Marvel Announces Protectors of Wakanda: A History and Training Manual of The Dora Milaje

02/26/2022 09:51 am EST

Marvel is revealing more about the world of Black Panther's fiercest warriors later this year. Protectors of Wakanda: A History and Training Manual for the Dora Milaje hits shelves September 13. In the guide by Karma Horne, readers will get a full look at the origins and training regimen of the Dora. It's a large undertaking, but Horne is more than up to the task. The world of Black Panther has proven to be massively popular for Marvel and people demand more knowledge about Wakanda. At Disney's Avengers Campus, there is a live show where the Dora train young park guests to learn the ways of these legendary warriors. But, Protectors of Wakanda will provide even more detail into their training through journal entries from veterans of their battles and new members alike. Horne talked to The Root about the process of building a backstory for the Dora. She felt it was really important to ask some of these questions.

"It dawned on me that the Dora Milaje don't really have a history in the comics," she explained. "We see them come in and out, they're these beautiful bald women who are warriors, but I was like where do they come from, how do they get picked? We know they come from all over Wakanda, but what does that look like? And that's what I decided to explore in this book."

"This idea of Wakanda hadn't really been codified, and there were all these amazing surprises, things that I found along the way that I think people who are fans of the movies are going to be surprised about," Horne added. "Because the comic book lore is a little bit different." 

"Everything in the book utilizes the technology that we have seen to date. I introduce a couple of new things, but they're not that far out of the realm of possibility if you already know the parameters of the worlds of Wakanda, as well as the types of vibranium that are found there," shed continued. "There's equal parts physical training, but there's also technological, as well as language. Every single Dora must speak a minimum of seven languages, half of those are traditional African languages."

While designing the book, Horne asked cover artist Ashley Woods about one detail. In rendering the Dora, the warrior on the front would have to be looking straight ahead, because that's how they face any challenge.

"I remember asking everybody, we need to see her face. Whatever Dora is on the cover, it shouldn't be the back of her head, it shouldn't be a profile, she should be looking right at us," Horne mused. "Looking at somebody's eyes and looking at somebody's face feels direct, like something the Dora would do. Straight on, looking at you in that ready stance was really, really important to me."

Will you be checking out the training manual for the Dora? Let us know down in the comments!

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