Table of Contents
It’s been 75 years since what is commonly recognized as the first Black superhero debuted (it’s not Black Panther). To celebrate, let’s walk through a timeline of Black heroes, from 1947 to today.
Lion Man: The first-ever Black superhero in US comics.
All-Negro Comics / Pictorial Press / Alamy
Creator: Geo. J. Evans Jr.
First Appearance: All-Negro Comics #1 (1947)
Powers/Skills: Strength, intellect, agility, stamina
Black Panther (T’Challa)
Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images
Creators: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #52 (1966)
Powers/Skills: Can harness the knowledge, strength, and experience of every previous Black Panther. Super strength, enhanced senses, expert martial artist, genius-level intellect, strategist, inventor. Vibranium suit gives T’Challa near indestructibility.
Goliath (William Foster)
Marvel
Creators: Stan Lee and Don Heck
First Appearance (Bill Foster): Avengers #32 (1966)
First Appearance (Black Goliath): (1975)
Powers/Skills: Size manipulation, super strength based on size.
Falcon (Sam Wilson)
Disney Xd / Getty Images
Creators: Stan Lee and Gene Colan
First Appearance: Captain America #117 (1969)
Powers/Skills: Expert bird trainer, empathic and telepathic link with all birds advanced hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, aerialist, acrobat, flight (with suit), tactical strategizing
Power Man (Luke Cage)
Terrence Antonio James / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Creators: Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr.
First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (1972)
Powers/Skills: Super strength, unbreakable skin, hand-to-hand combat, accelerated healing.
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
DC
Creators: Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
First Appearance: Green Lantern #87 (1972)
Powers/Skills: Using his power ring, Green Lantern can fly, create objects out of light, generate force fields, and translate languages
Nubia / Nu’Bia
DC
Creators: Robert Kanigher and Don Heck
First Appearance: Wonder Woman #204 (1973)
Powers/Skills: Flight, super strength, speed, “cold sight,” magic armor, able to open portals. Nubia also possessed a magic sword, created by Mars, which was the only weapon that could go against Wonder Woman’s lasso. Lastly, she could heal herself by becoming one with the Earth’s soil, then reforming her body.
Blade (Eric Cross Brooks)
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Creators: Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan
First Appearance: The Tomb of Dracula #10 (1973)
Powers/Skills: Master martial artist, swordsman, marksman, vampire expert, super strength and speed, enhanced senses, regenerative healing, immunity to vampires, decelerated aging, ability to sense supernatural creatures.
Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm)
Marvel
Creators: Len Wein and Gene Colan
First Appearance: Strange Tales #169 (1973)
Powers/Skills: Magical mastery including teleportation, transmutation, time manipulation, intangibility, flight, holographic projection, enhanced healing, energy resistance, energy projection, force field creation, animal manipulation, control of the elements, possession, necromancy, telekinesis, telepathy, soul manipulation.
Misty Knight
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Tony Isabella and Arvell Jones
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #21 (1975)
Powers/Skills: Martial arts, bionic arm gives her near-perfect aim, super strength, technopathy, can control magnets, emits concussive blasts
Storm (Ororo Munroe)
Marvel / Alamy
Creators: Len Wein and Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)
Powers/Skills: Weather manipulation (on Earth and other planets), including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Flight, breathing underwater, telepathic resistance, can survive extreme weather conditions, night vision, magic, and an empathetic link with the Earth and all living things. Oh, and godhood.
Black Lightning (Jeff Pierce)
Paras Griffin / Getty Images for SCAD aTVfest 2018
Creators: Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden
First Appearance: Black Lightning #1 (1977)
Powers/Skills: Can manipulate electricity and magnetism, absorb energy, generate force fields, heal with electricity. Advanced hand-to-hand combat, super strength and durability, Olympic-level athlete.
