New Masters

New Masters #1-6

by Shobo Coker, Shof Coker (Illustrator), Francesco Segala (Colorist)

Creators for Creators' 2019 grant recipients, Nigerian brothers Shobo and Shof Coker, present New Masters, a groundbreaking blend of science fiction, adventure, drama, and vibrant Afrofuturism. In a striking vision of West Africa under the thumb of alien colonizers, a motley crew of outcasts find themselves caught up in a power struggle for control of an ancient artifact with immense power.

Collects New Masters issues #1-6.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Young Adult, Adventure, Africa

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2022

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've recently become more and more interested in afrofuturism, as it has a unique perspective on science fiction, and who doesn't like new perspectives?

Along comes New Masters, an interesting bit of afrofuturism coming from two Nigerian brothers, one the writer, the other the artist.



In the book's future, Earth is one of the few places in the universe where a new element, obtanium, can be mined. Obtanium is necessary for space travel. We've made contact with other species, especially Jovians, aliens coming from Jupiter. The Jovians have 'uplifted' Earth, giving us two interplanetary warpgate things. Both are situated in Nigeria (most of the West's world cities have been destroyed in a planetary accident), so that's where the story takes place.



The main character is a half Earthling, half Jovian girl called Ola. Her parents are part of amerceny crew that works on contracts from the more shadowy underbelly of the city. They now need to steal an alien artifact, and to be completely honest, the story is the least interesting thing about this book.



It's an adventure, and it follows all the beats of an adventure, it's supposed to be exciting and it isn't. It also feels like it's written for a younger audience, and I kind of wish it had been more aimed at adults. So you have this wonderful worldbuilding, with all kinds of parallels with current day racism and colonialism, and then you get characters openly discussing these problems, which is fine, but also makes the whole thing feel very surface level, and even a bit rushed. (There's a spy character, who when they say they want an object, another character asks why, and the spy actually tells them who they're spying for, and why. Very silly. The whole spy element also feels like it's open to a lot of plotholes and random luck, I have to let the spy thing go.)

The ART. The art! The art! The ART! It is wonderful. It's where the book really shines. Lovely designs, fantastically expressive faces, subtle hints about the world everywhere. Beautiful colouring. The whole thing feels alive. The only complaint I have about the art is that action sequences (of which there are quite a few) can at times be a little hard to follow.



Short version: it's an okay story, get it for the art! The ART!

(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I did feel as though the pacing of this was a little off. Readers are thrown into the story with little context or backstory. It eventually does come together in the end, but it can be quite jarring in the beginning. Outside of that, I loved the artwork and the storytelling. The fight between different groups for information and power felt so realistic and was quite a parallel to our own global community. Utilizing a child as the center of the story was ingenious and reminds adult readers how necessary it is to provide the next generation with access to information that will allow them to make their own decisions. I would love to see more in this series and in this world!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Afrofuturistic sci-fi that's part heist, part political drama, part action. A whole lot of fun, though! When we get to see the gorgeous backdrops, the beautiful scenery, and the bustling city streets full of life, this book is absolutely jaw-dropping. And then we get to fight scenes and it's still badass! The characters and world are so full of life. I love the tension built in with the struggle for the artifact, though I did find the book playing out some of the same beats I expect from a lot of sci-fi stories. Definitely a memorable book though, with a great cast and a world I really wouldn't mind seeing more of.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. So this is set in the future in Africa. There has been some wars with other planets and the people on earth are struggling daily to get by. Something has been discovered that contains vital information that could help the people on earth and beyond. But in the wrong hands it could cause all kinds of problems. A few different factions collide as they are all trying to get their hands on this item. Pretty cool however, I brought this to work to read during down time. But I ended up having a busy week and then went to Philly this past weekend. So, I got a little behind trying to keep up with all the characters and names and cities, factions, different planets etc etc.

