Before they were movies, comics were making history.
In no particular order, here is a partial list of some of our favorite black superheroes — and links to where you can buy and read the comics that feature them.
Most links are inexpensive reprint collections from Amazon, and tablet users should check out digital comics supplier Comixology and Marvel's Netflix-style Marvel Unlimited service, but we encourage you to use FindAComicsShop.com to locate the local comic book store nearest to you. They can help you find inexpensive back issues (sometimes as low as $1 each) about any character or genre you're curious about.
Comics look great on your coffee table when people come over. Or bring them to your niece or nephew so they can tell the other kids who Black Panther is before he's in a movie. Just a thought.
Gabriel Jones
Not technically a superhero, but Gabe Jones is one of the first black characters to appear in mainstream comics, and probably the oldest one still being written today.
Debuting in 1963 as a private in Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos, Gabe followed the career path of Nick Fury (a white guy in the comics before being thoroughly redefined by Samuel L. Jackson) going from World War II soldier, to Cold War super-spy, to the big screen where he was portrayed by Derek Luke in Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger. He also had a job in the 1970s fighting Godzilla, but who didn't?
Essential Reading: The Gabe-focused Howling Commandos #56 (pictured above) unfortunately doesn't appear to be collected anywhere, but the first 23 issues of Howling Commandos are collected in Marvel's affordable, black-and-white Essentials reprint series.
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Black Panther
The history of comics is messy, but Black Panther is widely considered to be mainstream comics' first black superhero. The Black Panther is the head of state and ceremonial protector of a secluded fictional nation known as Wakanda — dodgy, but at least they bothered to acknowledge Africa contains individual countries, which is
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Storm
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17 Black Superheroes And Where To Read More About Them