Review: Shuri Vol. 1: The Search For Black Panther
If any legend of comics deserves to be regarded as the standard of Afrofuturism, it has to be Marvel's Black Panther. Not only was T'Challa the first superhero of African descent in mainstream comics, he was the powerful king of a powerful nation: Wakanda, the (secretly) most technologically-advanced nation in the world. All this beginning in 1966 when the Civil Rights movement was still ongoing in the United States.
Now the king's sister princess Shuri gets her own story, the first first five editions collected in this volume. Written by award-winning Nigerian-American science fiction author Nnedi Okorafor and drawn by Leonardo Romero, our tale begins with T'Challa getting ready to blast off into deep space in Wakanda's first ever off-planet expedition. His sister- being a tech genius - is director of the program and is much happier in her lab dreaming up dazzling new gadgets rather than galavanting around the universe being a hero like her brother. Hence her reluctance, when he fails to return on schedule, to take up his mantle and become the symbol of Wakanda in his place.
So begins the search... but it is one she seems destined to fail. T'Challa is engaged in his own quest of which his countrymen are unaware (see The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda). Even the aid of Storm of the X-Men (the king's love interest) is no guarantee of success. Nevertheless, the story definitely goes places; Shuri astrally projects out into the universe, encountering Rocket and Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy, a giant music-loving alien bug, an African super villain and Iron Man of the Avengers. In Volume 2 she runs into Miles Morales' Spiderman and Kamala Khan's Ms Marvel...
There is plenty of action and drama here, set against big vistas; the colour-saturated plains of Africa and the mysterious gulfs of deep space. Shuri is torn between both because of her commitments to her homeland, and Okorafor delves deep into the cultural details of Wakanda. She also brings in elements of real African cultures, placing the fictional land in a broader context.
A pan-African council reinforces the pressure on the boffin princess to put on the Black Panther suit and assume her brother's role as figurehead during his absence, for the morale of the whole continent. These dramas play out between Shuri and a predominately female cast of characters: her regent mother and General Okoye of the all-female Wakandan military unit the Dora Milaje, to name but a few.
Unlike your typical Marvel yarn - which gives nods to character development and the exploration of deeper issues, but is typically mostly action-driven - this tale delights in illustrating the fascinating details of the protagonist's background, and the writer draws on her own heritage to provide authentic touches to the narrative.
Romero deftly illustrates the juxtaposition of ancient and modern that typifies the Black Panther legend. Citizens on the streets are dressed in traditional colourful garments and this could almost be a rendering of central Lagos, but for the 3D holograms each person has to watch the news report of the impending launch into space. It is also no coincidence that T'Challa's spacecraft is shaped like a spearhead. His style is expressive but also nicely detailed and he captures the emotions of each character well, especially those of the conflicted princess.
It's a fun, diverting piece of Marvel fantasy, but with much more to offer than most super-powered romps. Here there is a real sense of inclusion of all cultures, of a well-roundedness that brings together readers from all around the world. Comics, science fiction and art in general is for everyone, and this series makes that dream a reality.
Zak Webber
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