did not reread), plus the half of #54 where he appears (which I had not), and then goes on to reprint early guest appearances alongside the FF, Captain America, and Daredevil, as well as a few of his appearances with the Avengers. The first few stories are all Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, then Roy Thomas takes over as writer with John Buscema on pencils.

Playing baseball against Mr. Fantastic doesn't really seem fair.
from The Fantastic Four vol. 1 #54 (script by Stan Lee, art by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott)

Fantastic Four #54 and 56 are largely curios. It is neat to see the Black Panther play baseball against the Fantastic Four, but you have to suffer through a lot of blather about the Inhumans even though it's only ten pages long; the Panther doesn't really appear in #56, which is about Klaw returning to bedevil the Fanstastic Four. This has some amazing Kirby art but the writing is not Stan's finest, with a pathetic Sue and some pretty random resolutions. The Captain America comics didn't do much for me either, they are very much Captain America stories with Black Panther as a supporting character who could pretty much be any other hero, though I guess it shows that Marvel were interested in keeping the character going.

Who was this loser, anyway?
from The Avengers vol. 1 #52 (script by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema & Vince Colletta)

Then Roy Thomas takes over, and he clearly is very interested in the character because we suddenly get him and his world fleshed out a lot more. The Avengers stories weren't great, but were noteworthy. We get the story where Black Panther joins the team, the first appearance of Man-Ape, and a two-parter that introduces singer Monica Lynne, Panther's future fiancée who would play a big role in Don McGregor's and Christopher Priest's work. The story where T'Challa joins the team is weird; it has him in a mask where his lower face is visible, and he's not called "the Black Panther," his codename is just "the Panther." Clearly this minor attempt at a revamp did not stick—to the extent that in that in one of the later stories we're told he deliberately hides that he is Black so that he can avoid judgments on his skin color! The story has him being framed for murdering the Avengers, but the eventual explanation for what happened makes little sense. It is pretty easy to read this story with Priest's retcon that T'Challa only joined the Avengers to spy on them in mind, too.

You would've been happier in the long run if you'd stayed out of it, Monica.
from The Avengers vol. 1 #74 (script by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema & Tom Palmer)

The two-parter was pretty interesting at first; Black Panther and Monica get mixed up in the attempt of white nationalists to stir up racial animus. Initially, it seems like it's about them taking down the kind of people who might say things like "pointing out racism is the real racism!" Pretty woke, Roy Thomas! But then we learn that the white nationalist demagogue and the Black anti-racism crusader are part of the same evil organization, working together to undermine America. Not so woke after all. But you can see why Monica stuck around; she instantly pops off the page.

Is this that "concrete city" they're always talking about?
from Daredevil vol. 1 #52 (script by Roy Thomas, art by Barry Smith & Johnny Craig)

The best story here is the Daredevil one. It's a bit nonsensical in parts, but it's a neat story about the police trying to find Daredevil (he's been poisoned) but mistaking Black Panther for him, and so T'Challa helps them find Daredevil. Barry Windsor-Smith does some of the best non-Kirby art in this book, good atmosphere. We don't learn much about Black Panther here but it is well told.

So overall, a decent collection to read if you want a sense of where the Black Panther came from.

ACCESS AN INDEX OF ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES HERE

The Origins of the Black Panther by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Frank Giacoia, et al.

from Fantastic Four vol. 1 #52

A couple years ago, I picked up a number of Black Panther comics for free from comiXology in the wake of Chadwick Boseman's death. I tend to read digital comics over breakfast when I don't have some kind of hard copy comic to hand, but at the time I was already reading Titan's Doctor Who comics, and then I moved onto The Wicked + The Divine. Now that I'm done with both of those, I'm turning my attention to the Black Panther comics. They aren't comprehensive, but they are pretty close, and it gets even closer if I supplement with what's available on Hoopla. I'll be reading and reviewing in publication order, though moving things around slightly so that I read series in chunks when two series were released simultaneously.

from Black Panther: The Sound and the Fury #1

The three earliest comics in the sale were Fantastic Four #52-53 from 1966, which introduced the Black Panther and provided his origin, and The Avengers #87 from 1971, which recapped and expanded on his origin, and it's those I'll be reviewing in this post. The two Fantastic Four stories, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, have the Black Panther luring the Fantastic Four to Wakanda and then battling them; it turns out he did it as a final challenge to himself. He then recaps his origin, where his father was killed by the villain later known as Klaw, and then Klaw turns up and everyone battles him. (In between all this, one is subjected to pages featuring the Inhumans.)

It's Lee and Kirby at their peak, so it has potency and power—and excess. You can see there's a lot here to run with, but I don't know that I enjoyed it so much as I appreciated the inventiveness of it all. Lots of crazy ideas, but also lots of exposition, and no one ever accused Stan Lee of being elegant. I also have these issues in a Fantastic Four Omnibus that I haven't got around to reading, and I wonder if I'll appreciate them more in their original context whenever I get around to that.

from Marvel Tales: Black Panther #1

The issue of the Avengers is from when the Black Panther was a member of the team; in classic Roy Thomas fashion, he decides to tell everyone a very detailed version of his backstory. This expands on what was told in Fantastic Four #53, adding more details to how T'Challa grew up partially outside of Wakanda, and giving him a friend who (of course) ultimately betrays him. Again, it fills in a lot of backstory for T'Challa (sometimes since FF #53, he'd gotten that name too), and I'm sure there will be a lots of future callbacks to it, but it's not so much a story in itself.

