Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Black Panther was the first superhero of African Descent in a mainstream comic, although certainly not the first African comic book character. In both comics and films, Black Panther is preceded by Gabe Jones, a heroic, but not super-powered, African-American character who appeared in 1963’s Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 and most subsequent issues, and was played by Derek Luke in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon, appeared in 1969’s Captain America #117.
First appearing in Fantastic Four #52, which came out May, 1966, the hero’s name slightly predates and apparently has no connection to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense formed in October of that year. To avoid connections to the political group, Black Panther was briefly re-named Black Leopard in 1972, but the change didn’t take. Black Panther got his own comic series in January of 1977. Unlike superheroes like Thor and The Hulk, Black Panther is not an individual, but a title of the leader of the Panther Tribe of the (fictional) African nation of Wakanda. The Black Panther we fans best know is T’Challa, son of T’Chaka, and collaborator with the Avengers.
Of course, the best Superheroes have their supporting team, and T’Challa is lucky enough to have a whole family and court of talented individuals, none the least of which is his sister, Shuri, who serves as the leader of the Wakandan Design Group and is the inventor of most of the cool stuff Black Panther uses. Shuri first appeared in the 2005 comic, Black Panther #2, but she herself WAS Black Panther in the Dark Reign era Black Panther series.
BLACK PANTHER JEWELRY FOR FANS AND COSPLAYERS
Our parent company, SalesOne, has created many Black Panther items for our partners, retailers, and special events. JewelryBrands is our retail site and we have the following offers:
For cosplay or fans, our quintessential Black Panther item is T’Challa’s Black Panther Claw necklace, currently available on Amazon. This works perfectly to complete your Black Panther costume or as a stylish fashion piece. How subtle or overt it comes across depends on how you wear it and what you wear it with. If you are interested in subtle fashion nods to your favorite heroes, you’ll like our version of the Wakandan Royal Ring or this cord and metal wrap bracelet. If you’d like to honor Shuri, you can get your own version of her Gauntlets, shown here as decorative ends in this cool bracelet, just please don’t try to use it to blast your enemies.
If you’d rather be overt, and display your love of heroes instead of dressing like them, you’re still in luck! This Keychain displays a cute and cartoony version of Black Panther on a useful pill storage compartment. If you have (or plan to) stretch out your ear piercings, you can wear this Black Panther Logo Plug, made out of lovely and comfortable Sawo Wood, available in a variety of gauges. Finally, we have this set of four pins featuring variations of Black Panther Imagery.