Zenzi, in green, a revolutionary in Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther. Credit Marvel Entertainment.
The world of the Black Panther, the Marvel Comics hero who hails from the fictional African country of Wakanda, is about to get bigger. Marvel announced on Friday a companion series, World of Wakanda, which is to premiere in November.
And just like the current Black Panther series, which is written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author and a national correspondent for The Atlantic, the new comic will be written by newcomers to the industry: the feminist writer Roxane Gay and the poet Yona Harvey.
“My agent was not thrilled that I was taking on another project,” Ms. Gay said. But learning to write comics exercised different creative muscles, which she said she found exciting.
“It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, and I mean that in the best possible way,” she said.
Her story, written with Mr. Coates, will follow Ayo and Aneka, two lovers who are former members of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther’s female security force. “The opportunity to write black women and queer black women into the Marvel universe, there’s no saying no to that,” she said.
The first issue of World of Wakanda will include a 10-page second story by Ms. Harvey about Zenzi, a female revolutionary who incited a riot in the first issue of the Black Panther series. Mr. Coates, who recruited both writers, said he thought it was important to have female voices help breathe life into these characters. “The women in Black Panther’s life are very, very important,” he said.
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Having such a diverse group of creators, particularly women, comes at an important time. While superhero comics have been making great strides in the diversity of their characters, the same is not always true of their writers and artists. This disparity was part of the discussion when Marvel revealed that Riri Williams, a 15-year-old black genius, would don Iron Man’s armor. She was created by the writer Brian Michael Bendis, who is white, and the Brazilian artist Mike Deodato.
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But both Mr. Alonso, who is Mexican-American, and Ms. Gay, who is black, understand where fans’ impatience comes from. “In general, people of color are underrepresented in most storytelling,” Ms. Gay said. There is also a frustration, at the onset of change, “when you get sort of a trickle, and you need a flood.”
Mr. Coates, a longtime fan, said he was aware of the arguments about gender and comic books. “We have to open the door,” he said. “It’s not, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there are more women writers, more women creators in comics?’ That would be nice, but in many ways, it is kind of an imperative.”
He recalled an editor at Marvel’s being asked why Captain Marvel, who once wore a revealing costume, switched to a more militaristic uniform. The editor said he wanted his daughter to be able to dress as the hero for Halloween. “The idea is that the world of comic books, the Marvel universe, should be as open to his daughter as it is to my son,” Mr. Coates said. “I think that’s so important.”
Full Story here. Seriously looking forward to this!
