Shuri: Wakanda Forever

Shuri #1-2

by Nnedi Okorafor

The Black Panther's techno-genius sister stars in her own incredible adventures! T'Challa has disappeared, and Wakanda expects Shuri to lead their great nation in his absence! But she's happiest in a lab surrounded by her inventions. She'd rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them down! So it's time for Shuri to rescue her brother yet again - with a little help from Storm, Rocket Raccoon and Groot! But what happens when her outer-space adventure puts Africa at risk from an energy-sapping alien threat? Then, Shuri heads to America to investigate a lead, with Ms. Marvel and Miles "Spider-Man" Morales along for the ride! But with her people in peril, will Shuri embrace her reluctant destiny and become the Black Panther once more? Prepare for a hero like you've never seen before!

Collects Shuri (2018) #1-10.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Marvel, Young Adult, Fantasy, Superheroes

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2020

About the author

Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com and follow Nnedi on twitter (as @Nnedi), Facebook and Instagram.

Reviews

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally read as single issues.
4.5 stars.

This maxi-series was a breath of fresh air for Marvel at the time. Black Panther was effectively "off-the-table" with his adventures in space, so it was the perfect time to focus on another staple Wakandan character. (No, not Okoye. Okoye has gotten a ton of [deserved] love and appearences since showing up in Black Panther, but Shuri has (IMO) been given much less attention in the comics, even though she is just as compelling.)

They wisely got an excellent, established author (Nnedi Okorafor) for this, and paired her with an artist that is able to complement her words wonderfully, to create a comic that is much greater than just the sum of it's parts.

And both artist and writer seem to really "get" the character of Shuri, since the series takes off at top speed from the first issue, and really welcomes new readers; not a ton of backstory knowledge is required to understand and appreciate the challenges Shuri faces in this run.

Overall, an excellent addition to the Black Panther/Wakandanan mythos.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Panini Comics Brasil deixou de lançar Shuri no "momento cronológico correto" e reavivou a série em um encadernadinho da Marvel Teens a tempo do segundo filme de Wakanda. Neste encadernado T'Challa foi para o espaço e é dado como morto pelos wakandanos. Assim, eles exigem que Shuri assuma o trono e o manto de Pantera Negra. Mas antes disso, a irmã de T'Challa resolve procurar pelo irmão no espaço e as coisas acabam não dando tão certo assim. A melhor parte desse encadernado é o começo, que é escrito por Nnedi Okorafor e desenhado pelo brasileiro Leonardo Romero. Depois que Romero deia o título as coisas só pioram, tanto no roteiro, mas principalmente na arte, que fica muito ruim. No encadernado, Shuri se encontra com diversos heróis: Tempestade, Homem de Ferro, Groot e Rocky Racum, Homem-Aranha Miles Morales, Miss Marvel, entre outros. Legal que o material saiu, mas teria sido melhor se tivesse sido lançado no "momento cronológico correto" porque se liga com a série do Pantera pelo Ta-Nehisi Coates.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cover, though adorable, is not indicative of the art inside *at all.*

Nnedi Okorafor is a genius, and even though I've already read her Shuri volumes, I gladly re-read them in this format, because I want to support everything she does.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes silly (Guardians of the Galaxy crossover), with fun pop culture references and a good depiction of a brilliant young woman trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in the world.
The art is very nice.

[ಥ_ಥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first half better. It was a good read, but I didn't like that the artist changed. (minor, personal nitpick). I also wished they had a different villain, but the writing was fine.


PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021: #2. An Afrofuturist book.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed how Nnedi Okorafor was able to further flesh out Shuri, Ramonda, and new supporting Wakandan characters, as well as work in a few familiar Marvel faces. I was a little mixed on some of the artist changes, though.

[Ellena Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

shuri’s hand in marriage… now

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 48 I'm just starting to read comics now that my nine year old is into them. Shuri handles a lot of serious themes -- Pan-Africanism, grief and loss, etc. -- but doesn't lose sight of the inherent silliness that makes superhero stuff fun. Crossover MCU stuff with Groot and Rocket, Miles Morales, and Iron Man make sure of that.

