"The King," Black Panther (character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, owned by Marvel Comics) is a glass on glass mosaic, inspired by the cover for “Jungle Action #23,” pencilled by John Byrne and Dan Adkins.  The Panther consists entirely of stained glass. The piece measures 30 x 35.75 inches framed. All pieces have been cut and placed entirely by hand on 1/8 inch glass. This piece can be lit from behind to give it a stained glass window look.  It is grouted with black sanded grout.

Debuting in the pages of the Fantastic Four in July 1966, the Black Panther's, whose real name is T'Challa, king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, is the first superhero of African descent in mainstream American comics.  

He received his first starring feature with the comic Jungle Action #5.  The series would go on to be critically acclaimed due to the writer Don McGregors use of a self-contained, multi-issue story arc.  The first arc, "Panther's Rage", ran through the first 13 issues. This would later be referred to as Marvel's first Graphic Novel.

The second and final arc, "Panther vs. the Klan", ran as mostly 17-page stories in Jungle Action #19–24, (with the exception of issue #23).  Tackling tough issues that even caused some difficulty  among the creative team. African-American writer-editor Dwayne McDuffie said of the Jungle Action Black Panther feature: “ This overlooked and underrated classic is arguably the most tightly written multipart superhero epic ever. If you can get your hands on it ... sit down and read the whole thing.”

Now we are in the 2000’s.  Some things have changed. Some things have not changed.  With the help of “The King,” we can do something noble. We can become a better people, a unified people, maybe even a color-blind people.  It would be truly heroic.