Over at the far more popular Absorbascon, Scipio has honored Black History Month by highlighting DC’s many African American heroes and villains, which include such notables as Dr. Mist and Impala.
Given Scipio’s DC-centric take of the universe, however, it falls upon the Fortress Keeper to recognize one of his favorite Marvel characters of color, Black Goliath.
A character only Dan Slott could love, Black Goliath’s series ran a total of five issues in the mid-70s. A biochemist who improves upon Hank Pym’s original growth formula, Bill Foster proved a better scientist than pugilist based upon the number of times wound up kissing the floor.
Yet, despite such drawbacks, Foster always fought back and ultimately won. In a comic-book universe full of outcasts, Black Goliath was probably the biggest (pun intended) underdog of all.
Such a character was a natural draw for the young Fortress Keeper, who realized the perfection embodied by Superman, Batman and even Spider-Man could never realistically be attained on this or any other world. But Bill Foster, well, anybody could relate to getting punched in the face a time or two…
Or, amateur psychology aside, your humble narrator’s affinity for the character could be due to little more than his fab outfit - gold Iron Fist collar and all.
It can also be mentioned that Foster was one of the few African American heroes of the time who, if memory serves, was neither angry nor irrevocably woven into a typically “black” scenario (i.e. a civil rights advocate who hailed from the “ghetto.”)
Sadly however, he may be best remembered these days for a few “pranks” perpetuated by the Merry Marvel Bullpen of the 70s. (Which are weakly defended/explained by John Byrne in this post, but let’s not get into that…)