[Giorgia Braglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'edizione italiana che raccoglie i 10 numeri è a dir poco illeggibile rispetto al formato comics, nonostante ne abbia apprezzato il prezzo ridotto.
Non mi sorprenderebbe se il prossimo film dedicato a Pantera Nera prendesse a piene mani da questo fumetto anche se trovo la Shuri cinematografica meno interessante del personaggio nei fumetti che, anche qui, si dimostra molto più tridimensionale

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edition of Shuri combines Shuri Vol. 1 (The Search for Black Panther) AND Shuri Vol. 2 (24/7 Vibranium) into one book. Whether you read the separate volumes or the single edition, I encourage you to read it. The story is really good and the artwork is beautiful. I picked up this edition through my library, not realizing that it was the combination of the two volumes mentioned above. As such, I am providing the reviews I left for each of those editions below.

Vol. 1:
King T'Challa has gone missing on what was supposed to be a routine mission to space. After two weeks, questions are starting to be asked. Wakanda needs a leader, both politically and spiritually, so Princess Shuri is asked to take on the role of the Black Panther. However, her previous experience - and death - in the role has her reticent to be the Black Panther again, and she decides, instead, to try searching for her brother. As a result of that decision, all of Africa is in danger from a giant alien bug. Can Shuri stop the space insect? Will she become the Black Panther? Where is T'Challa?

Nnedi Okorafor begins a wonderful story in this volume starring Princess Shuri. I loved her as a character in the Black Panther movie, and I love seeing her spotlighted again in this graphic novel. Not only does the story draw you in, but the artwork is absolutely beautiful. I think my favorite part was when Shuri ended up inside Groot's head, which changed his speech just slightly - from "I am Groot" to "I am Shuri." Even with the change, though, Rocket was still able to understand everything Shuri-Groot was saying. It was a very clever part of the overall story.

Now, on to Volume 2!

Vol. 2:
Shuri Vol. 2 picks up right where Vol. 1 ended. Shuri's search for signals similar to the one left behind by the space lubber have led her to New York City, where she helps Spider-Man (Miles) foil a bank robbery. The person who is robbing the bank has a glove that gives off a signal very similar that the one left by the space lubber. Despite wanting to return to Wakanda immediately, Shuri's mother tells her to stay in NYC and help Spider-Man with this situation. When that's completed, she can return to Wakanda and finish her work with the giant bug.

This was a great continuation of the story that started in Vol. 1. Not only is Shuri able to stop the destruction caused by the space bug - in a rather unique way, I might add - but she starts listening to herself, to her intuition, and realizes not only who she is, but who she is not.

As with Vol. 1, the artwork in Vol. 2 was wonderful! And I absolutely LOVED this cover! So powerful!

If you are a fan of the Black Panther or Shuri, I highly recommend reading both volumes of this graphic novel. Definitely worth it!

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title shows the trials and tribulations that Princess Shuri has to face in the absence of her brother the Black Panther. These issues see Shuri travelling far and wide to try and save her brother from something she may have caused.

What I liked -
A full blown Shuri story! The smartest character in the Marvel universe getting to flex those skills was a pleasure to read and her adventures were fun. Bringing in several key characters from Black Panthers world worked well in establishing how well and loyal the residents of Wakanda are. Storm being featured so heavily makes sense and is a nice throwback to her time with T’Challa. The story works well to show the pressure Shuri not only puts on herself but also that her family and her standing within Wakanda do too. The art is consistent throughout and whilst I’d have preferred to see Romero do all issues the other artists are well selected as to not have a jarring change.

What I didn’t like -
After the initial four issues it felt like that the title was attempting to be bolstered with a lot of guest stars. Rocket and Groot was wonderfully unexpected and worked very well and having Storm featured was good. But adding Miles Morales and then Ms Marvel just felt like padding/ a needless way to bolster a title that didn’t need it. The lubber bug was also very ‘comic’ and took the title out of a faux reality.

Favourite panel/ moment -
Shuri with the wings! It’s an elegant costume that looks bad ass.

Recommend for -
Those wanting to explore more of Wakanda from a different perspective.

3/5.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

When T'Challa and Manifold disappear while on a mission in deep space, more and more people are asking Shuri to take up the Black Panther position in his stead. Shuri is reluctant to do so, and at first tries ignoring the issue by searching for T'Challa herself and focusing all her energies on getting rid of a giant space bug that decides to visit Wakanda.