War Machine (James Rhodes)
Ollie Millington / Getty Images
Creators: David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton
First Appearance (James Rhodes): Iron Man #118 (1979)
First Appearance (as War Machine): Avengers West Coast #94 (1993)
Powers/Skills: Experienced Marine, weapons proficiency, martial artist, pilot, aviation engineering. Armored suit gives him super strength, speed, durability, flight, weapons, and life support.
Cyborg (Victor Stone)
DC / Alamy
Creators: Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #26 (1980)
Powers/Skills: Genius, super strength, durability, technopathy, regenerative health, flight, data manipulation.
Captain Marvel/Photon/Pulsar/Spectrum (Monica Rambeau)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Roger Stern and John Romita Jr.
First Appearance (Captain Marvel): The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (1982)
First Appearance (Photon): Avengers Unplugged #5 (1996)
First Appearance (Pulsar): New Thunderbolts #9 (2005)
First Appearance (Spectrum): Mighty Avengers #1 (2013)
Powers/Skills: Able to generate, manipulate, and absorb energy, travel at the speed of light, turn into a form of energy on the electromagnetic spectrum, travel through the vacuum of space, intangibility.
Cloak (Tyrone Johnson)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan
First Appearance: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (1982)
Powers/Skills: Teleportation, intangibility, can link to the Darkforce dimension, martial arts
Bloodsport (Robert DuBois)
DC / Alamy
Creators: John Byrne
First Appearance: Superman #4 (1987)
Powers/Skills: Expert (and ambidextrous) marksman with every conceivable weapon, impressive strength. His reflexes and senses are so sharp he scared Superman.
Bishop (Lucas Bishop)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Whilce Portacio and John Byrne
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #282 (1991)
Powers/Skills: Can absorb and redirect energy, superhuman strength, hand-to-hand combat, automatically knows his geographical location.
Spawn (Al Simmons)
Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images
Creators: Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Spawn #1 (1992)
Powers/Skills: Demonic abilities, martial arts, soldier and assassin
Steel (John Henry Irons)
DC / Alamy
Creators: Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove
First Appearance: The Adventures of Superman #500 (1993)
Powers/Skills: Genius engineer and inventor, armor gives him super strength, durability, endurance, flight, weapons, enhanced senses. Previously, he was made of living steel, bulletproof, and able to turn into fluid molten steel. He uses a sledgehammer that is seemingly indestructible.
Static (Virgil Ovid Hawkins)
DC
Creators: Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle
First Appearance: Static #1 (1993)
Powers/Skills: Able to control electromagnetism, subatomic particles, lightning, and data. Can generate electrostatic force-fields and absorb/redirect energy. Flight, scientist, strategist, technopathy, regenerative healing, psionic immunity,
Synch (Everett Thomas)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo
First Appearance: X-Men #36 (1994)
Powers/Skills: Can mimic and master others’ powers, sense and track superpowered beings
M/Penance (Monet St. Croix)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo
First Appearance (as Penance): Generation X #1(1994)
First Appearance (as Monet): Generation X #40 (1998)
Powers/Skills (as Monet): Superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, enhanced senses like night vision, super hearing, the ability to process information incredibly quickly, flight, telepathy, telekinesis, shape-shifting (into Penance)
Powers/Skills (as Penance): Dense skin, telepathic resistance, razor claws
Lightning (Jennifer Pierce)
The CW / Via youtube.com
Creators: Mark Waid, Alex Ross, Geoff Johns, and Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (1996)
Powers/Skills: Flight, can manipulate/generate electricity, light, and plasma.
Nick Fury (Ultimate)
Disney Xd / Disney XD via Getty Images
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Allred (based on the original character by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
First Appearance: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #5 (2001)
Powers/Skills: Genius-level strategist, extremely slow aging, skilled with weapons, advanced hand-to-hand combat, superhuman strength, speed, and agility.
Captain America (Isaiah Bradley)
Disney / Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
Creators: Robert Morales and Kyle Baker
First Appearance: Truth: Red, White & Black #1 (2002)
Powers/Skills: Super strength, perfect reflexes, enhanced senses, superhuman agility, peak stamina, enhanced healing, hand-to-hand combat, slowed aging.
