Black and Nerdy

In his book Super Black: American Pop Culture Adilifu Nama claims that “black superheroes…are not only fantastic representations of our dreams, desire, and idealized projections of ourselves, they are also a symbolic extension of America’s shifting political ethos and racial landscape.” (Nama 2) Luke Cage aka Powerman was Marvel’s first prominent black superhero. With catch phrase “sweet Christmas” he patrolled the streets of Harlem and prevented drug deals and fought organized crime. His large physique and rippling muscles spoke to the potentiality of the black superhero in conversation with emerging trends of Black empowerment. In 1962 Marvel introduced its second black hero Black Panther to allude to the pan-African movement. African prince and Wakandan UN Ambassador T’Challa allied with the Avengers to fight supervillains and voodoo witch doctors. But what very few people know about Black Panther is, he is married to Storm. Yet again, she becomes background filler, in an ot...