This series of adventures has Shuri as an adult. A young adult, but an adult. There are past adventures they refer to but recap well enough that I could dive into this having only seen the movie, and just one or two other cross-over appearances of her in other Marvel series. Shuri gets her own cameo guests in this including Rocket and Groot, Iron Man, Miles Morales, and Ms. Marvel. I enjoyed the adventures, though I am a little frustrated that the mystery of T'Challa's location isn't resolved in this volume. I guess I need to hunt down which series I need to read more of to find out what happens there. Shuri does a lot of growing as a person in this volume, learning about leadership, and also the limits of science and her own skills. But she also gets to show off her serious brains and crazy inventing skills too. Recommended for Shuri fans, and fans of smart female superheroes.

Notes on content: Very rarely a minor swear. No sexual content. Violence is threatened and there's a little of a superher/supervillain battle, but actually a lot is resolved through science and negotiation.

[Jimbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shuri: Wakanda Forever was a nice escape into the deeper story of Wakanda and the Black Panther. Overall, it felt disjointed. Shuri is a great character and a strong character, but at times, with all her intelligence and power, she felt out of her power and unsure.

Being unsure about taking the mantle of the Black Panther is one thing, being unsure in her abilities is another.

I loved the guest stars with her, my favorites being Ms. Marvel, Spider-man (Miles), and the new character Collision.

Iron Man felt like it was unnecessary in the long run. Ororo is always welcome, but she too felt like she was a character there for no good reason. She added NOTHING to the storyline and did nothing to really help with the problem Shuri faced.

Whether this was supposed to be for younger readers (which it may have been) it felt too disjointed and almost too young. It felt a bit condescending at times and the dialogue was stiff and sometimes out of the blue.

Theses formatted collections are the perfect size and Shuri is a amazing character. I wish the story and the urgency would have made it a strong, connected piece.

[Julia Stephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit, I didn't really enjoy this story as much as I did other Marvel ones. I couldn't relate to her character, and the plot was the same the whole time. It got boring after awhile. The whole plot was to banish a giant insect.
The insect was creating chaos by swallowing lands and people surrounding it. In reality, all the insect wanted was to go back it's natural habitat. Yet, the insect's habitat was destroyed. It decided to fight against humanity in retribution for man kinds actions.
Shuri however, made careless decisions which annoyed me. She refused to take the role of Black Panther several times. She altered the costume. She talked to someone on the internet that she didn't know. She gave the unknown person on the internet information to hack the Wakandian system so they can assist in finding her mother and brother.
The story just started, presented Shuri's backstory and a huge plot. There was no scenes in between the backstory and plot, and climax. There was barely any scenes that went down before the story ended. Maybe it's just me. Shuri just seemed kind of rushed to me.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story! It's nice to see Shuri get her own story, I like that while she is the Black Panther she still maintains her uniqueness (not being BP the first few editions, then being BP but complemented by her own inventions). The wings are amazing! Love the appearance of Storm and other Marvel cameos, although Spiderman and Ms. Marvel seemed a bit unnecessary to be honest. The artwork is beautiful and the villain is cool, if a bit comic book trope-y. I do have two small bones to pick with it:

- the cover art, while beautiful, seems to be completely unrelated to the story and art style, I prefer the original cover art for the collection editions.

- VERY NITPICKY, but the drawing of Shuri's face in closeups is very inconsistent... Isn't she meant to be a teen/early twenties? In some panels she has the face of a 50 year old.

Overall, I highly recommend this story, even if you haven't read any Black Panther comics recently the story is very easy to get into. I wish there were more Shuri standalone stories!

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! I absolutely loved all the characters she worked with and I felt the flow was nice. I didn't have a problem with the art style changes that I sometimes do, although I did like Leonardo Romero's art the best. I do have an issue with comics in general, that unless you read every single thing that comes out, you miss part of the story. This comic still had that problem, I know they're going to find T'Challa, but I don't know how and I don't know when because this book never completed that. Still, it was okay because this still felt like an arch was achieved. Like most short stories, there was a beginning and an end, where a change took place, which is better than some comic stories i've read. Lastly, I will mention one other thing that sometimes took me out of the story, which is that Shuri was constantly ignoring the advice of people, especially the ancestors! It all worked out on the end, but it was a little annoying.

