Man, and I thought Chop Chop had a bad deal before.
Don’t suppose Eartha Kitt as Catwoman counts?
Damn - that went off too soon. Shouldn’t Blackhawk from Tornado/2000 AD make the cut in the ancient section? He was abducted by the Ringmasters, but he was abducted from ancient Rome.
I loved that strip when I was a kid. If your soul has been stolen by an alien demon who offers it back to you in return for your fealty, address it thus: “Hear me, Demon, and hear me well. My past is behind me. I create my own destiny and I say NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE CALLED SLAVE!” Then run it through with a sword.
Fair enough, but if he’s on the list, he still belongs in the '60s, not the '70s–He was running around as a super-spy in the early S.H.I.E.L.D. stories in STRANGE TALES circa 1966. By the '70s he’d mostly vanished along with S.H.I.E.L.D.
And I agree with you about Ebony, and to add to that, he wasn’t a sidekick, he was a partner–their relationship was MUCH closer to Doc Savage and his pals than, say, Flash and the Three Nitwits. He was as smart (or smarter) than the somewhat dim Denny Colt and he was certainly shrewder.
Moved, dated Gabriel Jones of S.H.E.I.L.D.
Recalculated Apocolypse’s timeline
Added Powerman
Added Blackhawk, with date
Added Lothar, with date
Middlecase: Eartha Kitt’s Catwoman never appeared in print as far as I know. Cite it and I’ll add it.
REVISITED REVISED LIST, RE-LISTED
Dr. Mist (DC) pre-history
En Sabah Nur, Apocolypse (Marvel) dynastic Egypt, 3,000BC
Teth-Adam, Black Adam (Fawcett/DC) dynastic Egypt, 3,000BC
**N’Kantu, the Living Mummy ** (Marvel) late dynastic Egypt and sub-Sahara Africa, 1000BC
Blackhawk (Tornado/ 2000 AD) Ancient Roman
Reno Jones of the Gunhawks (Marvel) late 1800’s, American West
Lothar (syndicated) 1934
Ebony White, partner to **The Spirit ** (syndicated) 1940s
Isaiah Bradley, “Black Cap,” Captain America’s precursor (Marvel) 1940s-WWII
**Will Everett, Amazing Man ** (DC) 1940s-WWII
Ulysses Hazard, Gravedigger (DC) 1940s-WWII
David Mitchell, Human Top (Marvel) 1940s-WWII
T’Chaka, the Black Panther (Marvel) 1944
**K.O. Carson, the Black Badge ** (Image/Homage/ASTRO CITY) 1950s
John Henry (DC) three months in 1959
Gabriel Jones of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel) 1966
T’Challa, the Black Panther (Marvel) 1966
Sam Wilson, the Falcon (Marvel) 1969
SEVENTIES POT LIKKER STEW
Nubia (DC)
Powerman (original publisher unknown, Acme/Eclipse 1988 reprints)
Luke Cage, Power Man (Marvel)
John Stewart, Green Lantern (DC)
Blade, Vampire Hunter (Marvel)
Jim Foster, Black Goliath ** (Marvel)
Ororo Monroe, Storm (Marvel)
Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning (DC)
Mal Duncan, Hornblower (DC)
Dr. Eliot Franklin, Thunderball (Marvel)
Karen Beecher, the Bumblebee (DC)
Willie Walker is Death, the Black Racer (DC)
Vikyn The Black (DC)
August Durant of the Secret Six (aka Mockingbird) (DC)
(Identity Unknown) Black Manta ** (DC)
(Identity Unverified) Blue Knight (Image/Homage/ASTRO CITY)
Now: any errors? Omissions? I miss anything? Let me know!
His name is Bill Foster.
Misty Knight belongs on there. While she wasn’t named until around 1975, her first appearance was in Marvel Team-Up #1, 1972.
Brother Voodoo, circa 1974
There was a one-shot character from Savage Tales called “Black Brother,” an earnest early attempt by Denny O’Neil to be “relevant.”
Was August Durant actually ever revealed as Mockingbird? I thought it was the magician guy.
Question: Why the interest in retro-fitted heroes? Amazing Man (All-Star Squadron) was backfit into WWII, but comics never featured him until, like, 1982. Wouldn’t it be more culturally valid to focus on when the characters were actually created and published? Black Panther broke ground in a way that Amazing Man didn’t.
Waht about whatshisname–the black kid who was Rick Jones’ (short-lived) replacemnt as Hulk’s sidekick. IIRC he got AIDS or something later. I don’t know if he’s important enough to add, but wanted to toss him out as an option.
And are you sure about The Falcon’s date? He appeared around CAPTAIN AMERICA #116 or so and I’d guess that that issue was more like 1967.
