The title story here is writer Don McGregor and pencil artist Rich Buckler’s epic, 19-part story from the pages of the perhaps unfortunately titled anthology series Jungle Action of the mid-1970s. All are appropriate for teen readers, but probably not so much for grade-schoolers.īlack Panther Epic Collection: Panther’s RageĪrtists: Rich Buckler, Billy Graham, Klaus Janson, Jack Kirby and others Here’s what you can look for, in the order their contents were originally published, although, for the most part, any of these is a fine starting point. In preparation for the film, Marvel has collected pretty much all of the Black Panther comics into library- and bookstore-ready trade paperback format-the publisher has certainly gotten better at this in the decade since the first Iron Man film. But the comics he himself headlined were relatively few, certainly when compared to, say, Spider-Man or the X-Men. Being a superhero, a super-genius, and a head of state, the character would continually play a big role in the Marvel Universe’s shared setting, regularly appearing in crossovers and event comics. The Black Panther, the African king who dresses in a ceremonial panther costume, was first introduced by writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Jack Kirby in a 1966 issue of Fantastic Four, and in the years that followed he played a role in various FF comics and, even more so, Avengers comics, having officially joined the team in 1968. That is, the Black Panther comics are kind of like the baby bear of the comics world: There aren’t too many, there aren’t too few, they’re just right. Better yet, unlike the vast majority of superhero comics that have been adapted into films in the last 20 years or so, Marvel’s Black Panther comics are small enough in number, distinct enough in vision, and high enough in quality that they are particularly easy to recommend.

The good news is that while there are no comics exactly like the movie, particularly in its brilliant visuals of costumes and set designs, the filmmakers took a great deal of easily discernible, discrete elements from the comics. If you saw Black Panther in theaters last month-and, based on the film’s box office haul to date, there’s a pretty good chance you did-then you may find yourself wondering how closely the Marvel comics that the film is adapted from reflect that experience and, more importantly for our purposes here, which of those comics to read and recommend to others.

Black Panther, Vol. 1 by Jack Kirby