The first appearance of Black Panther, the first African American superhero.
And, to San and Jack’s credit, he’s actually African. And he doesn’t speak in sloppy slang or ebonics. And he’s a genius.
The Fantastic Four go to Wakanda because they’ve heard that the nation is light years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology. Right away, this is a big break from the traditional depictions of Africans in the 1960s, and quickly we see T’Challa defeat the entire team…
…so he is established as a brilliant man and a powerful force, but at the same time, his whole country is full of really smart non-American black people.
Once there, he shares his origin story. And it includes the imperialist Ulysses Klaw.
T’Challa invited the team to Wakanda to help defend against Klaw, who is invading the country to steal vibranium.
Klaw is just a dude with a sound gun in this story, but at the very end, he retreats into his sound machine…
When we see him again, he’ll be much more powerful.
Also, the team convinces Black Panther to become a superhero.
