T’Challa - Leader of Wakanda

But all of this is only the tip of the iceberg for these two heroes. I highly suggest picking up several of Panther's Collected Editions, including Black Panther by Jack Kirby volumes one and two, Black Panther:  The Bride, Black Panther:  Civil War, Black Panther:  Four the Hard Way, and, of course, Secret Wars 2015. You will not regret it one bit! Thats all for me this week. Next week I bring you one of the most talked about comic book events this year! I know I’m excited to bring this one to you, so I’ll see you all next week for The Next Issue!

Hailing from Wakanda, one of the most prominent fictional nations in Africa (of the Marvel Universe), is one of the most influential, powerful, dominant, intelligent men the Marvel Universe has ever known. T’Challa, the Black Panther, is a leader among leaders. First appearing in Fantastic Four #52 back in 1966, it only took this man two years to become a member of the Avengers. The Black Panther is actually the title for whoever is in charge of the country of Wakanda, which, while being handed down from father to son, must also be earned from the Panther God. T’Challa’s bond with the Panther God gives him heightened abilities such as strength, stamina, endurance, agility, and even healing. Upon losing and gaining abilities from a different panther God, T’Challa is even capable of memorizing 10,000 different scents as well as having immunity to some magic. 

Seeing him in action in comics is amazing, and it will be equally amazing to see him in film soon. Speaking of amazing, let's not forget to mention T’Challa's wife, Storm. That's right, former leader of one part of the X-men and able to control weather on a global scale, Ororo! Black Panther actually met Ororo years ago when they were younger. He fell in love with her, and, several years later, he proposed to her after helping to reunite her with some of her lost family members. This power couple was able to call a cease fire to the Marvel Civil War, standing between Iron Man and Captain America, which was not something anyone else was managing to do at that point. Storm and T’Challa are an unstoppable couple when together, even taking over the leadership of the Fantastic Four while Reed and Sue were away for awhile. 

Eventually, Black Panther regains his original bond and, with it, also becomes the “king of the undead,” which gives him knowledge from all past Black Panthers as well as control over the dead. On top of his already insane abilities, T’Challa is in possession of the strongest metal known to the Marvel Universe, vibranium. You see, at one point a meteorite crashes into Wakanda filled with vibranium. The leader of Wakanda at the time knew other countries would come looking for the meteorite to discover anything they could, so Panther decides to hide the vibranium, only selling off minute pieces for tons of money and then sending his most brilliant scientists out into the world to learn everything they can. These two actions combined have led Wakanda to become one of the richest, most technologically advanced nations in the world. He is a very cautious man as well, keeping contingency plans for almost all powerhouses in the Marvel Universe, including but not limited to Galactus. He has been stated to be the 8th most intelligent man in the M.U. and due to his leadership, brilliance, and paranoia, he often gets compared to Batman. Black Panther has earned the trust of most of the M.U., to the point that Reed Richards trusted him with the fully powered infinity gauntlet during the latest Secret Wars event. With it in his possession, T’Challa managed to go toe-to-toe with God King Doom (Dr. Doom's most powerful form as he had destroyed the entire multiverse and reformed it on one planet known as Battleworld).