Shuri
Disney Xd / Disney XD via Getty Images
Creators: Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr.
First Appearance: Black Panther Vol. 4 #2 (2005)
Powers/Skills: Genius-level IQ, engineer, advanced hand-to-hand combat, necromancy, super speed, durability, vibranium suit and weapons give her enhanced abilities.
Patriot (Eli Bradley)
Disney / Marvel
Creators: Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (2005)
Powers/Skills: Super strength and agility, immunity to disease and poison, peak stamina, enhanced healing, hand-to-hand combat, slowed aging.
Hancock (John Hancock)
Sony / Alamy
Creators: Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan
First Appearance: Hancock (film) (2008)
Powers/Skills: Flight, invulnerability, superhuman strength.
Blue Marvel (Adam Bernard Brashear)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Kevin Grevioux and Mat Broome
First Appearance: Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 (2008)
Powers/Skills: Superhuman strength, speed, intelligence, near-invulnerability, flight, military combat, engineer, physicist. Blue Marvel can also manpipulate, generate, absorb, and project energy. This includes molecules, light, and even anti-matter.
Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm / Jackson Hyde)
DC
Creators: Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman, and Phil Bourassa (based on the original character by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon).
First Appearance: Brightest Day #4 (2010)
Powers/Skills: Can breathe underwater, swim at superspeed, survive at extreme underwater pressure, and has super strength.
Batwing (David Zavimbe, later Luke Fox)
Katie Yu / ©The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
Creators (David Zavimbe): Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham
Creators (Luke Fox): Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and Eduardo Pansica
First Appearance (David Zavimbe): Batman Incorporated #5 (2011)
First Appearance (Luke Fox): Batwing #19 (2013)
Powers/Skills (David Zavimbe): Flight (with suit), high-tech weapons and gadgets, skilled detective
Powers/Skills (Luke Fox): Intellect, disguise, martial arts, engineering, tactical analysis
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images for ReedPOP
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli
First Appearance: Ultimate Fallout #4 (2011)
Powers/Skills: All the powers of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, plus invisibility, venom strike, venom blast, bio-electricity, intellect.
Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Jeremy Slater, Simon Kinberg, and Josh Trank (based on the original character by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
First Appearance: Fantastic Four (movie) (2015)
Powers/Skills: Can control and generate fire, flight, energy absorption, resistance to heat (obviously).
Iron Heart (Riri Williams)
Marvel / Via youtube.com
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Eve Ewing and Kevin Libranda
First Appearance: Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2 #9 (2016)
Powers/Skills: Genius inventor and engineer.
Sister Night (Angela Abar)
Filmmagic / FilmMagic for HBO
Creators: Damon Lindelof
First Appearance: Watchmen (TV show), “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” (2019)
Powers/Skills: Investigation, interrogation, advanced hand-to-hand combat, firearms, tactical analysis
Hooded Justice (Will Reeves)
HBO / Via youtube.com
Creators: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Damon Lindelof
First Appearance: Watchmen (TV show), “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” (2019)
Powers/Skills: Advanced hand-to-hand combat and tactical analysis
[🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨 FOR WATCHMEN (2019)] If you have not seen the HBO TV show and plan to, I strongly suggest skipping the next character! You’ve been warned…
Doctor Manhattan (Cal Abar, formerly Calvin Jelani)
HBO / Via youtube.com
Creators: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Damon Lindelof
First Appearance: Watchmen (TV show), “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” (2019)
Powers/Skills: Teleportation, flight/levitation, manipulation of matter, perception of past, present, and future simultaneously, immortality.
Of course, there are several other Black superheroes that have graced comic book pages, TV shows, and movie screens. Who did I leave off this list that you would like to add? Let me know in the comments below!
Make sure to head right here for more of BuzzFeed’s Black History Month coverage.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/williambarrios/a-chronological-look-at-the-most-popular-black-superheroes