COMIC DEEP DIVE

By 1972, Doctor Strange had had a somewhat chequered history. Created by Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Strange Tales #110 in 1963. Strange Tales was an anthology title at the time, featuring two separate stories, and Doctor Strange became a regular feature alongside, first, the solo adventures of the Human Torch, then Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. In 1968, Marvel's owner, Martin Goodman, secured a better distribution deal for the company which allowed them to publish more comics. So Doctor Strange and Nick Fury both got their own titles, the latter starting with a new #1, and Doctor Strange continuing the numbering from Strange Tales with #169. Unfortunately, due to low sales, the book was cancelled in 1969 with #183. The writer at that time, Roy Thomas, was fond of the character and included him in, first, The Sub-mariner #22, then Hulk #126, gradually assembling a mismatched team of superheroes. They debuted as The Defenders in Marvel Feature #1 in 1971, graduating to their own...

Marvel Comics' first Black superhero, the Black Panther, debuted in 1966 in Fantastic Four #52. The character capped off an immense period of creativity by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, following on from The Inhumans, Galactus and the Silver Surfer, and the standalone classic, "This Man, This Monster" in Fantastic Four #51. Whilst he wasn't the first ever Black superhero - that honour goes to the short-lived Lion Man created by George & Orrin Evans in 1947 - he was certainly the first to appear regularly in mainstream comics in the U.S. The story of his creation began in 1965. Martin Goodman, the owner of Marvel Comics, decided he wanted to expand their line of comics and tasked editor Stan Lee with devising some new characters. Lee, in turn, went to the man he had come to rely on so heavily by then - Jack Kirby. There are two possible reasons why Goodman was suddenly so keen to expand the Marvel line at that time; one is that Kirby's former partner with whom he...