Nubia’s super strength has always been more of a difficulty than a positive. As a baby she pushed over a tree to save a neighbor’s cat. Her mom’s had to move her to a new city when she showed a crush she could lift a car and then accidentally sent it into a house. According to the world, Nubia is a Black woman and thus she is often discounted. After rescuing the boy she likes during a convenience store robbery, Nubia is the one picked up by the police until someone advises she had nothing to do with the robbery. When her best friend Quisha is threatened by a boy who thinks he can control anyone in town, Nubia refuses to stand by and do nothing. While a video of Nubia circulates the internet showing that she has similar powers to Wonder Woman, she’s treated like a monster and is seen as a threat. Nubia decides to become the hero that society keeps trying to tell her she isn’t, with a little help from her quite famous sibling.
L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith tell a story that is extremely powerful, and for Black women will feel familiar. For others, you may find this story uncomfortable and that’s a good thing. You’re going to see agitators try to cause problems at a peaceful protest. You’re going to see a teenage boy who thinks because he family has money and prestige that he can sexually harass anyone he wants. You’ll see racial profiling, even when Nubia is clearly a hero. We see a strong pansexual woman ready to take on the world. The book adds to the Wonder Woman mythos and includes more in the process. There are people who read this that are going to grumble. This graphic novel is not for them.
Nubia: Real One is now available from DC Comics.
