L'Inattendu #1
L'Inattendu #1 served as the inaugural French-language vehicle for several Marvel characters who had never before been published in France, most notably delivering the very first appearance of Erik Killmonger and the opening chapter of Don McGregor's groundbreaking 'Panther's Rage' arc to French readers — a storyline now recognized as one of the earliest sustained, novel-length superhero narratives in the medium. By bundling the debut issues of Shanna the She-Devil, the Black Widow's solo Amazing Adventures run, Luke Cage's origin, and the Doctor Doom Astonishing Tales stories into a single affordable pocket-format digest, Arédit introduced an entire ecosystem of Bronze Age Marvel's most distinctive 'second-tier' voices to an audience that had previously only encountered Marvel through the competing Lug imprint. The issue also brought French readers their first look at Tales of Asgard mythology — including the Norns Skuld, Urd, and Verdandi — via a reprinted Journey into Mystery backup. As the launch number of a 25-issue run spanning 1975–1980, it established the template for Arédit's Comics Pocket line as a home for adventurous, character-driven Marvel material outside the mainstream Avengers/Fantastic Four cycle.
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Arédit (formally Arédit-Artima) was a French publisher based in Tourcoing, originally founded as Artima by Émile Keirsbilk and acquired by the Presses de la Cité in 1962. Operating in direct competition with the Lyon-based Lug imprint — which held French rights to the most prominent Marvel titles — Arédit carved out its niche by licensing Marvel material Lug had passed over, reprinting it in black-and-white in a small-format (approximately 130×180 mm) digest style under the 'Comics Pocket' banner. L'Inattendu was one of several such pocket series and collected stories from Astonishing Tales, Shanna the She-Devil, Amazing Adventures, Hero for Hire, Jungle Action, and Journey into Mystery — all translated into French and published without color. The creative teams behind the source material were American (Roy Thomas, Larry Lieber, and Wally Wood on the Doom stories; Carole Seuling and George Tuska on Shanna; Don McGregor and Rich Buckler on the Black Panther feature), and Arédit's contribution was editorial selection and translation rather than original content.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published January 1975 by Arédit (Artima imprint) as issue #1 of the 'Comics Pocket' series L'Inattendu, which ran for 25 issues through October 1980.
- Reprints the French debut of 'Panther's Rage' from Jungle Action Vol. 2 #6 (Sept. 1973) — the first solo Black Panther story arc, written by Don McGregor with art by Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson — here under the name 'Pantherman.'
- Jungle Action #6 content marks the first appearances of Erik Killmonger (N'Jadaka), his leopard Preyy, and henchmen Kazibe and Tayete, as well as supporting characters W'Kabi, Monica Lynne, and Taku — all debuting to French readers in this issue.
- Contains the French premiere of Shanna the She-Devil's origin from Shanna the She-Devil Vol. 1 #1 (Dec. 1972), created by writer Carole Seuling and penciler George Tuska.
- Includes the Doctor Doom solo stories 'Unto You Is Born… The Doomsman!', 'Revolution!', and 'Doom Must Die!' from Astonishing Tales Vol. 1 #1–3 (1970), written by Roy Thomas and Larry Lieber with art by Wally Wood — here rendered as 'Docteur Fatalis' / 'Victor Von Fatalis'; his robot servants appear as 'Fatalibots' (Doombots).
- Reprints Black Widow's solo debut from Amazing Adventures Vol. 2 #1 (Aug. 1970), titled 'Then Came the Black Widow' — her first appearance in France under the name 'La Veuve Noire.'
- Contains Luke Cage's origin stories from Hero for Hire Vol. 1 #1–2 (June–Aug. 1972), bringing Marvel's first Black solo superhero to French comics audiences.
- Includes a Tales of Asgard backup from Journey into Mystery Vol. 1 #102 (Mar. 1964) titled 'Death Comes to Thor,' featuring Thor, Balder, Sif, Hela, and the three Norns: Skuld, Urd, and Verdandi — all printed in black-and-white in the pocket digest format.
Cast · 26 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
On his return to Wakanda, the Panther learns that one of the mountain villages is in revolt, led by a man calling himself Erik Killmonger. The Panther confronts Killmonger at Warrior Falls, where the Panther is defeated and thrown from the top of the falls.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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