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 5 issues has a solid start and solid writing by Hugo Award winning author, Nndei Okorafor, that is complemented very well by the art of Leonardo Romero. In these 5 Issues we find that the Black Panther is missing as the people of Wakanda turn to his young sister, Shuri, to take his place in leadership while dealing with a cosmic praying mantis that seems set to destroy Wakanda. There's a fun guest appearance by Rocket Raccoon and Groot that is pretty fun and an appearance of Iron Man.
Issues 6 & 7 seem to be filler issues with cameos from Miles Morales Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel as they try to stop a highschool kid from creating black holes with a gauntlet.
Issues 8-10 brings us back to the main story line of dealing with the cosmic praying mantis once again with a new writer and artist that brings the finale to an underwhelming conclusion.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shuri gets the solo treatment and while she is fun, the book isn't. Most books succeed or fail based on their antagonists. Here, we get a couple of Marvel villain one offs and a space bug. Its underwhelming to say the least. The book could have used more Wakandan political intrigue especially considering the circumstances. The book was also very inconsistent. Shuri talks to dead ancestors regularly but complains about believing in mystical mumbo jumbo. Also, Shuri comments about Muti is different because he doesn't call her "Princess" then proceeds to do just that for half the book. Editorially, that should have been spotted. The art was decent but very basic. Overall, this was a pretty vanilla offering but Shuri is likeable.

[Ryan Trepanier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say about this. I had higher hopes for this graphic novel, with Nnedi Okorafor at the helm. Sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations, and while it was fun, it was just another superhero story. Issue #3 was quite enjoyable, but the story itself was quite thin and I really feel like they left a lot of really cool ideas/issues on the cutting room floor. If you're just looking for more superhero stuff to read, this isn't actively bad, so you'll probably enjoy it. However, if you're like me, and you dip your toes into superhero comics when something is particularly unique/strong, this entry doesn't really fit the bill.

[Amanda Shepard (Between-the-Shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I didn't necessarily have the background going into this, there was enough context given that it didn't matter. There's an overarching story that draws all of the different sections together, and we get to see some familiar friends, like Iron Man, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), and Ms. Marvel. The parts with Miles and Ms. Marvel were probably some of my favorite of the bunch. I love these smaller Marvel graphic novels packaged for middle grade readers. They are a great way to introduce comics, honestly!

[Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read. The art was solid. I am not always a fan of superhero comics because I feel they sometimes lack depth. I was drawn to this one mainly because it was written by Nnedi Okorafor, and I really enjoyed the Black Panther MCU movie. It was interesting how Shuri had to confront familial legacy versus her own dreams and aspirations on one hand, but on the other she possessed Groot and punched a giant bug in space. Which is fine.

3/5 Stars

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars because the last three issues really fell off in quality compared to the first half under Nnedi Okorafor. I was often reminded of the Akata Witch series (the use of masks, godhoods, the libraries, the pan-Africanism, the importance of women elders and nature) and the parallels were interesting. I also enjoyed the crossovers with Iron Man and Spider-Man/Ms Marvel although I felt that Kamala was terribly underwritten.

[Esme · Rating 5 out of 5]

New characters and some existing ones Shuri becomes the back panther in her own right. With challenged coming to her, she will try her best to be herself and find her place in Wakanda. Great story to build on the story of the black panther mantle. Okorafor brought a new part of Shuri but still building on the one everyone knows. If your a big fans of Shuri this book will help you know alittle bit more of her character and how she will be part of the black panther mantle.
Five stars.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and filled with action, it's got crossover characters from other superhero stories and because I only recognize them and know a little about them, I took the comics series for what it was-- a dive into Wakanda with Shuri as the centerpiece. The art and action were fun but the deeper parts of the story weren't something I was completely pulled into because I don't have additional context.

[Margaret Boling]

10/17/2021 ~ Previewed/read most of this with an eye toward my students' reading enjoyment. The cover of Chapter 1 "Gone" is much better than the cover of this omnibus edition. I appreciated reading more about Shuri, TChalla's genius, techno sister.

[Highland G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book with very little knowledge going in. Some of the solutions are a bit too ‘easy’ and it all wraps up with a Disney like happy ending. I had no idea shuri had so many powers. I will need to look into other books that cover that more.

[Craig Vinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read to get your n the mindset of the new movie I feel. A Black Panther story without a Black Panther that truly shows the extent of their impact on others, and the extent of which their absence is felt. A fairly simply structured narrative but full of heart.

[Spiegel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shuri rocks.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little of everything: super team-up, real science, and excellent plotting. You'll love Shuri too!

[Nicholas Katers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art, great story, and well-written characters.