"Shuri" #1, #2, and #3 from Marvel Comics -
The Black Panther, symbol and protector of the advanced African Kingdom of Wakanda, is missing. Several weeks ago, T'Challa took flight on a space mission with his trusted friend, Eden Fesi, a reality-warping teleporter, in a ship designed by his sister, Shuri, and built under her exacting supervision. Shuri is one of the greatest minds that the world has ever known - she was also once the ruler of Wakanda, and carrier of the sacred mantle of the Black Panther. Now that T'Challa is missing, the pressure is on Shuri to find her beloved brother, and her beloved boyfriend, Eden, while staving off the burden that her mother and several advisors want her to carry once more: the role of the Black Panther. However, it's going to take more than Shuri's prodigious intellect to solve this problem, she'll need the help the ancient Elders who accompany her in spirit, and she'll need the help of T'Challa's greatest love, the goddess known as Storm. Can Shuri save her brother, without losing herself to unbridled mysticism, and the burden of the mantle of The Black Panther?
Award-winning author, Nnedi Okorafor, pens this wonderful mystical, magical, sci-fi actioner, "Shuri"! Shuri is a GREAT character with her own burgeoning, evolving mythology - it was inevitable that she would step out of the Black Panther's shadow, and become a new, special, different type of hero in her own right. Shuri has a strong sense of right and wrong, a growing sense of self in a new, more democratic Wakanda which is now a constitutional monarchy. Shuri, loyal to Wakanda, and to her brother, has dreams and ideas for her future - and none of them involve taking up the mantle of The Black Panther again, even though her brother is missing. She is at odds with her mother, at odds with her situation, and at odds with herself; Shuri is one of the most gifted scientists on the planet, yet, she is possessed of old, arcane, mystical powers - the ancient Elders, who whisper in her ear, offering up wisdom and guidance that Shuri doesn't always welcome with an open heart. The Elders call her "Ancient Future," a dichotomic name that symbolizes the struggle that Shuri feels inside: the old ways, or the new; the mantle of The Black Panther or something new, something else; science, or magic? All these things swirl inside her as she struggles to find her footing in the world while trying to find her brother, who is lost in space with her new boyfriend, Eden Fesi. Okorafor has succeeded in masterfully crafting an engrossing, compelling protagonist in Shuri, and in bringing to the forefront a supporting cast of intriguing female characters who both support and create tension in the tightly written storyline - a storyline which is itself a very enjoyable sci-fi/mystical mash-up set in the growing world of Wakanda. There are several variant covers, but Sam Spratt's painted covers are my favorite, portraying a painfully gorgeous, lifelike Shuri that was so beautiful that I have to admit that my heart nearly skipped a beat. Leonardo Romero's interior pencils are straightforward and uncomplicated, yet very expressive with a cartoon-y tilt that makes Shuri's adventures fun to look at. If that weren't enough, the brilliant, effervescent Jordie Bellaire slides in with quirky, joyful colors that really get Romero's pencils to popping on the page! Okorafor, Romero, and Bellaire? Talk about a WINNING COMBINATION! WOW! My daughter loves this book. I love this book. I recommend that you pick it up because you just might love it too. "Shuri" definitely ROCKS!
RATING: An enthusiastic 10 out of 10!!
