More popular Bronze Age character: Luke Cage or the Black Panther?

[bronze johnny]

Marvel created the Black Panther during the Silver Age and put him in the Avengers until giving him his own book during the Bronze Age. Luke Cage was a Bronze Age creation who immediately started out in his own book only later to share it during the team-up with Iron Fist. Both characters are a major reason why the Marvel Comics Group was way ahead of DC in recognizing the evolving diversity of comic book readership and the need for readers from different racial & ethnic backgrounds to have characters that they too could identify with. Luke Cage and the Black Panther continue to reign as the most popular Black superheroes today. My question is focused on what their popularity was during the BA and whether that comparison between Luke Cage and the Black Panther remains the same today?

 

2 poll are included:

 

1) Which was the more popular character during the Bronze Age:

 

Luke Cage?

 

or

 

Black Panther?

 

2) Has the more popular Bronze Age character's status remained the same today?

 

Thanks for any insight!

John

 

 

[Iqc23]

Black panther but Luke cage is picking up steam lately.

[Lonzilla]

Luke Cage's series lasted way longer, that's for sure

[Ken Aldred]

I always found Black Panther to be a very interesting character in the 60s and 70s, Luke Cage quite boring in comparison.

[kimik]

I am too young to have a say in this, but my guess is that Luke Cage would have been seeing as he had a longer run in the 70s via Luke Cage (49 issues) and then Powerman and Iron Fist.

[rjrjr]

I am too young to have a say in this, but my guess is that Luke Cage would have been seeing as he had a longer run in the 70s via Luke Cage (49 issues) and then Powerman and Iron Fist.

 

In the BA, there is no question Luke Cage was more popular than Black Panther. Black Panther couldn't hold a title and was a supporting character, if he showed up at all.

[steveinthecity]

From memory Luke Cage(Powerman) was a much bigger character in the 70's than T'Challa by a pretty wide margin. Panther wasn't integrated well into the Marvel Universe in the 70's, and it was a decade or two following before he made a strong foothold with readers in general, imo.

[musicmeta]

I personally liked the Black Panther a little bit better than Luke Cage.

I think Black Panther is more popular than Luke Cage because he was in the last Avengers movie and is getting his own movie.

If Luke Cage on Netflix shows the same as Daredevil and Jessica Jones then his show will be awesome! Daredevil and Jessica Jones were fantastic on Netflix!

[Mercury Man]

I think Black Panther. While they both had stand alone titles in the Bronze Age, Black Panther got the Kirby treatment. Plus Panther has had more Bronze Age exposure in a bigger title like Avengers, while Cage was in something like 2 or 3 issues of FF during that same time. (He was also in the Defenders, but that didn't sell like the Avengers did).

 

As for today, Black Panther was prominently featured in the most recent Avengers movie, and is getting a stand alone movie. Cage is doing Netflix, which should be great, but it is not the big screen.

[Broke as a Joke]

Netflix is like Marvel purgatory at this point. The movies will continue to be king until we see an actual crossover (Netflix to cinema) happen.

[AKA Rick]

Black Panther is less interesting than Luke Cage by origin and design.

 

I would rather see Power Man who I deem as a feature star, over Black Panther who I see as a supporting cast co-star. Luke Cage can carry a TV show or movie as a top billing character, the Black Panther is a sidekick who needs to be surrounded by stronger characters.

[Phicks]

Luke Cage was painfully badly written by white guys trying to sound street credible in the 1970s. And other than Billy Graham's issues, most of the (Tuska) art was terrible.

 

But Black Panther started in the trusty hands of Stan and Jack, graduated to the Avengers, and had a stunningly well written and drawn Panther's Rage storyline in Jungle Action. Black Panther was better than Luke Cage by miles.