One of Marvel's First Black Heroes Black Goliath, Full Run Issues 1-5, 1976

Black Goliath African American Comics

Periodical

Bill Foster Black Goliath comic archive, 1976, comprising the complete five issue Marvel series centered on an African American biochemist whose scientific expertise is inseparable from his superhero identity. Foster had entered the Marvel universe in The Avengers No. 32 in 1966 as a scientist assisting Hank Pym and later duplicated Pym’s growth process, gaining the ability to increase his body to giant scale. By 1976 Marvel placed him at the center of his own title as a Stark Industries research scientist working in Los Angeles, four years after Luke Cage became the first Black superhero to headline a Marvel comic.

Black Goliath. New York: Marvel Comics Group, 1976. Complete run of five stapled comic books in color pictorial wrappers, Nos. 1 through 5, published February through November 1976. Tony Isabella writes the first issue, with Chris Claremont taking over for Nos. 2 through 5; George Tuska pencils the first three issues, followed by Rich Buckler and Keith Pollard.

[1] Isabella, Tony. Black Goliath No. 1. February 1976. Foster returns to Los Angeles and assumes the Black Goliath identity while balancing superhero activity with his position at Stark Industries. The cover introduces him at full giant scale above a street battle and announces “Action Packed First Issue!” while the text identifies a “new super hero in town,” establishing both his physical power and his movement into a solo title.

[2] Claremont, Chris. Black Goliath No. 2. April 1976. “White Fire, Atomic Death!” places Foster against Atom Smasher, with Warhawk also entering the conflict. The issue moves directly into the series’ recurring concern with technological and radiological threats, placing Foster’s scientific background against forms of power produced through weaponry and experimentation.

[3] Claremont, Chris. Black Goliath No. 3. June 1976. Vulcan attacks in connection with dangerous Stark Industries technology, drawing Foster’s professional environment directly into the superhero plot. The cover asks whether “Big Man Goliath” can stop Vulcan as the two collide in a densely staged urban battle.

[4] Claremont, Chris. Black Goliath No. 4. August 1976. Black Goliath vs. the Stilt Man. The story continues the conflict over stolen Stark technology, with Stilt Man providing a physically exaggerated counterpart to Foster’s own altered scale. The cover reduces the encounter to “Fifteen Feet of Fighting Fury” and “When Giants Clash!” while extending the series’ emphasis on corporate science and weaponized invention.

[5] Claremont, Chris. Black Goliath No. 5. November 1976. After Stilt Man attacks Foster with a Z Ray, Black Goliath, Celia, and her nephew are displaced to the alien world Kirgar. The cover places Foster amid armored and extraterrestrial opponents under the line “You may be a giant in your world, Goliath, but in mine... you are merely one more vanquished foe,” carrying the final issue from Los Angeles based technological conflict into science fiction adventure.

The complete run belongs to Marvel’s mid 1970s expansion of Black superhero characters while giving Foster a professional identity distinct from many contemporary street based heroes. His authority derives not only from size and strength but from his position as a trained biochemist, first connected to Hank Pym’s laboratory work and later employed within Stark Industries. The shift from Tony Isabella to Chris Claremont after the first issue also moves the title rapidly from its Los Angeles premise into a broader Marvel science fiction register, culminating in the Kirgar storyline before cancellation after No. 5. Light edge and handling wear to wrappers, with minor rubbing and small creases; covers remain bright, staples intact, and interiors generally clean. Overall very good condition. A complete 1976 record of Marvel placing an African American scientist at the center of his own superhero title, with professional expertise, experimental technology, and physical power defining Bill Foster’s brief solo series.

Item #23738

Price: $450.00