[Alex Sarll]

Self-described Afrofuturism: perhaps not as optimistic as that might lead you to expect, but very much a story about Africa in the future – specifically about Lagos, the creators' hometown, in the wake of an alien contact which devastated Europe and left Nigeria with a stargate. There are antigravity bikes, too, and robots, but plenty has stayed the same: widespread inequality and corruption, and a sense that only a privileged few are benefiting from trade with the former colonial power, even if it's now the Jovians* rather than Europe. The outlines of the story aren't the most original – the couple operating on the edge of the law who want something better for their daughter, the various movers and shakers competing for a Macguffin and the dangerous people they employ to get it – but the change in setting and perspective, and the sense of action in the art, still leave it feeling fresh.

*More human-like than you'd expect from that name, but then they're not originally from Jupiter, even if they are largely resident there by the time of the story.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[J MaK · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.8) This sci-fi story spans the African diaspora within an expansive universe between two warring factions. The intricacies of both the storytelling and artwork is personal and visually connects to cultural background and traditions.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, though I wasn't fully immersed in the story.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Ola is a young teen determined to find scraps of obsidium to sell on the black market. She explores the dangerous ruins of crashed spaceships in the wilderness looking for obsidium. She hopes to make a better life for her family. Her parents have other ideas about how to make a better life; they lead a crew of thieves and conmen who steal from the rich, but they also try to assist the poor by finding inventive ways to provide water and power for poor neighborhoods.

Ola's parents are hired to steal a rare device with information about an ancient civilization that had incredible technology. Whoever controls the information could dominate the entire solar system by duplicating that technology. The biggest heist of their careers ends up in the hands of their teen daughter, Ola.

I really enjoyed this sci-fi story! The heist plot has a lot of twists and turns. The worldbuilding is excellent with lots of history and backstory for the characters. I liked the fun banter between the members of the crew. They have some funny lines, and you can really see the camaraderie and affection they all have together.

There are a lot of characters introduced very quickly at the beginning, so it took me a little while to figure out who everyone was. But once I got to where I could remember them all, it was very interesting to explore how they are all related to one another. Everyone has secrets and they are all after this rare information for different reasons.
There are a few LBGTQ+ characters in the story.

The dialogue didn't always make sense to me. I could guess at what they meant, but the dialect they were speaking or slang they were using didn't make a lot of sense sometimes. Part of it was made-up sci-fi alien words that were added in to create a futuristic culture, but I wish those things had been explained a little better.

The artwork is imaginative and interesting! I loved the beautiful colors and unique designs for the characters. The art style is really beautiful and I especially liked the different scenes from the country to the city, and the designs for spaceships and aliens and robots.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Emily Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 ⭐️ Intriguing world and lovable characters.

First of all, I absolutely adored the story. It’s a well paced, futuristic sci-fi where the world has a great deal of depth to it. It has themes of corruption, power, and access to education.

Now, I will say that world’s depth is at times lost upon the reader. A lot of information on the world, its history, and its people, are delivered at the end of the novel, as a kind of info dump after you finish it. A lot of this information it would have been better to have woven into the story itself, especially earlier on so that the world makes more sense to the reader. There’s a lot of interesting world-building that we’re not privy to until after finishing the story.

There’s artwork is great. I personally loved the pallets and the design for the futuristic earth. Plus a lot of the tech is well designed.

Rep// Black MC with prosthetic arm, Sapphic MC, Black Sapphic MC.

TWs listed below, please skip if you don’t want vague spoilers.





TW// explosions, bombs, death, injury, poverty/lack of access to resources, corrupt politicians, blood.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

African science fiction and fantasy seems to be having a moment and New Masters slots into that moment very nicely. The visuals are great, the world is vibrant, the characters fun and interesting. The African vibes are mostly in the setting (Nigeria) and occasionally linguistic touches (phrases, jargon, etc.). No requirement of familiarity with the Yoruba pantheon to get on board here.

New Masters aims for the Firefly crowd with a found family on a junker ship having adventures across the 'verse. This first volume takes place on Earth, with the Jovian and Nigerian elite facing off over an ancient extraterrestrial artifact (a MacGuffin, if you will). The ragtag crew gets stuck in the middle, with the lone teenager especially involved. The plot is pretty straightforward and unsurprising, but it gets the job done nicely.

The backmatter introduces the scale of the universe Shobo and Shof are creating - very little of which is actually revealed in the plot of New Masters (which is kind of disappointing). I'm eager for more in this universe, though. New Masters could be a sturdy launching pad for something special.

[Adrienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Sac Pub Library (Grownups Unite-GN Book Club choice). I like that it is from Africa; is this for Black History Month choice; we'll chat it out on Feb. 21st at 6-7PM Pacific.

[D.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some things feel too fast (like, all the death fakeouts), but the worldbuilding is fun. I would read more in this universe. I think the artwork and coloring style added a lot of personality, and I want see more Ola. Oh yeah, did I mention there's a heist too?

3.5

[Jack Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun heist story in a very interesting world that I’d be very into revisiting.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story soaked in Afrofuturism. Hundreds of years in the future, the Earth is seen as a planet with dwindling resources while Jupiter is the jewel of the solar system. The only two gates off planet are in Africa. A young girl and her parents are the main characters. They get embroiled in a scheme that could remake Earth as a go-to world again. The Coker brothers (from Nigeria) wrote and drew this and I love the fresh perspectives and artwork. Here's to seeing more from these two in the future.

[Kyle Banks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm always on the lookout for a good graphic novel, one that gets in, tells its story, and bows out at the end. And "New Masters" was that.

First the art. The light lines and loose characters give it an almost cartoonish energy while the high science fiction setting makes it stand out from others like it. And I also admire that instead of being in a Western or East Asian backdrop as is most of the time, it's placed in Nigeria where you can feel the crowded streets and unique colors and ambience of the African country.

Now the story. I didn't know what I signed up for and went in blind. The intro made it seem like it was going to be one story but soon it was became another, without spoiling too much. It was okay in the beginning but didn't have a clean finish as it felt rushed in a lot of places. There were also plot holes needed fixing and convenient deus ex machinas shoved in; it almost felt like they needed to rush after learning it'd be a graphic novel and not an ongoing series.

Overall thoughts. It's not the most unique and barely skirts the tropes to present a decent story. The world is wonderful and I want more of it but with a different cast. If you're in the market for a compact art book with word bubbles, this is it.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6

Total review score: 2.5

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is on the long side for a single trade paperback coming in at just under 200 pages but for the concepts introduced and explored in this comic it needed to be longer.

There is a bunch of back matter in this that helps explain things after the fact but at the start the reader just gets thrown in and it takes too long (in my opinion) to get grounded in the story and attached to the goings on. It needed more time in world building before what we were given in this trade. As of right now this is a one-and-done comic so that makes me feel much less satisfied than I would knowing there would be a continuation.

There was quite a bit of good in this too, done get me wrong. I love how it felt akin to so many of the greats (The Expanse, Descender, Saga, Dune) but not any sort of rip off of any of them. There seemed to be clear inspiration but then the author and illustrator went off in a gorgeous afrofuturism style that made it wholly unique. The art was gorgeous and stuck to the African scifi vibe so well. I also think that the character development was better overall here than the world building which is great as in comics, especially short ones, I feel that caricatures can be used more than actual dimensional characters.

So yea, I liked this one quite a bit, I just wish there was more or at least a better promise of more to come.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

via Hoopla for the 2025 Realm of Comics bookclub.

This was a really interesting and fun sci-fi story with wonderful discussions on poverty, class oppression, and anti-foreign mindsets. I really enjoyed the art style and coloring that was chosen, it worked really well with the futuristic but rich cultural story.

My only issue is that it was an incredibly break-neck speed for pacing, there was just no time at all to really world build properly or sit in any moments or learn about our characters.There were some great details on the world and many helpful clarifications and bits of lore that were provided after the story was finished at the end for bonus content, I assume, but this did the story a huge disservice and would've helped tremendously if it was before the story began as a prologue or just incorporated in throughout so you had more understanding of why the world was the way it was, the players motivations and allies, etc.

So definitely not a complete win, but a fun story with a lot of heart, great style, and I'd read more if it came out for this world or from these creators.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 5 out of 5]

trigger warning
gun violence, trauma, kidnapping

When an old artifact turns up, different groups try to steal it in order to gain more power.

This is set on earth but in a future where contact with extra terrestials has been long established and some kind of apocalypse type event seems to have gone down in the past. There are zones that are not safe to travel.
High tech prostetics seems to be the norm, as is space travel.

