‘Wakanda’ takes the spotlight in new miniseries

Stephanie Williams, Paco Medina, Evan Narcisse, Natacha Bustos and more will tell stories about Shurt, Killmonger and more.

Spinning out of recent events in the ongoing Black Panther series, Marvel has announced Wakanda, a five-issue miniseries that will feature Shuri, Killmonger and other residents of the African nation in solo stories.

The first issue will spotlight Shuri in a story by Stephanie Williams and Paco Medina.

“I’ve been such a huge fan of the Black Panther over the years, especially the evolution and expansion of the women of Wakanda,” Williams said. “It’s truly an honor to kick off the new series with the Shuri story I wrote. I hope I can add to her and Wakanda’s already impressive lore.”

Subsequent issues will feature different characters by different creators. Each issue will also include a back-up story, “History of the Black Panthers,” by Evan Narcisse and Natacha Bustos, which will expand on the lore of previous Black Panthers.

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Marvel + Scholastic send Black Panther + Shuri ‘Into the Heartlands’

Roseanne A. Brown, Dika Araújo, Natacha Bustos and Claudia Aguirre present a new graphic novel starring the brother and sister duo.

Marvel and Scholastic have announced another graphic novel in their ongoing partnership, this one featuring T’Challa, the Black Panther, and his sister Shuri.

Shuri and T’Challa: Into the Heartlands will follow the Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel graphic novels that have already been released (I saw both at my kid’s book fair today, flying off shelves alongside the new Cat Kid Comic Club book). It’s by YA author Roseanne A. Brown and illustrators Dika Araújo, Natacha Bustos and Claudia Aguirre.

The story will be one of sibling rivalry, as Shuri deals with an older brother who will one day be king and an invention that goes awry, causing her mother to become sick.

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Mail Call | DC in May brings Star Girl and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Oni Press and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics released their May solicitations on Friday, and with them came several announcements and reveals throughout the week. In addition to the new Wonder Girl, Mister Miracle and Future State: Gotham projects, DC announced they will release two interesting one-shots — the first being Star Girl one-shot, featuring not only the star of the hit CW show, but also the Seven Soldiers of Victory. It’s by the character’s co-creator, Geoff Johns, and artist Todd Nauck.

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Marvel, Scholastic team up for graphic novel line

‘Miles Morales: Shock Waves’ will be the first OGN released as part of the partnership.

Marvel is teaming up with Scholastic for a line of graphic novels featuring Ms. Marvel, Shuri and other Marvel characters. The line will kick off next spring with Miles Morales: Shock Waves, an original graphic novel by novelist Justin A. Reynolds (Early Departures) and artist Pablo Leon (The Journey).

The new line of OGNs will be part of Scholastic’s Graphix Media line, the home of Bone, Dog Man and Raina Telgemeier’s books, among others. It follows Marvel and Scholastic’s prose collaboration program that was announced last year.

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‘Shuri’ wins a Nommo Award

The African Speculative Fiction Society recognized the Marvel comic during its annual awards presentation.

Shuri, the comic featuring the Black Panther’s brilliant younger sister by Nnedi Okorafor, Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire has won a Nommo Award in the “Graphic Novel” category.

The Nommo Awards are presented annually by the African Speculative Fiction Society. The four categories recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as “science fiction, fantasy, stories of magic and traditional belief, alternative histories, horror and strange stuff that might not fit in anywhere else.”

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Comics Lowdown: Who owns Atlas Comics?

Plus: Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award recipients, Paige Braddock, Frank Santoro, Dr. Gene Luen Yang and more!

Who exactly owns Atlas Comics? That seems to be the question raised in two articles from The Hollywood Reporter. Earlier this month Steven Paul, producer of the Ghost Rider film, announced via a press conference that he had bought the rights to the Atlas Comics and planned to work with Paramount to turn the properties into movies. Not so fast, said Dynamite Entertainment, who followed up by telling THR that they own the name “Atlas Comics.”

Many of you may be wondering “What the heck was Atlas Comics?” while others might be thinking, “Wait, wasn’t Atlas the company that eventually evolved into Marvel Comics in the 1960s?” And still others are wondering, “Didn’t he learn his lesson after Ghost Rider?”

But getting back to Atlas, yes, there was an Atlas Comics in the 1950s that grew out of Timely Comics and eventually became Marvel Comics. It was owned by publisher Martin Goodman, and it put out comics in a variety of genres like horror, crime, espionage and even a few superhero titles featuring characters like Captain America and the Human Torch, who had previously been published under the Timely banner. However, this isn’t that Atlas Comics.

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‘Shuri’ jumps into her own series by Okorafor + Romero

Marvel launches a new series starring Black Panther’s genius little sister.

One of Marvel’s breakout movie sensations is getting her own comic, as the publisher announced this week that Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero are working on a new Shuri series.

Shuri is the younger sister to the Black Panther, who first appeared in comics during Reginald Hudlin and John Romita, Jr.’s run on Black Panther in 2005. When her brother was injured, she took on the role of the Black Panther, and later died when their home country of Wakanda was attacked by the evil Thanos cronies The Cabal. She was revived in the latest volume of Black Panther. The character was a big part of the Black Panther film and also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War.

“[Shuri is] an African young woman of genius level intelligence who is obsessed with technology and has traveled spiritually so far into the past that she’s seen Wakanda before it was Wakanda. The Ancestors call her Ancient Future. And she’s super ambitious. What do I love about her? Alllll that and more,” Okorafor told Bustle. “She’s a character in the Marvel Universe who really sings to me.”

Sam Spratt is providing covers; here’s his first one:

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