Marvel Premiere #51
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Premiere #51 reopened one of the most socially charged storylines in Bronze Age Marvel — Don McGregor's 'Panther vs. the Klan' — after it had been abruptly abandoned for nearly three years when the Jungle Action title was cancelled and Jack Kirby's tonally unrelated Black Panther solo series launched. By picking up that dangling thread, the issue functions as a kind of editorial reckoning, forcing the Marvel continuity to account for why T'Challa had seemingly forgotten an entire investigation into the Ku Klux Klan and the murder of Monica Lynne's sister — and it does so through the bold storytelling device of confirmed brainwashing. As the opener of a three-issue arc that would finally resolve the Dragon Circle/Klan plot in Marvel Premiere #51–53, this issue marks the point at which the series' most topically daring corner of the Marvel Universe was given an actual conclusion rather than being left permanently unfinished.
In "The Killing of Windeagle!", the Black Panther faces a deadly assault at the Wakandan consulate in New York City, launched by the enigmatic Windeagle, an agent of the sinister Dragon Circle cult. As the fight unfolds, T'Challa begins to piece together fragmented memories of a past investigation into the mysterious death of Monica Lynne's sister in Georgia—memories that were somehow erased. The story, written by Ed Hannigan and illustrated by Jerry Bingham with inks by Gene Day, colors by Bob Sharen, and lettering by Gaspar Saladino and Diana Albers, culminates in Windeagle’s sudden demise at the hands of an unknown shooter. The cover, by Al Milgrom and Klaus Janson, captures the tension of the moment.
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When Kirby departed Black Panther after issue #12, Ed Hannigan stepped in to close out the series, scripting issues #14 and #15 alongside Jerry Bingham on pencils and Gene Day on inks, with Roger Stern editing — and Hannigan immediately began threading in hints that the McGregor-era Klan storyline would be revisited. The cancellation of the Black Panther solo title before those threads could be resolved meant that what would have been issues #16–18 were instead published as Marvel Premiere #51–53, with the same Hannigan/Bingham/Day creative team carrying straight through. The cover for #51 was produced separately by Al Milgrom (pencils) and Klaus Janson (inks), while the interior credits list Jim Salicrup as co-editor alongside Stern.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'The Killing of Windeagle!' — interior art by penciler Jerry Bingham and inker Gene Day; script by Ed Hannigan; cover pencils by Al Milgrom, cover inks by Klaus Janson; edited by Roger Stern.
- Published with a December 1979 cover date (on-sale approximately September 25, 1979) by Marvel Comics.
- The issue directly continues the 'Panther vs. the Klan' storyline that originated in Jungle Action #19–24 (January–November 1976) and was further bridged in Black Panther #14–15 (March–May 1979).
- Content originally conceived as Black Panther #16–18 before that series was cancelled after issue #15; the material was redirected to Marvel Premiere to allow the arc a resolution.
- Central plot device: the Dragon Circle cult had brainwashed T'Challa to erase his memories of investigating the death of Angela Lynne and the group's Klan connections, retroactively explaining why the Kirby run never referenced the McGregor-era storyline.
- Windeagle (Hector Ruiz) — a villain introduced in Jungle Action #24 (1976) and created by Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, and Keith Pollard — attacks T'Challa at the Wakandan consulate in New York City and is shot dead by an unidentified sniper during the battle, making this issue the character's final chronological appearance.
- Windeagle's anti-gravity flight suit was established as being built on the same Wakandan technology underlying the Falcon's wing costume, a detail that connects T'Challa's world to a broader Marvel technological continuity.
- The three-issue arc launched here (Marvel Premiere #51–53) was later collected in the Black Panther Epic Collection Vol. 2: Revenge of the Black Panther (2019), which also collects Black Panther #1–15 and Marvel Team-Up #100.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #41 (1979)
Reprinted in L'Inattendu #25 (1980), Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther #2 (2016), Black Panther Epic Collection #2 (2019), Black Panther: Panther's Prey Omnibus #[nn] (2025)
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