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.
Here’s the description from Marvel.com:
In Shuri and T’Challa: Into the Heartlands, when an argument between T’Challa and Shuri leads to one of Shuri’s inventions accidentally destroying the sacred ceremony site, chaos reigns instead of prosperity. Suddenly the people of Wakanda, including her mother the queen, are becoming sick! Could this be a curse from the ancestors? Desperate to save her mother, Shuri dives into research and finds an answer hidden deep in an ancient children’s myth. It may be nothing more than a fantasy, but with the sickness spreading each day, the young princess must trust her instincts and travel deep into the mysterious Heartlands to save her family and her kingdom.
Joining Shuri on her journey is none other than a meddling T’Challa. If Shuri and T’Challa can set aside their jealousy and resentment of each other long enough to survive this journey, they might just discover that they are far more powerful together than they could ever be apart. But if they can’t face their fears in the Heartlands and lift the so-called curse, it may not be just the end for their family, but the end of Wakanda as they know it. No pressure, right?
The graphic novel will be released on April 5.