While Cage was meant to be a genuine attempt at exploring Black American culture, it's hard to argue it didn't fall into that offensive genre in its beginnings. Years later, when Luke Cage was introduced to fans, it was during the controversial Blaxploitation era of Hollywood, which used what some feel to be offensive stereotypes of Black culture. While Black Panther's stories did often subvert ideas of modern colonialism and push back against highly offensive stereotypes, it fell short of telling a grounded story about Black people. Black Panther, while a very unique hero for his time, leaned on stereotypes of native African culture as it was understood by Westerners back then full of mystery and magic that loosely blended all of Africa into a singular culture. In the early '60s, Stan Lee reportedly had to direct artists to use Black background characters, and even showed signs he was hesitant to create a Black hero amid the Civil Rights movement. With Black Panther making his debut in 1966 and only four other Black heroes coming between him and Valerie in 1975, Black heroes in general had a slow start in Marvel Comics. Related: 15 Black Female Heroes We Want To See in Live-Action After managing to stop the Vulture from robbing a jewelry store, Peter decided to take a rooftop sunbath, unknowingly dropping his suit into Valerie's lap - which she outfitted with suction cups on the hands and feet to let her climb walls - giving her the opportunity to become the superhero she longed to be. Valerie's time as Spider-Woman was, admittedly, short-lived, but in her only mission in the suit she managed to take down one of Spider-Man's oldest foes. Related: Spider-Woman: 10 Best Alternate Versions Of The Marvel Comics Heroine Little did she know, her chance to do just that would literally fall into her lap. After these experiences and witnessing Spider-Man take down other villains, she sought the opportunity to become a superhero all her own. Known as Valerie the Librarian, she was inspired by Spider-Man to defend her library from several low-level villains, including the Vanisher and the April Fool. In issue #11 of the comic series Spidey Super Stories, a cross-promotional comic produced by Marvel and the PBS TV series The Electric Company, written by Jean Thomas and penciled by Win Mortimer, the first Spider-Woman made her debut.
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