The Black Panther...UNMASKED!

As most Silver Age comics fans know, Marvel's Black Panther debuted in Fantastic Four #52 under this cover in 1966 (making him 52 years old this year!).
But, did you know he almost premiered under this cover...

Note the Black Panther's figure was photostatted and "flopped" (reversed) and the exposed parts of his face were covered for use on the published version!

When Marvel reprinted this issue in their Marvel's Greatest Comics book in the 1970s, they couldn't use the published cover, since the negatives and photostats used gray screens on the Black Panther's figure and most of the background, so a new cover by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott was comissioned with the Panther in his then-current, non-caped costume with blue highlights...

When this tale was reprinted in Italy, a pre-publication photostat of the printed version of #52 was found (without gray screens on the Panther's figure) showing the Panther's face as well as the cape as seen in the original, unpublished version...

It's TRUE, oh Faithful Fan! (As Stan Lee used to say)
Heck of a way to start off Black History Month, eh?

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