Black Comics Month: Exploring Worlds And Families With ‘New Masters’
by Scott Redmond
Despite the way that some people act, the United States is not the only place on this vast lively planet. So many thriving intriguing places that it’s egotistical to assume that aliens would want to land and set up shop here.
That’s the premise behind New Masters, the third entry for Black Comics Month! Where every Friday this month we (myself & sometimes a friend) will be bringing you a column specifically focused on comics from Black creators. They’ll span the vast genres that comic books can touch from superheroes to magic to vampires and even cyberpunk.
Dreamt up by brothers Shobo and Shof Coker, the series is a blend of science fiction, adventure, drama, and Afrofuturism. Featuring the area of Western Africa under the rule of alien colonizers. A motley crew of family ends up caught in a struggle for power centered on an ancient artifact of great power. It features the coloring work of Francesco Segala, Harrison Yinfaowei, and assists from Julmae Kristoffer.
New Masters is both a comic book and a true storytelling experience.
Shof’s artwork, with all the coloring assistance, is out of this world. Fitting for something taking place on our world with aliens involved. It’s such a lush and detailed world, every panel and page being dense and detailed and full of amazing energy- no matter if the moment calls for closely confined action sequences or wide gorgeous landscape style sequences. It lets every single space the story inhabits have a life, a purpose, and grandness to them.
Lightness bleeds into the colors which are almost watercolor-like in appearance- vibrant but also toned down and muted in delivery, giving things an Earthy and familiar quality.
Starting in a space of unknown, Shobo crafts the right storytelling experience, slowly adjusting the reader to this world before really cutting loose and letting out all the lore drops. None of them are just plopped for reasons. They are carefully doled out and given space to be explored by the reader. All of it just makes this story richer as characters get to branch out and showcase themselves.
Various elements of this story play with the familiar while giving them a different twist, really pulling from the brothers Nigerian background.
In a way, this is very much a story about the new generation and their finding ways to break the cycles of the old and bring actual potential change to the world. This is what is supposed to happen when it comes to new generations and the eventual replacement of the old within power positions.
Seems like a pretty relevant sentiment in the world right now.
What these brothers and their collaborators have achieved is something truly special. This is a world and group of characters that are so deep it would be satisfying just to have this one story with them, but if there were to be more beyond this one it would be like an extra helping of the best dessert.
New Masters is available in various formats from Image Comics.
