Deron Generally
Deron Generally
X-Men: Wakanda Forever #1
Marvel Comics
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
Art by Ray Anthony-Height and Alberto Alburquerque
Inks by Ray Anthony-Height, Alberto Alburquerque, Juan Vlasco and Keith Champagne
Colors by Erick Arciniega
Letters by Joe Sabino
The woman who would be Malice started off as Dora Milaje trainee Nakia. During a training mission, she inadvertently gets a glimpse into her future and it disturbs her enough to confide in Storm after coming upon her and T’Challa talking. Storm does her best to comfort the young woman, but the jealousy and rage in her is still present.
In the present day, Storm, Rogue and Nightcrawler find themselves in a local African grocery store because Storm has a date with her ex-husband that night. Nakia takes the opportunity to attack the group with the weapon she stole and the Dora arrive to try and help. Okoye comes up with a plan to keep the creature off guard so that they find a way to end its threat, but it might be more powerful than they imagined and the arrival of a mystery figure might be the only thing that can stop it.
The story that has continued from the Dora’s team up with Spider-Man is getting bigger, but it hasn’t lost the character driven aspects of the story. It was a well done aside to start this issue with Nakia’s past and the tragedy of her dark desires. While her motivation remains questionable, her character arc does continue to be interesting in context of what she wants to accomplish and what she’s willing to do next to get to her goal. Okorafor has given all of the characters including Nakia some great character development and it is reflective in how Nakia is both evil and tragic in this story.
The art by Anthony-Height and Alburquerque is some of the best I’ve seen in many recent titles. The opening sequence with Nakia in the Echo Chamber was beautifully detailed and disturbing. The facial expressions on Malice when her plan comes to fruition are amazing. I love the exaggerated physical rendering of the character. It adds additional menace to get actions. A great issue that is continuing a really good story.
X-Men Wakanda Forever #1
