The first Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, was created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely and appeared in 5 issues of his own mag in 1955. Stan, with artist Dick Ayers, created a second villainous Black Knight to battle Giant Man Tales to Astonish #52 (November 1963). The evil BK's nephew, Dane Whitman, then took up the mantle (and armor, and flying horse) as the brand-new, heroic Black Knight in Avengers #48 (October 1967) by Roy Thomas and artist George Tuska.
Dane became an instant fan-fave, appearing a couple more times in the pages of the Avengers (#'s 54-55, April-May 1968). Three months later, the new Black Knight got a shot in Marvel's (then) try-out mag, Marvel Super-Heroes #17. Roy took all the scattered pieces of Marvel's trio of Black Knights and combined them into a 22 page comicbook history lesson, combining elements of King Arthur, Gardner Fox, and Robert E. Howard. Interestingly, the art was provided by Golden Age great Howard Purcell (co-creator of Sargon the Sorcerer and the Grim Ghost) and inked by Dan Adkins ("and company"). Are you ready to witness..."The Black Knight Reborn!"?
Sadly, the Black Knight didn't catch on as Marvel thought it might, appearing sporadically in the Avengers and then the Defenders. Eventually he was turned to stone and sent back to the Days of King Arthur. In the 1980s, Dane finally became a regular member of the Avengers.
