Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the seven hundred and twenty-first installment where we examine comic book legends and whether they are true or false.
As usual, there will be three posts, one for each of the weekly three legends.
NOTE: If the CSBG Twitter page hits 11,000 followers, I'll do a bonus edition of Comic Book Legends Revealed that week. Great deal, right? So go follow the CSBG Twitter page!
COMIC LEGEND:
Jack Kirby had the Black Panther fight the KKK during his run on the series
STATUS:
False
It's weird, because this is one is so simple that I have held off on doing it for a while.
A year ago, the following meme became very popular around the internet...
A bunch of people asked me to debunk it, but I saw a few articles back then that did the same and I didn't see the meme anymore after that, so I figured I'd leave it be.
However, recently, the meme has resurfaced, in a new version!
So okay, fair enough, if this can be of any help, I might as well get it out there as best as I can in case people search for this on Google hopefully they will find this post.
Jack Kirby never had the Black Panther fight the Ku Klux Klan in either his appearances in Fantastic Four while Kirby was on the book or in his mid-1970s ongoing series that Kirby wrote and drew.
No, it was Don McGregor who wrote the adventures of the Black Panther against the Ku Klux Klan, working with artists Billy Graham and Bob McLeod. The iconic covers are by Gil Kane and Dan Adkins...
and Rich Buckler and John Romita...
McGregor recently spoke beautifully about how annoying this whole thing is, noting on his Facebook page, "Did those PANTHER VS. THE KLAN books cost me in the industry? You bet they did. Do I regret doing it? No. I'm glad the books exist. Is it difficult to watch your history stolen from you by a Meme such as this. You bet! "
Jack Kirby created Black Panther (with Stan Lee). Kirby deserves TONS of credit for Black Panther's success. He just didn't do the stories that are being attributed to him in these memes, so if people could stop doing that, that would be swell.
Check out some other entertainment legends from Legends Revealed:
1. Which 1980s Teen Stars Had to Turn Down Breaking Bad Before Bryan Cranston Had His Shot?
2. Did Axl Rose Having Sex With a Bandmate’s Girlfriend Make It on to the Song, “Rocket Queen”?
3. How Did Crispin Glover and Back to the Future II Change Actors’ Rights Forever?
4. Does Disney Give Free Tickets for Life to Any Baby Born in a Disney Theme Park?
Check back later for part 2 of this week's legends!
And remember, if you have a legend that you're curious about, drop me a line at either brianc@cbr.com or cronb01@aol.com!