If the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer is any indication, Shuri is bound to become the Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What better time than now to repackage key Black Panther stories that feature Shuri kicking ass in the costume? Enter The Black Panther: The Saga of Shuri & T’Challa, a 424-page collection featuring stories from 2005 to 2016. This era of Shuri featured a hero who had to rise up with her brother injured and unable to protect Wakanda. It was also an era where Storm was more involved with the series, making for interesting family dynamics.
This collection opens with Black Panther #2 by Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr. This tale doesn’t feature Shuri as Black Panther, but it’s her origin issue. The character is relatively new as this issue came out in 2005. Much more a T’Challa story, it’s nice to see her origin issue in this collection.
The collection jumps into “The Deadliest of Species” story arc. Running six issues long, Hudlin and Ken Lashley give Shuri the reins as Black Panther. This collection opens with Storm on her way to Wakanda as she introduces herself to the people. This was a shakeup at the time due to Black Panther and Storm marrying. It all crashes and burns at an opportune time when Black Panther’s ship comes crashing into Wakanda.
The story picks up from there as Storm attempts to be the queen in his stead, Shuri is called upon as the rightful replacement of Black Panther, and T’Challa clings to life, navigating the spirit realm of limbo. All these subplots carry forward over the six-issue run converging at the very end in an earned ending that’s satisfying. The story arc here confirms the love between Storm and T’Challa, pushes T’Challa very close to choosing death over life and sets Shuri on a quest to understand herself when given the task of protecting a people.
While Storm struggles to lead Wakanda, Shuri is the series’s star as she attempts to live up to the Black Panther legacy. It’s something she’s always wanted but never had the chance to earn, and she goes through a few tests here. Hudlin surprises with a twist to the results of her test, but that only makes her heroic acts in the end all the more pleasing.
Shuri looks great in the costume.
Credit: Marvel
Lashley does a good job with the art, be it the spirit realm, Shuri’s fever dreams, or Storm’s political posturing. I appreciate that Lashley doesn’t draw Shuri in sexualized poses (despite the covers), and she’s rendered intensely and heroically as she deserves. Some of the best scenes come early on, featuring Dr. Doom and Lashley doing a fantastic job giving Doom the scars and little details that show off his technological prowess.
With a third of the book covered already, Jonathan Maberry and Gianluca Gugliotta kick off the four-issue Klaws of the Panther story. This tale has Shuri in full Black Panther garb fighting dinosaurs and teaming up with Shanna, Wolverine, and Spider-Man. I can’t say Gugliotta’s art holds up over time simply because it’s cheesecake and has our character’s breasts falling out and Shuri bending over quite a bit. It’s fun to see her interact with mainline Marvel characters in the role of Black Panther, though. Pepe Larraz takes over on art with issues #3-4, and the cheesecake drops off quite a bit. In general, it’s a good story for Shuri as she’s boldly in the role and not tethered to T’Challa as much as in the previous story arc.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run on Black Panther takes up most of this collection, with Black Panther #1 and #8-11 reprinted here. At the start, Shuri has “vanished,” but soon we learn her body has been frozen while her spirit travels the Djalia, a transcendent plane of Wakanda’s past, present, and future. These issues tread the start of Coates’ run on the series and blend the mystical with the logical. It’s a great portion of the series.
Closing out the collection is Aaron Covington and Mario Del Pennino’s Black Panther: Long Live the King #3-4. Meant for younger readers, it’s a nice adventure to end things as Shuri supports Black Panther on his adventure.
Surprisingly, this collection doesn’t feature Shuri’s more recent solo series. That might be because the character was less a Black Panther figure and her own thing. That said, it feels odd not to include it since it makes this collection less comprehensive. The title is “The Saga of Shuri and T’Challa,” so not featuring that makes some sense.
A good collection that shows off a very cool time for Shuri’s character and the always compelling spiritual realm Black Panther must navigate from time to time. If you dig Shuri from the MCU, you’ll enjoy the start of her time as Black Panther and then her reign as Black Panther for a time too, but above all, you’ll dig how well this story comes together in the end.
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