Black Panther #1-4 (1988)
Pencils: Denys Cowan
Inks: Sam De La Rosa
You may be wondering why we've skipped half the 80's, but Gillis and Cowan's Black Panther miniseries actually originated back in 1983. Chicago based Peter Gillis was still paying frequent visits to the New York Marvel offices looking for work. Bob Budiansky pointed him in the direction of Denys Cowan, who really wanted to draw the Panther, and was in need of a writer. Gillis made the controversial suggestion of the Panther fighting apartheid. This wasn't entirely without precedence for the character, as Gillis' mentor Don McGregor had tackled thorny racial and political subjects in his Jungle Action run, even pitting T'Challa against the Klan.
3 of the 4 issues of this new miniseries were finished and it was solicited in 1984, even garnering a preview in Marvel Age. However, according to Cowan, Editor in Chief Jim Shooter had concerns about the racial violence intrinsic to the storyline. Gillis doesn't exactly shy away from the horrors of oppressive regimes, portraying torture, rioting, mass shootings and dead babies. And that's just in the first issue. It's about as dark a fare as you'll find, bearing the Comics Code stamp. At the last minute Shooter pulled it from the printers, with, according to Cowan, the justification that it just wasn't good enough. Cowan quit Marvel over the row and the three issues languished in a drawer until after Shooter was forced out in 1987. Gillis and Cowan were asked back to complete the series' final issue for an '88 release. It presumably didn't hurt that by then the oppressive apartheid regime was nearing its end, so the subject matter became a little less of a hot political potato.
The four issues take different genre approaches to a single cohesive story. It begins as a political thriller, with T'Challa struggling to find a peaceful resolution to apartheid in Anzania (South Africa), that will also appease his people, not to mention his panther god. Said panther god is less than impressed and deserts T'Challa to finds a less diplomatic host in Anzania, using them to enact bloody vengeance on the white supremacists in charge.
The second issue is a more traditional superhero slugfest, where a powerless Panther is attacked by Anzania's premier superheroes, the Supremacists. Led by the White Avenger, they're not exactly the most subtle enforcers, although Gillis portrays them not as one note villains, but misguided patriots who believe they are doing right by their country. The dated costumes are a bit off putting: mulleted, tashed and garter belted Voortrekker is possibly the most wonderfully 80's creation ever. They're like the Spinal Tap of super teams, crashing an otherwise deadly serious story.
#3 moves more into spy thriller territory, as a now physically and politically powerless T'Challa plans a daring raid into Anzania. Following the 'hiatus', the creative team returned to wrap up the tale in #4, while trying to mimic how they wrote and drew 4 years previous. After helping to broker peace in Anzania, T'Challa returns home to confront the angry Panther spirit, who frankly has been a bit of a dick throughout. They eventually come to an understanding, leaving T'Challa undisputed ruler once more.
This miniseries initially left little impression on me, as it seemed a little politically dated when I read it in the early 90's. Plus comics with a social conscience were fairly de rigueur by that point. If it had come out in '84 as intended, I can't help feel its controversial subject matter would've had a much greater impact. With the benefit of distance, it reads as a taut, well written political thriller, with moments that remain very hard hitting and affecting. Cowan's early art is impressively detailed, if a bit shaky in places.
Stan and Jack placed the Marvel U firmly in a version of our world, but that begs the question: how real should you get? It may be well intentioned for the Panther to battle apartheid, or the X-Men combatting famine in Heroes For Hope, but does wish fulfillment that a superhero could make all the world's problems go away belittle genuine suffering? Maybe it was a good thing the series was delayed to 1988, as by then you could believe in a more hopeful ending. One man did end up helping to change the real world 'Anzania' for the better, even if it wasn't T'Challa.
Comments
Post a Comment