| World of Wakanda | |
|---|---|
 Issue #1 cover | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | monthly |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Publication date | Jan. 2017-June 2017 |
| No. of issues | 6 |
| Main character(s) | Ayo, Aneka |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Roxane Gay (issues #1-5) Yona Harvey (issue #1) Rembert Browne (issue #6) |
| Artist | Afua Richardson (covers) |
| Penciller(s) | Alitha E. Martinez (issues #1-5) Joe Bennett (issue #6) |
| Inker | Robert Poggi |
| Letterer | Joe Sabino |
| Colorist(s) | Rachelle Rosenberg Tamra Bonvillain |
| Editor | Wil Moss |
| Collected editions | |
| Black Panther: World of Wakanda | ISBN 978-1-302-90650-4 |
Black Panther: World of Wakanda is acomic book series and a spin-off from theMarvel ComicsBlack Panther title.[1][2] It published six issues before being canceled. The series was primarily written byRoxane Gay, with poetYona Harvey contributing a story to the first issue.[3]Alitha E. Martinez drew the majority of the art for the series, for whichAfua Richardson contributed cover art to the first five issues, as well as art for a short story in the first issue. Gay and Harvey became the first two black women to author a series for Marvel;[3] counting Martinez and Richardson, upon its debut the series itself was helmed entirely by black women.[4]Ta-Nehisi Coates served as a consultant for the series.
Black Panther: World of Wakanda won a2018 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series.[5] The series also won a 2018GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book.[6]
After the success of theBlack Panther series relaunch in April 2016, written byTa-Nehisi Coates, Marvel developed a companion piece set in the fictional African country ofWakanda, home to the Black Panther. Coates recommended Gay and Harvey to pen the series. He had seen Gay read a short story aboutzombies two years earlier that he recalled as "the most surprising, unexpected, coolest zombie story you ever want to see"; Harvey had been his classmate atHoward University and he felt her skills as a poet would lend themselves to the comic-book form, tellingThe New York Times, "That's just so little space, and you have to speak with so much power. I thought she'd be a natural."[7]
The series debuted November 9, 2016 (with a cover date of January 2017). Harvey wrote a 10-page origin story for Wakanda's revolutionary leaderZenzi, and has said she drew on the example ofWinnie Mandela as inspiration.[8] Gay has mentioned the character ofOlivia Pope in thefirst season ofScandal and the originalUSA version ofLa Femme Nikita as influences for the series.[9]
The series was canceled after six issues due to poor sales.[4]
The firstWorld of Wakandastory arc (issues #1-5) features Ayo and Aneka, two Wakandan members of theDora Milaje, the Black Panther's female security force. Ayo and Aneka are also lovers. The first storyline also describes Zenzi, a revolutionary and villain in theBlack Panther series.[10]
The first issue is a prequel to Coates'sBlack Panther series, describing the backstory of women in Wakanda. Captain Aneka of the Dora Milaje must deal with an impertinent new recruit who simultaneously challenges her and fascinates her. Meanwhile, Zenzi discovers that she has enhanced abilities and has to decide the best way to use them. ContrastingWorld of Wakanda with itsBlack Panther predecessor, Caitlin Rosberg writes atThe A.V. Club that "World Of Wakanda feels more intimate, and all the more powerful for it. It's deeply invested in the identities of black women both as characters and more importantly as creators, making it clear that these aren't just background characters in T'Challa's [Black Panther's] life."[11] Writing forInverse magazine, Caitlin Busch called the first installment "a tear-jerking love story for the ages, encapsulating all the emotion, romance, tragedy, and fearsome intelligence of Black Panthers Wakandan civilization."[12]
As the story moves along, Aneka and Ayo grow closer, but concerns over the righteousness of T'Challa's priorities lead them to leave the sisterhood. Aneka is conflicted about making her relationship with Ayo more public, but she agrees to take a vacation trip together. Folami tries to cause trouble for the Dora Milaje, butQueen Ramonda rebuffs her attempt and alerts Zola. Aneka and Ayo cut their trip short when they are summoned back to Wakanda. They become estranged when they return from their vacation to find thatShuri has been killed. Aneka takes on a solo mission to rescue women from an evil chieftain, and she is forced to kill him. She is arrested, and Folami, the chieftain's daughter, vows revenge. The women of Wakanda rise up to object to Aneka's imprisonment, and the Dora Milaje take a more active role in peacekeeping. Folami threatens Ayo and eventually kills Mistress Zola. Ayo breaks Aneka out of prison and the two vow to remain together and to fight injustice as the masked Midnight Angels.
The series' final issue, #6, is a standalone story byRembert Browne andJoe Bennett aboutKasper Cole andWhite Tiger.
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