Read + Review: Black Panther: long live the king by Nnedir Okorafor

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This book has a total of three stories in it that are all set in the Black Panther universe. The first story is about a mysterious creature that causes havoc and destruction in the kingdom by disabling Vibranium, the substance the whole kingdom runs on. The king, T’Challa, must figure out how to stop the creature and where it came from. The second story is about the White Gorilla Cult, which threatens the crown and T’Challa’s position as king. T’Challa and his friends must stop the cult. The third story is about a wedding in Nigeria that is disrupted. This angers the new Black Panther. Her anger causes her powers to go out of control and she must figure out how to them.

The first two stories in the book take place in Wakanda, a fictional kingdom. The last story takes place in Nigeria. The main characters of the first story include T’challa, Chief Ikoko, the creature, Bukola, and Jidenu. For the second story, the main characters include T’Challa, Kantu, Shuri, M’Baku, and Baron Macabre. In the third story, the main characters are Ngozi aka Uzaru, Olu aka Nepa, and Ngozi’s big brother. I really liked the ways the characters were developed in the story. Despite each story not being very long, I left each one understanding the characters. This is a very difficult task to do and I feel that it was executed well in this book.

I enjoyed this book and thought that the short stories were well-written and unique. One critique I do have, however, is the length of the stories. While I do understand that this is a graphic novel, I feel that each story was a bit too short. One of the most memorable things about this book is the way you feel when you read it. While reading each story, I truly felt that I was there with the characters. Their pain was my pain and their joy was mine as well. This created a unique experience for me and I greatly enjoyed it.

Reviewed by Anika K., Twin Hickory library