To answer this we must look at the history of black comic book characters.

I'm more then happy to cite sources or expand on any characters.

(skip to the last two paragraphs for the short answer)

During the 40s and earlier, black characters were very stereotypical, the most popular black character being “White-Wash” a character that resembled a white person in blackface. This decade did see a publication called “All Negro Comics” in 1947. It was a one-issue comic made completely by black creators, headed by Orrin Cromwell Evans, featuring only black characters. It’s thought of to be the first of it’s kind; sadly it never saw a second issue although art had been completed. From this, other more mainstream publications started to look at black readers as a viable market, some publications publishing small stories with main black characters.

In the 50s, black comic book characters started to take on non-stereotypical forms, but still had origins tied to being African, or they were shown as background characters, policemen and other non-speaking roles. There was an incident that many bring up while talking about race and comics and it’s from 1956 when the Comics Code Authority tried to censor William Gaines’ “Judgment Day”, a comic that ended by revealing that it’s main character astronaut was actually a black man.

Not until 1965 did a black man get a self-titled comic with “Lobo”. He was portrayed in a non-stereotypical way as a classic western star. It had minor success but many orders were sent back unopened by stores.

In 1966 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought us Black Panther, as part of a story in Fantastic Four #52. Whether or not it was the Black Panther’s own popularity or the comic book publishers wanting to bank on a black market, the Black Panther took off. He was featured in many story arcs, many his own stories, and it is said “Panther’s Rage” was basically Marvel’s first graphic novel. After this we saw black characters like the Falcon (1969), John Stewart as Green Lantern (1971), and Luke Cage (1972).

Let’s also remember the radio broadcast from the 1940s where Superman defeats the Ku Klux Klan. From here on into the 60s racists and racism were seen as being in the wrong. The Black Panther also fought the Klan in “Panther vs. the Klan” in 1976.

(This was hard to answer without speculation or opinion)

Considering all of this, the need for a black comic book hero was long over due, finally coming about during the civil rights moment. That was the overall reaction from the comic book community and from buyers and readers. If anyone had a problem with it, they wouldn’t have spoken up because the very comics they read were against racism.

The issue now with black characters is different then it was back then. Black main characters were uncharted territory when the Black Panther and others were created. Modern day black characters seem to be taking the place of existing characters that were white before, causing conflict between those dedicated to the original character and those wanting change.

Side note: It looks like AMC will soon have a series based on the history of comics. Hopefully they’ll cover this subject in greater depth!

Edit: formatting.

Also: [Here’s a video/audio from Neal Adams on a panel and his thoughts on making John Stewart a black character for Green Lantern.] (https://youtu.be/N8Xox5JJWN0)