While the illustrations are great, what really struck me is the story telling which is simply amazing. I read a bunch of comics today, and this is the best of them all. The characters all felt three dimensional and interesting in their own way, the plot is fast paced and interesting, as is the world building.
I'd love to read more by the artists, and even more set in this world because I am sure it's full of other tales worth mentioning.

Great stuff. Full recommendations.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I received access to this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Broad strokes of the plot are good, characters are good, but spread too thin. There are info dumps about the world building at the end of each issue, but it'd be much more interesting if they told those stories within the context of the story itself.
Chaotic story flow, with utilitarian dialogue that tries to contextualize everything in the dense world lore but doesn't do a great job of connecting that to the A plot.

Amazing art! Dramatic light, interesting character designs, very specific facial expressions, filmic distortion like fisheye lens, and cool ways of conveying motion all add depth on top of a beautiful afrofuturist world without any panel gimmickry.

New Masters is worth reading for its artwork alone.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! such a cool concept and world. i loved all the tech and cities and landscapes and spaceships and aliens. i really appreciate the messages here about valuing your heritage and where you are from and about power, corruption, and freedom of information. i did find this confusing to get into, especially in the beginning when we are switching between different characters, and i wanted a bit more worldbuilding and explanation. you can tell from the pages in the back that the authors have developed a rich universe for this book, but the book is written as if you already know all of that (maybe it's because they also wrote a prequel comic for a kickstarter?). but once i figured out who was who, i was very intrigued by the characters, and i would love to read more set in this world!

[Emily✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Afrofuturist action adventure with deep worldbuilding, complex characterization, and excellent artwork. Themes of colonization, tribalism, and open access to information. My only complaint is that the pace moved a bit too quickly; the transitions between scenes especially could have used some development. I'd welcome more stories from this universe. 3.5 stars

TW: violence, captivity

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled with this one. I didn't mind so much being thrown into the story right away...but there were a lot of odd jumps in the story and I felt like I was just missing a lot of information. I liked the artwork and it felt like there were some ideas and concepts that I would have enjoyed IF I had been able to enjoy the storytelling style...but I didn't. Maybe a re-read after having gone through once and then reading the information in the back would work better...but I'm honestly just happy it's over and I got through it.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd love to see more set in this world. The world building is solid and fascinating, and doesn't devolve into too much exposition or "as you know" lectures. I feel like this miniseries barely scratched the surface of the potential with this setting, which is exciting. The art is amazing, with some truly spectacular landscapes. There are a couple of places where the plotting is slightly weak, but nothing that really affected my enjoyment.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

75%

this was a bit hard to follow at first, due to the complex and fleshed out world/history/politics that you learn about along the way. once the pieces fall into place (it helped to read the author notes about the world development in the back), it was very enjoyable. it's not a new concept, but it's fun and inspiring, nonetheless. love seeing Africa from an African point of view; it really is a love letter to the continent and its people

[Paul Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and different science fiction comic book series. Very good.

This is a straight forward science fiction story but with an African emphasis which is how it ends up different from other similar tales. Rival factions seek the same thing with inevitable fighting. It’s quite engaging although the artwork was not always clear for me. There are a lot of examples of African references and speech. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few pages I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this; it does take some time to get fully immersed in a new world. I really enjoyed this story and feel like fans of Star Wars would get a kick out of it. Highly recommend reading the extras at the back of the book as it gives some insight into the history and people.

[christine plum · Rating 5 out of 5]

the illustration is stunning. the world-building is brilliant. the story is summed up best as a heist, but it’s really much more. I deeply appreciated the coming-of-age, chosen family, and anticapitalist themes woven throughout an action-packed plot. I am already excited for the next entry in this world.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
If this was a TV show or movie, I would watch it in a heartbeat. It has a nice found family and heist focus, as well as a very intriguing futuristic setting, but it moves very quickly (so good for fast pace) and I wanted more time in the world.
Solid choice you like futuristic dystopian-esc world with a found family crew.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and adventurous comic story. The world building was done well and was especially well integrated. The art was very well done and I liked seeing the different alien races. While they were all basically humanoid, they still had interesting designs. I especially liked how interspecies people were drawn.