Follow the History of the Black Panther Pt. 35
The King of Wakanda becomes the protector of Hell’s Kitchen!
For 50 years, the Black Panther has stood at the forefront on the Marvel Universe. As we count down to a vision of T’Challa on the big screen coming soon, take a look back at five decades’ worth of comic book adventures…
In the wake of the Shadowland event, Daredevil asked The Black Panther to watch over the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York while he got his head together in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #513. T’Challa took on a new identity, complete with a day job at a diner, and threw himself into investigating a Romanian criminal gang and its leader, Vlad the Impaler.
While searching for Vlad in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #514, the Panther ran across Luke Cage and pumped him for information, while elsewhere his prey set a trap for him. This led to a rooftop fight between T’Challa and the crime boss in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #515.
The Panther received some unwanted help in the form of Spider-Man in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #516, while a gang war broke out on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Luke Cage picked a fight with T’Challa in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #517, and Vlad sought revenge for the death of his wife, believing the Panther to be responsible, missing the true culprit: a serial killer targeting child abusers. The final battle between Black Panther and the crime lord occurred in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #518.
Spider-Man’s longtime foe, Kraven the Hunter, began a hunt for the Panther in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #519, but T’Challa saw Storm clouds roll in to Manhattan when his queen arrived from Wakanda in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #520.
A revived Hate Monger targeted a New York cop turned bigoted vigilante in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #521 to twist him further. The American Panther clashed with The Black Panther in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #522, but even after T’Challa broke the villain’s control over his opponent in BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #523, his patriotic counterpart still spewed intolerance and anger.
In BLACK PANTHER: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #523.1, the Panther looked into the murders of people he’d helped in the past, and in BLACK PANTHER: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #524, he rescued an eight-year-old girl from a crook who’d kidnapped her from The Kingpin—all part of a plot to attack Wakanda.