Marvel’s Voices Legacy #1: A Luta Continua, A Tale From The Venomverse

For the last 10 years, multiple countries around the world have seen a rise in movements and protests opposing police brutality (especially against black people and various indigenous populations) and impunity. Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests gets portrayed in a Venomverse-style version by Shuri’s writer Nnedi Okorafor and Blood Syndicate, Firestorm & Captain Marvel’s illustrator ChrisCross, with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg. Their approach to narrating this resistance short tale is passionate and heartfelt, with a perfect mix of superhero-driven action and exposing the fictional camera to the complexity of its characters.

A Luta Continua assembles a diverse cast of Nigerian protestors, including disabled and Muslim representation in its 4 pages, as well as accounting for some realities really close to the real situation it represents (the protests started in 2017 but saw their peak in October 2020), like the banners’ slogans or the face masks of the protestors. That side of the realism and attention to detail of this short tale gets round up by the gift of imagination that is putting the Venom symbiote to the service of this liberation movement, highlighting how the power of superpowers is what they are used for, the power of the symbiotes are the ideas behind which they stand. With this mix of possibilities and fiction, our main group of heroes resisting police brutality with superpowers works as a precious speculative tale on how communities can make people stronger. 

And the art only rounds up that, with ChrisCross’ delicate lines, detailed posturing and astounding use of movement. If you’re a fan of his old work on Blood Syndicate with Ivan Velez, Jr.’s action-filled but reflecting storylines, you’re gonna enjoy the artwork in these 4 pages a lot. Here, as a lot of his most recent digital art, the lines are more polished, and the digital lines and Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors drive it to a more pastel, precious look. But the main core of succeeding at characters’ emotion (even with face masks!) and movement as much as action is in the baseline of this short tale. Honestly, I only wish there was a second story with this group of heroes (and this creative team!) coming soon.