BP710: THE PROTOCOLS - Black Panther is Overpowered: Why That's A Good Thing!

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How Black Panther Changed Comic Books (and Wakanda) Forever
The Marvel superhero pounced on the scene in the ‘60s and never looked back



By Jamelle Bouie
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

It was clear from the moment it reached multiplexes in 2018 that Black Panther wasn’t just a hit; it was a phenomenon. The title character, portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman, became an inspiration to millions of Americans. Black Panther, a.k.a. T’Challa, king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, stood as a symbol of strength, honor and pride in one’s African ancestry. And the character’s essential qualities—his regal bearing and quiet determination—are captured in his costume, designed for the screen by Ruth E. Carter, the film’s costume designer, who built on the work of Ryan Meinerding, a Marvel artist and character designer.

Carter embellished some versions of the costume with raised triangles, which she has called “the sacred geometry of Africa,” given the shape’s long significance to the continent’s art and culture. Her emphasis on the essential dignity of the character captures the ambition of his originators, the writer Stan Lee and the artist Jack Kirby, who debuted Black Panther for Marvel Comics in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. Following some of the most important moments of the civil rights movement, the comics pioneers wanted Black Panther to break stereotypes and embody black pride.

“At that point I felt we really needed a black superhero,” Lee recalled in a 2016 interview. “And I wanted to get away from a common perception.” Thus, Lee decided to make T’Challa “a brilliant scientist” living in a secret, underground African technoutopia, “and nobody suspects it because on the surface it’s just thatched huts with ordinary ‘natives.’”

But as much as the Black Panther portrayed by Boseman (under the direction of Ryan Coogler) fits this vision, he is also different from the character created by a white writer and a white artist for a white audience more than 50 years ago. Today’s T’Challa is indebted to a generation of black writers and artists who moved beyond mere representation to build a character with more depth than the one dismissed in his first appearance by fellow comics crimefighter Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing, as “some refugee from a Tarzan movie.” In the evolution of the Black Panther, you can see a clear arc in the history of black superheroes—how they’ve become richer, fuller and even inspiring characters.



Black characters have had a fraught history in comic books from the outset. They were “largely relegated to background and secondary roles and characterized primarily through their figurative embodiment of racist stereotypes,” Kevin Strait, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, says in an interview.

In the 1940s and ’50s, however, depictions began to change. In 1947, a group of black artists and writers published All-Negro Comics, a collection of stories featuring black characters. In 1965, the now-defunct Dell Comics published two issues of Lobo, a western starring a heroic black gunslinger. Still, most comics creators of the period—including the two men who launched Lobo—were white, and like the Black Panther, who was something of a token, most black characters who followed in his path over the next two decades would find themselves in a similar role. Luke Cage, for example, first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 in 1972, the height of the blaxploitation movement, as a jive-talking hustler who fought crime for money. Nubia, introduced in Wonder Woman #204 in 1973, was just a palette-swapped version of the title character.

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.

This tradition of representation and black storytelling continues. Riri Williams, a young black woman who dons a version of Iron Man’s armor to become Ironheart, was a 2016 creation by Brian Michael Bendis, who is white. But in 2018, she was reimagined by Eve Ewing, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago and a black woman. Ewing’s Ironheart was a much-praised take on the character, which, in the words of one reviewer, “perfectly walks the line between classically Marvel and refreshingly new.” Today’s black artists—and the superheroes they boldly create—are standing on the shoulders of Black Panther.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-black-panther-changed-comics-forever-180976521/









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Sidebar, I wonder if Jason Aaron will be the new writer for the Black Panther ongoing series?










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[CvilleWakandan]

Some Disney+ stuff in the works

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/heat-vision/ryan-coogler-signs-disney-tv-deal-with-wakanda-series-in-the-works?

[Ture]

Thanks CvilleWakandan, that was a good catch.

A new ‘Black Panther’ series is coming to Disney+
https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2021/2/1/22261000/black-panther-series-disney-plus-kingdom-of-wakanda

Wakanda forever: ‘Black Panther’ spinoff series planned at Disney+
https://nypost.com/2021/02/01/black-panther-spinoff-series-in-the-works-at-disney/

A ‘Black Panther’-Inspired Show Is Coming To Disney Because It’s Wakanda Forever
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wakanda-tv-show-because-its-wanka-disney_n_60186d86c5b6aa4bad36a2cb

That's right put some respect on his name. BLACK PANTHER! Now they may try to push things along without T'Challa but sooner or later all roads to Wakanda lead back to the Black Panther known as T'Challa.

[Ezyo]

Problem is that T'Challa ain't in it. From what we have heard and what's been said, he is being left behind and Wakanda is becoming the focus. Thing is, Wakanda was only Interesting when we experienced it with T'Challa, as it's been since his inception. Yet people are acting like Wakanda came first and is bigger than T'Challa. It isn't. It would be like Batman and Gotham but Batmans out of the picture.. Right as Batman was introduced and just started taking off.

