Books Written By Black Panthers
Bernd Manison
The name Black Panther predates the founding of the Black Panther Party in October 1966, though not the black panther logo of the party's predecessor, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO), nor the segregated World War II 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion.[3][4] Scripter Stan Lee denied that the comic, which pre-dates the political usage of the term, was, or could have been, named after any of the political uses of the term "black panther", including the LCFO, citing "a strange coincidence".[5] The Black Panther is the first black superhero in American mainstream comic books; very few black heroes were created before him, and none with actual superpowers. These included the characters in the single-issue, low distribution All-Negro Comics #1 (1947).[6] Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who starred in his own feature in the omnibus title Jungle Tales, from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics[7][8] and the Dell Comics Western character Lobo, the first black person to star in his own comic book.[9] Previous non-caricatured black supporting characters in comics include U.S. Army infantry private Gabriel Jones of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.
For the last few years, diversity, and the lack of it, in comic books has been a major discussion. Coates's thoughtfulness and the way he writes about race and its relationship to politics, economics, and issues like mass incarceration is respected and virtually unmatched in this country. Coates is a major comic book fan, and described writing for Marvel as a "childhood dream." The reality of Coates writing a black superhero is a gigantic step in an industry where female and non-white creators are still a minority fighting for their voices to be heard.
But in 1993, the black superhero saw a new dawn with the arrival of Milestone Media. Founded by black artists and writers, Milestone devoted itself to black and multicultural stories. The comic Icon, for example, presents a Superman-like alien who arrives on Earth to find himself in the antebellum South. There, he takes the form of the first person he sees: an enslaved African American. Milestone set a new standard for black characters, while serving as a talent incubator for writers and artists who would go on to influence the entire industry. Dwayne McDuffie, one of its founders, defined traditional characters like Batman for a generation of new audiences and brought original creations like the black superhero Static to the screen. Christopher Priest, who broke barriers as the first black editor at Marvel and was part of the group that established Milestone, would go on to rejuvenate Black Panther, writing an acclaimed series from 1998 to 2003 that lifted the character from obscurity to the A-list of comics. As written by Priest, the Black Panther is an enigmatic genius who maintains a careful remove from the Western world. It is Priest who shaped the character for the next 20 years, and whose work (along with that of Ta-Nehisi Coates, who began writing the character for the page in 2016) was the foundation for the hero we saw in the film.
He has written several books, including, Seize the Time, and he is currently writing a book titled, Memoirs (Of an African-American Revolutionary Humanist). He is also working with director John Singleton on a movie about the Black Panthers.
Writer and cultural critic Ta-Nehisi Coates will venture into the realm of comic book writing with a new Black Panther, which will be published by Marvel. Widely known for his writing in The Atlantic on racial justice, American history and the black Americans constant struggle for equality not just under the law but in real, lived experience, Coates has also written numerous books and won wide acclaim for his prose, which marries deep emotion and immersive research. To put it plainly, Coates is one of the finest, most vital writers in current times; he's also an obsessed comic book fan.