Malika, Warrior Queen

Roye Okupe’s Malika series was inspired by the history of Nigeria, his home country. Malika is a strong ruler, who struggles with guilt, vulnerability, and the place for mercy in her empire. While she is not the first woman ruler of her country, she is surrounded by men in her counsel. Okupe gives Malika complexity and her empire of Azzaz a richness usually absent in representation of African countries. Malika’s story focuses on her maintaining the peace in the empire, political intrigue, colonial attempts from China, and mythology. Malika isn’t a nurturing woman or purely a good queen. Her choices are influenced by a wide range of desires for her people and her family. The second book sees her choices leading her to negative outcomes. While she is a hero in the series, Okupe explores how her motivations can lead to a variety of consequences for her and the empire. 

At its heart, Malika is an adventure story. Each chapter starts with historical information about the influences in the text, helping American audiences understand more of the history, but you will have to do more research to be able to use the text to explore the history. I used it more as a way to discuss countermemory and transgression of colonial views of history.

The art is classic comic book style with richly saturated panels and action. Students in my class found interesting connections to Marvel’s Black Panther, both the original appearance in the Fantastic Four and the new incarnation. The details of the clothing and the architectural style are not merely setting but claims about Nigeria’s past being more complex than what American audiences know.