Black Panther First Appearance: Fantastic Four #52 Value

Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (cover date July 1966), published by Marvel, by Stan Lee. The source puts it this way: "Fantastic Four #52 graded CGC 9.4 with the first appearance of Black Panther".

PriceCharting values for Fantastic Four #52 (1966) by CGC grade, based on recorded sales and updated September 25, 2026:

• CGC 2.0: $283
• CGC 3.0: $350
• CGC 4.0: $436
• CGC 5.0: $525
• CGC 6.0: $666
• CGC 7.0: $1,085
• CGC 8.0: $2,562
• CGC 9.0: $5,382
• CGC 9.2: $5,656
• CGC 9.4: $3,878

The spread from CGC 2.0 ($283) to CGC 9.4 ($3,878) shows how much condition matters on a key issue. Restored, trimmed or incomplete copies sell far below these figures, and reprints and facsimiles (see below) are worth a small fraction. Grade and restoration are confirmed by a grading service such as CGC or CBCS; prices move with the market and the character's popularity.

• Confirmed as the first-appearance issue: CGC's registry lists a Fantastic Four #52 copy graded CGC 9.4 as containing the first appearance of Black Panther.
• Signature Series (Stan Lee-signed) copies exist: there is a Fantastic Four #52 Signature Series copy signed by Stan Lee and graded CGC 9.4.
• Cover date and writer confirmed by CGC Comic of the Month feature: CGC's own feature confirms this Stan Lee-written story is the first appearance of the Black Panther, also known as T'Challa, king of Wakanda.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the issue number, date and publisher; reprints usually say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode format that did not exist in the year printed means a later edition.
• Paper and staples: decades-old newsprint is tan at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and married covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat, straight on, in even light, then the indicia page and the back cover. Include the top edge and staples in one frame. The app reads the title, issue number and cover and matches it against the checks above; the indicia photo settles most reprint questions.

Wikipedia describes Black Panther, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), as the first Black superhero in mainstream American comic books. Kirby's early concept was a swashbuckler called "Coal Tiger", which Lee asked him to revise. Kirby's original cover for #52 showed a cowl that left the face open; the published cover has a full face mask. In Fantastic Four #119 (February 1972) he briefly renamed himself Black Leopard, a name that did not last.

His first starring feature ran in Jungle Action #5 (July 1973), and the "Panther's Rage" storyline began the next issue (Wikipedia). His first title of his own, Black Panther #1, is cover-dated January 1977 and written and drawn by Jack Kirby. PriceCharting values, September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $36.00
• CGC 4.0: $39.23
• CGC 6.0: $57.02
• CGC 8.0: $70.00
• CGC 9.2: $129.00
• CGC 9.8: $633.20

On Fantastic Four #52 above, PriceCharting shows CGC 9.4 ($3,878) below CGC 9.2 ($5,656). Grades with few recorded sales can produce figures like this, so check the individual sales before relying on one grade's number.

Chadwick Boseman first played T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War (2016), followed by Black Panther (2018) (Wikipedia).

Black Panther debuted in Fantastic Four #52, cover-dated July 1966, and Wikipedia notes that the name predates the founding of the Black Panther Party in October 1966. The link people later drew between the two is why he briefly used another name in Fantastic Four #119 (February 1972). A July 1966 date on the cover is one way to confirm you have the debut and not a later issue.

Black Panther debuted inside the Fantastic Four's own title, and the team itself first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1, cover-dated November 1961, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (Wikipedia). Marvel publisher Martin Goodman asked Lee for a team after noticing that DC's Justice League of America was selling well. The four gained their powers from cosmic rays during a mission to space:

• Mister Fantastic: Reed Richards, stretching
• Invisible Woman: Susan Storm, invisibility and force fields
• Human Torch: Johnny Storm, fire and flight
• The Thing: Ben Grimm, strength and durability

The same issue introduced their first villain, the Mole Man.

PriceCharting values retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $2,725.11 (about one sale a month)
• Graded 4.0: $12,810.00
• Graded 6.0: $21,960.00 (about two sales a year)
• Graded 8.0: $100,650.00 (about one sale a year)
• Graded 9.2: $600,000.00 (about one sale a year)

Above 6.0 each figure rests on about one sale a year. For a copy in that range, ask an auction house for recent comparable results. Compared with Fantastic Four #52 above, the team's debut costs roughly 29 times as much at CGC 4.0 on the same date.

The early issues are full of debuts (Wikipedia):

• #1: Mole Man
• #2: the Skrulls
• #5: Doctor Doom
• #45: the Inhumans
• #48: Galactus and the Silver Surfer (see our Galactus and Silver Surfer pages)
• #52: Black Panther, this page

Yes, without a break. The first volume ran from November 1961 to September 1996, 416 issues plus 27 annuals (Wikipedia). After Jack Kirby left in mid-1970, Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman wrote it in turn, with art by John Romita Sr., John Buscema, Rich Buckler and George Pérez and longtime inker Joe Sinnott.

No. Wikipedia records that Doom stole the Silver Surfer's powers in 1967, but Galactus took them back from him. Doom's biggest power grabs came later: he ruled Battleworld as a self-declared god in Secret Wars (2015), took the title of Sorcerer Supreme from Doctor Strange in Blood Hunt (2024), and governed the whole planet in the 2025 crossover One World Under Doom.

This question comes from The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025), directed by Matt Shakman. Galactus, played by Ralph Ineson, believes Reed and Sue's unborn son Franklin has an immense cosmic power that could end his hunger and free him from having to consume worlds (Wikipedia). The film grossed $521.9 million worldwide, the most of any Fantastic Four film, and its post-credits scene shows Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom with Franklin.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market, and a grade that trades about once a year can move a lot on a single sale.

Black Panther first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War (2016), played by Chadwick Boseman; his casting was announced in October 2014 (Wikipedia). Boseman then played T'Challa in Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the animated series What If...? (2021).

Boseman died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020. Marvel Studios did not recast the role: in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (released November 11, 2022), T'Challa dies of an illness at the start of the film and his sister Shuri becomes the new Black Panther. The sequel grossed $859.2 million worldwide and also introduced Namor to the MCU, played by Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Wikipedia).

The comic behind all of this is Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), priced above. For Namor's own first comic appearance, see the Namor page.