BLACK PANTHER: WORLD OF WAKANDA by Roxane Gay with Ta-Nehisi Coates, illustrated by Alitha E. Martinez (Marvel Comics, June 2017) ISBN # 130290650X / 9781302906504
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
”YOU DESERVED SO MUCH MORE, LITTLE FLOWER. YOU DESERVED A WAKANDA THAT CHERISHED YOU."
Writer ROXANE GAY (Bad Feminst, Hunger) spins a Wakandan love story — its tenderness matched only by its brutality. You know them now as The Midnight Angels, but in this story they are just Ayo and Aneka, young women recruited to become Dora Milaje, an elite task force trained to protect the crown at all costs. What happens when your nation needs your hearts and minds, but you already gave them to each other?
Illustrated by industry veteran ALITHA E. MARTINEZ (Iron Man, Black Panther). And in a special backup story, acclaimed poet YONA HARVEY (Hemming the Water) explores the true origins of The People's mysterious leader Zenzi. Black Panther thinks he knows who Zenzi is and how she got her powers, but he only knows part of the story… Illustrated by rising star AFUA RICHARDSON (Genius).
My Five Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
I’m glad I went into this cold, without any expectations except that I did know that Black Panther was not the featured predominant character of the mini-series collected here.
I'm also glad that I didn't read any of the reviews here or Goodreads or elsewhere before picking this up. I respect many of those Goodreads reviewers, and had I read their comments in advance it probably would have influenced and tempered my opinion. As it turns out - -without Black Panther playing a major role in the events chronicled here I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did.
This works best as a companion piece to the activities and major events occurring in the main Black Panther title. However, it's not essential to read those as those events serve as reference points to the story here rather than a major part of the plot.
The first four issues of WORLD OF WAKANDA is actually a very well-done romance comic in disguise as an action book. There's just enough action sequences here to satisfy but at its' heart this is a love story with some good messages about love, devotion, sacrifice, and being true to yourself without being preachy about it. The love between Dora Milaje warriors Ayo and Aneka is not without complications.
Issue #5 is a spotlight on the mysterious Zenzi, a young woman from the Niganda border with Wakanda that has the ability to control and amplify people's emotions. Issue #6 is a solo story about the White Tiger / Kevin Cole who juggles a double life as a New York City police officer and a vigilante by night (under guidance from the Black Panther).
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