You also left off [url=“http://www.blacksuperhero.com/exhibithtml/exh-marvel-nightshade.html”]Nightshade[/uro] who, as far as I can figure, was the first (IIRC) black super-villianess ever.
Thanks Bosda
hah! I’m such a fool. I already have this, so yes, I did ignore the reviews!
I bought it for the ginchy story where Braniac makes Superman watch the explosion of Krypton, blinding him (albeit rather impermanently). The fun part was how Superman’s Irises turned into little burning suns for the duration of the story.
urm… sorry for that hijack. We now return to our regularly scheduled thread.
Jim Wilson. Died in Incredible Hulk #420, from an AIDS infection.
#117, 1969.
Sorry. Been away.
Krokodil. I include retconned black heroes mostly so I can include sueprheroes outside Marvel and DC and personal favorites like the first Jack-In-The-Box from ASTRO CITY… and maybe Nakia Wagner from PLANETARY and TOM STRONG’s Ozu wife Dhulala-Omotu-Strong. Perhaps I should make additional notations to that effect…
August Durant’s identity as Mockingbird was revealed on various web pages when I Googled the search terms August + Durant + Mockingbird. News to me, so if it’s wrong, let mne know and I’ll correct it.
added Buck Wild (Milestone)
added Sugar Rollins (Wildstorm)
added Nightshade (my bad, Fenris.)
added Misty Knight
added Dhuala Strong
added Jack In the Box
corrected Bill Foster, Black Goliath
moved up August Durant, added date
REVISITED REVISED LIST, RE-LISTED, REVITALIZED
Dr. Mist (DC) pre-history
En Sabah Nur, Apocolypse (Marvel) dynastic Egypt, 3,000BC
**Teth-Adam, Black Adam (Fawcett/DC) dynastic Egypt, 3,000BC
N’Kantu, the Living Mummy (Marvel) late dynastic Egypt and sub-Sahara Africa, 1000BC
Blackhawk (Tornado/ 2000 AD) Ancient Rome
Reno Jones of the Gunhawks (Marvel) late 1800’s, American West
**Lothar assistant to Mandrake the Magician (syndicated) 1934
**Ebony White, partner to The Spirit (syndicated) 1940s
Isaiah Bradley, “Black Cap,” Captain America’s precursor (Marvel) 1940s-WWII
Will Everett, Amazing Man (DC) 1940s-WWII
Ulysses Hazard, Gravedigger (DC) 1940s-WWII
David Mitchell, Human Top (Marvel) 1940s-WWII
T’Chaka, the Black Panther (Marvel) 1944
K.O. Carson, the Black Badge (Image/Homage/ASTRO CITY) 1950s
John Wilson, the vigilante John Henry (DC) three months in 1959
Jack-In-The-Box I (Image/Homage ASTRO CITY) 1964
Gabriel Jones of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel) 1966
T’Challa, the Black Panther (Marvel) 1966
August Durant of the Secret Six (aka Mockingbird) (DC) 1968
Dhuala Strong (ABC) 1968-1969
Sam Wilson, the Falcon (Marvel) 1969
SEVENTIES GUMBO 'SPLOSION
Nubia (DC)
Powerman (original publisher unknown, Acme/Eclipse 1988 reprints)
Luke Cage, Power Man (Marvel)
John Stewart, Green Lantern (DC)
Brother Voodoo (Marvel)
Blade, Vampire Hunter (Marvel)
Bill Foster, Black Goliath (Marvel)
Tilda Johnson, Nightshade (Marvel) – I think Nubia beats her out by a year.
Ororo Monroe, Storm (Marvel)
Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning (DC)
Mal Duncan, Hornblower (DC)
Dr. Eliot Franklin, Thunderball (Marvel)
Karen Beecher, the Bumblebee (DC)
Misty Knight crimefighter and Iron Fist’s squeeze (Marvel)
**Sgt. Willie Walker is Death, the Black Racer ** (DC)
Vikyn The Black of the Forever People (DC)
Buck Wild (Milestone)
Sugar Rollins (Wildstorm)
(Identity Unknown) **Black Manta ** (DC)
(Identity Unverified) Blue Knight (Image/Homage/ASTRO CITY)
Double asterisks (**) preceding names indicate a character who was actually published by a comics company or syndicated comics strip prior to 1960 IRL, returning to the original intent of the thread.
Does Brer Rabbit count as a hero, I wonder? Given the voiceovers in the animation (and given the prior history of the character), he’s clearly intended to be a “black” character. And he was a comic book character as early as 1946 (Four Color #129).
Couldn’t call him a “superhero,” though.
Nubia was a good-guy (misguided, but good) IIRC. Nightshade is a baddie.