Shuri: "Gone" and Other Stories by Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero

In parallel to Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuña's story about T'Challa in space, Marvel released a series about what Shuri was doing back on Earth, written by Nnedi Okorafor with art by Leonardo Romero. I think Shuri is the first time there were multiple Black Panther–themed ongoings even if it only lasted ten issues; here, I am going to cover the first five because there's a natural break point at the end.

I haven't been very into Nnedi Okorafor's previous Black Panther comics (Long Live the King and Wakanda Forever), but I found this worked a lot better for me—perhaps because it's about a young woman trying to find her place in the world, and much of Okorafor's prose work is YA. The story (surprisingly to me) provides a little more context for what's been going on in The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, as it opens with T'Challa and Manifold (now Shuri's boyfriend) going on a space mission through a wormhole in a ship of Shuri's design... and not returning. 

from Shuri #1

Shuri has to step up as the handler of crises in Wakanda, while she tries to keep her brother's disappearance secret, and deal with her insecurities about replacing T'Challa. Last time she was Black Panther, after all, she died. Also, the powers she got during Coates's first run are on the blink, meaning she needs to rely more on her gadgets. This is pretty clearly to align the comics character with her film counterpart, but I don't mind, as I never really got what Coates was going for with the new Shuri anyway!

Anyway, I enjoyed this. It's not great comics, but it made for a solid five days of reading. Okorafor has a lot of moving parts, which is nice; her previous two stories were probably too straightforward. There's Shuri's adventures, of course, but also her mother's creation of a group of woman to advise her, T'Challa's secret creation of a pan-African council, Shuri's loss of her powers, her online-only relationship with a mysterious hacker from one of Wakanda's "mute zones." There are lots of idea being thrown about, and they overlap and interact in interesting ways.

from Shuri #1

I particularly liked the illustrations by Leonardo Romero, which are well-matched by the coloring from Jordie Bellaire. I apparently previously encountered Romero's work as an illustrator on Titan's Doctor Who comics featuring the tenth and eleventh Doctors; I don't really remember it, but I did once write, "Something about Leonardo Romero's art turned me off; not enough expression in it, I think. Looks like he drew it with a computer. (I mean, I know probably everyone here drew with a computer-- but I don't like it when the inking is all the same thickness.)" Well, maybe he got better in the two years between The Endless Song and this, or maybe he just vibed better with this series, because overall, I enjoyed his style here. It reminds me of the work of Javier Pulido: on the cartoony end, but with solidity. Bellaire compliments it with flat colors instead of shading, which to be honest, I tend to like better! Sometimes I think Romero struggles with clarity in action, but overall, I think his approach really makes this book pop.

Oh, and in perhaps a first for the Coates era... not a single fill-in on art! Not even an ink assist. 

from Shuri #3

The best issue of the five here is the third. At the end of the second, Shuri attempts to astral project herself into space to find out what happened to her brother. The cliffhanger ending is that instead of returning to her own body, she finds herself in that of Groot from The Guardians of the Galaxy: "I am Shuri!" In the third, she must work together with Rocket Raccoon to battle an alien insect; Rocket can understand all of her "I am Shuri" just as well as he usually does "I am Groot." It's fun and funny. (Though it did stretch credulity for me that Rocket Raccoon would somehow know who Shuri is.) I think if the series can keep this up (like a lot of series about mid-tier character, there are a lot of guest characters: Iron Man in #5, and the teaser for #6 promises Miles Morales), it will be solid, and perhaps one of the best contributions yet in the Coates era.

Issues #1-5 of Shuri originally appeared from December 2018 to April 2019. The stories were written by Nnedi Okorafor, illustrated by Leonardo Romero, colored by Jordie Bellaire, lettered by Joe Sabino, and edited by Wil Moss.

ACCESS AN INDEX OF ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES HERE