Overall, these three issues make a useful foundation, and I'll be curious to see where we go from here.

ACCESS AN INDEX OF ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES HERE

"The Black Panther!" was originally published in issue #52 of Fantastic Four vol. 1 (July 1966). The story was scripted by Stan Lee, illustrated by Jack Kirby, inked by Joe Sinnott, and lettered by Sammy Rosen.

"The Way It Began..!" was originally published in issue #53 of Fantastic Four vol. 1 (Aug. 1966). The story was scripted by Stan Lee, illustrated by Jack Kirby, inked by Joe Sinnott, and lettered by Artie Simek. It was reprinted in Black Panther: The Sound and the Fury #1 (Apr. 2018), which was edited by Mark Basso.

"Look Homeward, Avenger!" was originally published in issue #87 of The Avengers vol. 1 (Apr. 1971). The story was written by Roy Thomas, illustrated by Frank Giacoia and Sal Buscema, lettered by Mike Stevens, and edited by Stan Lee. It was reprinted in Marvel Tales: Black Panther #1 (Nov. 2019), which was edited by Jennifer Grünwald.

Fantastic Four #52 was the only one of these three offered in its original format; the other two were in reprint comics. Note that The Sound and the Fury #1 also contains an original story, but I'll read that when I get up to 2018's comics in this readthrough. I have the other three issues in Marvel Tales: Black Panther #1 in other forms, so this is the only comic from it I'll be reading directly.

Review: The Mighty Thor, Vol. 5 by Walter Simonson

Comic trade paperback, 208 pages
Published 2014 (contents: 1987)
Acquired December 2015
Read January 2018

The Mighty Thor, Vol.5

Writer & Artist: Walter Simonson
Artist: Sal Buscema 
Inking: Sal Buscema & Joe Sinnott
Remastered Coloring: Steve Oliff
Letterer: John Workman & Bob Pinaha

I found vols. 3-4 of Walter Simonson's run on Thor less interesting than vols. 1-2 (Frog Thor story aside, obvs), so I was a little worried going into vol. 5, but Simonson definitely turns it around, bringing things to an excellent and appropriate climax.

Sort of. Some comics creators tell one long story, but Simonson pursues a style of serialization that I prefer, where each story has some small hint or component that sets up the next story, so that the whole thing reads continuously, but the story being told at the beginning is not the story being told by the end. Like, way back in vol. 1 the whole thing started with Beta Ray Bill taking Thor's hammer. But in a series of natural progressions we're now reading about a Thor cursed by Hela (the goddess of death, and Thor's niece, not his sister like in Thor: Ragnarok) to experience great weakness but never die. And meanwhile Balder is ruling Asgard, and there are some human orphans from Midgard* being integrated into Volstagg's family.

The opening stories are okay, but things really come to life when Thor forges himself a new suit of armor to deal with his increasingly frail body, leading to this melodramatic showdown with the Frost Giants:

No one ever accused him of modesty.
from Thor vol. 1 #378 (art by Sal Buscema)

I love it when Thor shouts about how awesome he is.

In retribution, the Frost Giants try to send Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent (a giant dragon... also Loki's child???), after Thor, but end up sending comedy dragon Fin Fang Foom after him instead. Before they fight, Thor and Fin Fang Foom have a nice chat in a Brooklyn park:

I appreciate a philosoraptor.
from Thor vol. 1 #379 (art by Sal Buscema)

Fin Fang Foom is an erudite, honorable opponent, who ruminates on his relationship with humanity, and even lets Thor fight him in the wilderness so no bystanders will be hurt. It's a great little story featuring a great villain...

...who actually turns to be the Midgard Serpent after all!

!
from Thor vol. 1 #380 (art by Walter Simonson & Sal Buscema)

Simsonson comes back to the penciller's chair one last time during his run, drawing the issue where Thor fights Jormungan, and it is a tour-de-force. I mean, Simonson is always great on art, but here he excels himself: each page is its own panel. Sometimes this can be a cheap move (I wasn't too into it in The Death of Superman), but here it gives the fight weight and grandeur.

And its consquences are great, too: Thor become nothing but a pulp in a suit of armor, but he cannot die! Then the Destroyer turns up and all sorts of shenanigans ensue.

The run does feel slightly curtailed: Thor's supporting cast in New York City don't appear in this volume at all, for example, and there's a subplot about poison in Asgard that goes underexplained. Bu overall Simonson goes out almost as strong as he came in. I loved reading this imagining Chris Hemsworth doing the voices, and I look forward to tracking down more Thor comics.

* Earth.