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Blank Panther?: Jack Kirby, Blackness and the American Dream


Jack Kirby was a legendary comic innovator. While known for his superhero creations, he made his mark in numerous genre, including the Romance comics genre which he pioneered in the late 1940s.


Blank Panther?: Jack Kirby, Blackness and the American Dream

As you know, I am aware it is Black History Month. I wrote a short piece exploring Jack Kirby's take on race and identity for the good people at PopMatters.com. The short written assignment is the most difficult. Still, I think there is some merit in an honest reflective piece consider Jack Kirby take on race and identity. Perhaps no creator was as prolific creating black characters and unlike other creators, I don't think Kirby's intention was tokenism. Indeed, characters he created remain central to Marvel. The Black Panther's recent centrality is a testament to the character symbolic important and the lack of substantive new characters created since Kirby's actions in the 1960s and 1970s.
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