My prediction is that BP 2 is basically going to be a origin story for the D+ show, and T'Challa will be just the footnote in his own franchise if they really stick to no recast. This ending the era of T'Challa the Black Panther before it even began

[CvilleWakandan]

Depends on what the show is about. Could be a sitcom, a Dora or Dogs exploration story. A period piece with a Game of Thrones angle.

I've come up with fanfics where Tchalla is only mentioned or makes brief cameos. Wakanda has Star Wars world building potential.

For a sitcom, a WK version of "Kims' Convenience" would be gold.

[CvilleWakandan]

Avengers Mecha Strike was surprisingly good. Seemed like an episode of an Avengers cartoon.

Normal avengers was average except for the Thor twist ending.

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By Jerad S. Marantz


By character designer Raf Grassetti








Art by Jerad Marantz
http://conceptartworld.com/news/avengers-infinity-war-concept-art-by-jerad-marantz/

[Battle]

Insane! 

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Marvel’s Next Black Panther Rules a Secret Kingdom
Black Panther's nation of Wakanda faces huge changes in Marvel's Heroes Reborn event, which will reveal a history where the country remained a myth.

BY KEVIN ERDMANN

Marvel's new Heroes Reborn event is arriving in May, seeing an entirely rewritten universe in which the Avengers never assembled. Instead, the Squadron Supreme of America have become the Earth's Mightiest Heroes in their place. Furthermore, it's been reported that the void of the Avengers will create a ripple effect, causing several other elements of Marvel history to unfold in new ways. One of the most interesting alterations is the idea that the Black Panther's kingdom of Wakanda will have remained a myth, never revealing itself to world.

Black Panther's first appearance was in 1966's Fantastic Four #52, seeing Marvel's First Family coming into contact with King T'Challa, while also discovering the existence of his secret and technologically advanced kingdom of Wakanda, hidden deep within Africa. Over time, King T'Challa chose to expand Wakanda's presence and relationship with the rest of the world, while often offering his own aid and support as one of the Avengers. However, images from the new Heroes Reborn event suggest that the Fantastic Four never got their powers in this new universe, which means that they'll never become the Fantastic Four and have the adventures they had, including meeting King T'Challa.



In the summary for May's Heroes Reborn event, it's revealed that Wakanda never made those strides to integrate with the rest of the world in this new universe. 'Welcome to a world where Tony Stark never built an Iron Man armor. Where Thor is a hard-drinking atheist who despises hammers. Where Wakanda is dismissed as a myth.' While it could be because the Fantastic Four never met the Black Panther, it could also be that the world under the protection of the jingoistic Squadron Supreme of America is not one that the nation of Wakanda ever felt comfortable joining. However, since Latveria's ruler Doctor Doom has already been teased as a major opponent of the Squadron, it could also come to pass that the corrupted Phil Coulson (who seems to be positioned as one of the major villains of the event) saw the nation as a threat. If that's the case, it's possible that he could have sent his brainwashed SSA to eliminate the African nation entirely in secret, with none of the general public ever knowing about its existence.

It's equally possible that this new universe could also have had a different king and Black Panther other than T'Challa - someone like M'Baku or Erik Killmonger - who might have wanted to keep Wakada hidden and isolated as they had been for decades. Recent Black Panther comics have featured Wakanda expanding into the stars, using their vast resources of Vibranium and advanced technologies to spread out into the stars. It's possible that Wakanda never reached out to the rest of the world, and subsequently just left the planet behind to colonize new worlds, only to be remembered in myths and legends.

Wakanda remaining hidden in this reality opens up a range of possibilities, though since the event is spinning out of Jason Aaron's Avengers run, which sees T'Challa as team leader, it's likely fans will have their questions answered as to why he isn't on the world stage. Coulson and his master Mephisto are likely the ones to blame for the new universe that Heroes Reborn will introduce, and it will be incredibly interesting to see what the Black Panther and his nation's role will be in its future.

https://screenrant.com/black-panther-wakanda-heroes-reborn-alternate-history-event/










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[supreme illuminati]

Hopefully this Event will provide the basis for retconning almost all of Coatesverse BP. Other than that...this event? Might be yet another way to reduce the influence of BP in the 66 MU, now that there's no official ongoing BP and no official scribe for it [ if they don't hire Redjack? Let's Capitol Building January 6th Marvel! ]

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Black Panther is Officially Overpowered: Here's Why That's A Good Thing
King in Black has confirmed that Black Panther is officially overpowered, but that's not a bad thing. Marvel Comics should embrace it.

BY KEVIN ERDMANN



In the latest tie-in issue to Marvel's King in Black event, the legions of Knull the Symbiote God are invading Wakanda, corrupting and bonding with everything in sight. While Shuri and Wakanda's general Okoye feared that their nation would soon fall to Knull's power, the Black Panther arrived, coming up with a plan to save the day and repel Knull's forces, proving how much power he and his kingdom truly have.

