Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Preview | Tagged: marvel, shuri

Shuri's Recap Pages are the Best in the Business (Shuri #8 Preview)

Published Sat, 18 May 2019 16:00:08 -0500

We don't want to sound like one of those people who are always complaining about how comics were better back in the good old days, but in this particular case: comics really were better back in the good old days. Specifically, the case we're talking about is the exposition required to get readers up to speed on the story so they can enjoy an issue. After all, any comic could be somebody's first, so if they enter a written-for-the-trade typical Big Two superhero story in the middle, they can often feel completely lost. But not in this preview of Shuri #8, or any issue of Shuri so far for that matter.

In the past, you'd find the exposition you needed in the text, with characters thinking or outright saying what the reader needs to know, and the rest taken care of in captions. Ever wonder why characters written by Chris Claremont (or Stan Lee) were constantly talking out loud about how their powers worked? It was so that someone who never seen Cyclops before understood what his optic blasts did. Sure, it could feel a little hokey, especially in retrospect, but it really did do a good job of making any issue of a comic accessible to readers. Nowadays, comics sometimes have recap pages, all-text pages that include the credits for the book and a recap, but who wants to crack open a brand new comic and start reading with a wall of text? That's if a publisher bothers to add a recap page, of course. Some of them don't have anything to catch readers up at all.

But every month, we've noticed that one comic has seemingly found the perfect compromise between the in-story exposition of old and the modern recap page: Shuri. Each issue, this book features a recap page in the form of a comic, starting with a top-level overview of the series, and following with a recap of recent events. It's far easier to read in this form. Imagine, actually using a comic to explain what's happening in a comic!

Perfection. Pretty much every other comic published by Marvel or DC could take a lesson from Shuri.

Oh yeah, and there's a preview of the actual comic too. Check that out below! Shuri #8 hits stores on Wednesday… and you can start reading right there, or any issue, if you want.

Shuri #8
(W) Nnedi Okorafor (A) Rachael Stott (CA) Kirbi Fagan
SHURI TAKES UP THE BLACK PANTHER MANTLE ONCE AGAIN!
Nnedi Okorafor returns alongside rising star artist Rachael Stott with a brand-new arc! But this is a Black Panther you've never seen before – one who will change Wakanda forever. Something has stolen pieces of the Djalia, the plane of Wakandan memory, and it's up to the Princess of Wakanda to save it. But for every piece of the Djalia lost, a piece of Shuri disappears as well. Will a new suit be enough to save herself and her nation?
Rated T
In Shops: May 22, 2019
SRP: $3.99