We have more news about the Okorafor-Marvel bombshell that was dropped on us a few days ago. As you all know, Okorafor is writing Marvel Comic’s new Black Panther Spinoff based on T’Challa’s genius sister Shuri.

We now know that the artist hired to do the cover art is Sam Spratt, the same artist who designed Janelle Monae’s Electric Lady album.

Expressing excitement about his involvement in the project, Spratt had this to say on Instagram.

 

Cover I painted for Marvel’s “Shuri” (Black Panther’s genius sister) written by the incredible @nnediokoraforand drawn by @leo_romero11 . This’ll also be my 1st ongoing comic series as Marvel brought me on to tackle cover art for every issue in the 1st arc so … gotta lotta beads & braids to draw. Shouts to Leo for the killer redesign of Shuri, and huge thanks to @naomielizee who is my model for Shuri.

We also know for a fact that Okorafor approves of Spratt’s work.

In an Instagram post, she writes:

Here is the illustration for the first issue of Shuri (written by me [Nnedi Okorafor], art by Leo Romero). I love it soooooo much! The cover artist for this is Sam Spratt. He did the album cover for Janelle Monae’s Electric Lady. 😃!!! #shuri #nnediokorafor#wakandaforever #marvel

Side note: Janelle Monae has read Okorafor’s work and loves it. A couple of weeks ago, Monae had this to say during an OkayPlayer interview: “I’m really excited about nnedi Okorafor. I love her work.” It is, thus, worth noting that Okorafor is collaborating with someone who has previously worked with Janelle Monae.

Scroll down to see the full cover evolution:

Images via Instagram | @nnediokorafor and @samspratt