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Marvel really only had one such property at the time.
He was best known by hisnom de guerre: Black Panther.
So second-rate was the Panther that when McGregor made his plea, he didnt have the guy in mind.
Nearly 50 years later, its safe to say that people have figured out how Black Panther works.
TChalla just made his big-screen debut in aneponymous Marvel Studios filmdirected and co-written by Ryan Coogler.
It broke ticket presale records.
It spawned massively popular hashtags.
Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
The character and his film are already cultural icons.
And its entirely possible that none of it would have happened without McGregor.
It was an operatic two-year tale of death, love, and revolution with the sizzling title Panthers Rage.
The two men were unknown quantities at Marvel.
In that latter gig, McGregor saw raw bigotry firsthand and was repulsed.
Combating racism would go on to be a central passion for him.
The two men quickly became close.
We worked side by side I mean, literally, McGregor recalls.
It was in that Bronx apartment that Killmonger was born.
McGregor wanted to situate theJungle Actionstories in Wakanda, which TChalla had recently departed to go on American adventures.
That meant an all-black cast something never before seen in mainstream comics.
And an all-black cast meant another rarity: a black bad guy.
I did not want any more white people stumbling into Wakanda to go steal the vibranium.
I mean, how many times can you do that?
I started working on the idea of a revolution within Wakanda because hes been away for so long.
The former contributed a startling name.
By that time in comics, so many names had been used for villains and heroes, McGregor says.
I think every noun, just about.
Suddenly, a moniker appeared in his brain:Erik Killmonger.
He has no idea where it came from.
I dont think I struggled a long time with the name, he says with a laugh.
Buckler, sitting at McGregors side, concocted an equally startling look for this nascent rival.
Indeed, it was astoryunlike any before seen in that medium.
The Panther defeats them easily, but is confused about whats happening.
Back at his palace, he asks his closest adviser, WKabi, whats up.
Whattearsat us is awhispered threat that leavesterrorin his wake!
Erik Killmonger!Perhaps if youdspentmore time here, you would not have had toask!
They tussle and Killmonger gets the upper hand.
You could not havehopedto win!
he cries as his pet wildcat, Preyy, pins TChalla down.
Wakanda became atoyto you a bright shininggem and on the day thathappened, you lost yourkingdom!
He tosses the Panther over a waterfall and assumes him dead.
Over the course of the subsequent installments, a pattern emerged.
Along the way, the Panther would battle one new villain after another.
One by one, the Panther would beat them, but his long, exhausting journey wore on him.
The tale was an aesthetic feast.
Legendary penciler Gil Kane would pop in and out, as well, but Graham was the real star.
Take, for example, the title page ofJungle ActionNo.
Ostensibly, all thats happening is TChalla leaping down from a rocky hilltop.
There isnt even any dialogue.
But Graham fills half the page with the title of the story ONCE YOU SLAY THE DRAGON!
in the form of massive carved stones along the hills side.
Inker Klaus Janson provides vivid textures and colorist Glynis Wein offers up rosy-fingered dawn.
Nevertheless, he concludes that, while I have yet toconquerthem I am no longer theirslave!
Panther ultimately tosses Killmonger over a waterfall and leaves him for dead, but it is a Pyrrhic victory.
The subsequent narration notes that the onlysurvivors… arevictimsthemselves!
Nor was it regularly reprinted in the decades that followed.
However, many who did get their hands on it over the years were awed by it.
Its damn-near flawless, every issue, every scene, a functional, necessary part of the whole.
Panthers Rage isback in print, and he attended the premiere ofBlack Panthera few weeks ago.
Michael collected a dynamism and an emotional quality that Killmonger should have, he says.
I think Chadwick captured all of that.
And as for his own legacy?
