Positive representation of African concepts in the Western media is always appreciated but quite rare. While online media has slowly gravitated as a result of social media, print may be a step behind. In fiction, there’s an even bigger step in between. Many dream of the day the world will know about their world through the media and it looks like comic books from Marvel might be another step in telling our stories thanks to Nnedi Okorafor.
Over the weekend, the Nigerian-American author revealed via her Twitter page that her next project and first with Marvel Comics, Blessing In Disguise shall be a part of the Venomverse anthology and set in Lagos.
My 1st story with Marvel, an 8-page comic called BLESSING IN DISGUISE, will be in the forthcoming Venomverse anthology. It's set in Lagos.
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) August 11, 2017
It's illustrated by Tana Ford.
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) August 11, 2017
Blessing in Disguise which is illustrated by Tana Ford is centred around a girl known as Ngozi as well as Marvel characters: Venom Symbiote, Black Panther and the Rhino.
Venomverse comes following the popular Spider-Verse released in 2015. It’s based on Eddie Brock, the Venom symbiote from Spiderman, and includes Venomized versions of comic book characters like Deadpool and Mary Jane.
The announcement only adds to the impressive year the fiction writer is having with her book, Who Fears Death being converted into an HBO series, her presence on the list of writers for the Star Wars 40th Anniversary Anthology and on the list of speakers at TED Global 2017 in Arusha in the forthcoming weeks.
From the little we have gotten on the book thus far, we can tell Okorafor has her shit together because who creates something set somewhere in Nigeria and leaves out religion. September, we await you eagerly for the Blessing in Disguise you are bringing us.