Despite the fact that several Marvel heroes have fallen before the King in Black, becoming bonded and assimilated into his symbiote army, Black Panther ended up effectively fighting back and securing a massive win for his kingdom. The armies of Wakanda fought off Knull's forces thanks to King T'Challa, keeping their nation safe from his dark influences and corruption. However, given what this defense entailed, it's pretty safe to say after this tie-in issue from Geoffery Thorne and Germán Peralta that Black Panther has become pretty overpowered.

However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. With current Black Panther writer Ta-Nehisi Coates leaving the series soon after Black Panther #25, a new era is coming for King T'Challa. That being said, Marvel Comics shouldn't be afraid of the recent power levels Black Panther has ascended to. Rather than scaling Black Panther and his kingdom down for the sake of easier writing, Marvel should continue to embrace how strong Wakanda is, challenging their writers to come up with new and engaging challenges for T'Challa to contend with, much like with Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman run, one of the best examples of an overpowered character still being faced with significant trials and dynamic conflict.

Black Panther's Power Levels And Resources Are Massive



King in Black: Black Panther #1 saw T'Challa enact a three-pronged defense against the symbiote armies. While Shuri combined science and magic into a form of alchemy to effectively clone herself and bolster the Wakandan troops, General Okoye manned Wakanda's secret weapon: the Hand of Bast. Appearing as a giant purple energy avatar of a panther, the Hand of Bast was created as a powerful deterrent to be used against the Phoenix Force. Meanwhile, the Black Panther himself modified and wielded the sonic cannon of his foe Ulysses Klaw, firing into the sky above his kingdom. The vibrational blast was then amplified by the force fields surrounding the remote African nation, which repelled all of Knull's forces, eradicating them with its power. Not only that, but it also punched a hole into the global symbiote dome the King in Black had created to block out the sun.

All in all, the Black Panther's defense of Wakanda in King in Black was incredibly entertaining, though it did show just how powerful he and his kingdom have become in recent years. Science and magic being wielded hand in hand, massive weapons built in secret to destroy cosmic forces that have long plagued the globe; these are only the tip of the iceberg. The issue also features high tech and defenses that have become commonplace in Wakanda, such as jet packs and energy shields surrounding the kingdom. However, this is only the latest in a pattern of comics that have depicted the Black Panther's immense power.

In recent years, Wakanda has sent its people into space, and they built an entire intergalactic empire, the conclusion of which will be seen soon in Black Panther #25. Furthermore, Jason Aaron's Avengers run has seen the Black Panther handle beings such as Khonshu the Egyptian Moon God, who at one point robbed Thor of his mighty hammer Mjolnir. However, Black Panther was able to wield the hammer himself, removing it from Khonshu's grasp. This was because T'Challa carried the blood of the First Panther within him, allowing him to be seen by the hammer as an ally.

The Black Panther Needs New Challenges To Match His New Power




As previously mentioned, the last thing Marvel Comics should do is scale back the powers of the Black Panther with the new era coming soon with new creative teams. Thanks to its unique resources such as vibranium, Wakanda and its king are in the logical position to naturally be more advanced and powerful. The key is to be clever in the new conflicts and threats that will be created going forward.

Likewise, DC's Superman has long faced criticisms that it's hard to write stories for the Man of Steel with real threats and conflicts for him to face and deal with, due to his great power. However, Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman is a great example of a story featuring a superhero who's the very definition of overpowered. In that story, Superman's powers became extremely amplified due to overexposure to solar radiation, and he was made stronger than he had ever been before. However, the radiation also gave him one year left to live before it would ultimately kill him. Throughout the course of this run, Superman faced all kinds of dynamics challenges both personal and external, and All-Star Superman would go on to be one of the most popular Superman stories of all time.

Similarly, future writers for Black Panther should rise to the challenge and continue creating unique scenarios and conflicts for the king of Wakanda. On a personal level, Superman's dynamic inner conflict has generally been using his god-like power morally. For Black Panther, his personal challenge has often been the conflict of his multiple roles and duties: those he has to his nation as king, to his fellow Avengers, and to himself. Regardless of the levels of power he has, the dilemma has lately been determining where and for who he uses his power for. As such, Black Panther has a solid foundation to work off of aside from his power levels, which is why Marvel Comics should let him keep the power they've already given him in recent years. It's not problematic unless they allow it to be.

https://screenrant.com/black-panther-king-overpowered-marvel-comics/




Like the Black Panther the criticisms of Superman being over powered were short sighted and overlooked the ridiculous villains and challenges thrown his way. How preposterous is this?







Way before Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman there were writers like Len Wein who understood the task of plotting a narrative equal to or surpassing the powers of the Man of Steel.














I concur with much of the article and find little need to reduce by any measure the powers of the Black Panther, in fact quite the opposite may be needed.










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