New 'Black Panther' Comic Penned By Philadelphia Woman

PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia woman has penned a story in the new Black Panther comic.

Sheena Howard — a journalism and media professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey — is the author of “The Illusion of Fairness,” one of five new stories about the heroes of Wakanda in Marvel's Voices: Wakanda Forever #1.

The release of the anthology series comes during the celebration of Black History Month.

Although this is Howard's debut with Marvel, she is not completely new to comic book writing. In 2021, Howard wrote a story that appeared in "Wonder Woman Black & Gold #6." More: Rider University Professor Is Author Of New Wonder Woman Comic

But her Marvel debut is particularly special because it incorporates the African folk hero, Anansi the Spider.

The eight-page story centers on a new trainee of the Dora Milaje, the women warriors who protect Wakanda. While a competent fighter, the trainee is taught a lesson on the need to outsmart and outpower opponents.

In the story, Howard integrates the telling of a traditional African folktale featuring Anansi, commonly depicted as a spider, who is a character that originated in Ghana.

“As someone that writes to add something new to the world and challenge the confines of various mediums, I am honored to be able to sprinkle African mythology into my work, where possible,” Howard told Patch.

“It’s something that I know means a lot to people who read comics and to people that want to venture beyond Greek mythology as the foundation for much of what we read in comics.”

Howard is no stranger to the Black Panther universe or Black comics. She previously served as the editor of a 2021 book-length collection of essays about the 2018 movie “Black Panther” called “Why Wakanda Matters,” to which she also contributed a chapter. In 2014, she became the first Black woman to win an Eisner Award for her first book, “Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation.”

She is also the author of “Encyclopedia of Black Comics,” which features a foreword written by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Howard is pitching a novel called “Start Where You Stand” which is about a brilliant young kid from Philadelphia that gets framed for a crime he didn’t commit at the age of 18.

"It’s a modern-day version of the great book, “The Alchemist.” I just finished writing some things for DMC (from the legendary hip-hop group RUN-DMC),” Howard said.

“There are so many great projects I have coming down the line and I can’t wait to be able to talk more about them as the year unfolds.”