In conjunction with the upcoming Wakanday and Vibranium Nights celebration on February 17th, 2018 artist Shawn Alleyne created a BlackSci-Fi.com exclusive piece of artwork for the screening featuring Black Panther.

Alleyne explained, “From when I was young I was always excited to read about different cultural mythologies. From there, I was drawn into sci-fi, Enid Blyton books, and anything fantastical that made me escape my mundane world. Comics were the biggest draw for me as an artist, however. And the early Marvel guys played a hand in my inspiration– particularly John Byrnes, Walt Simonson and Art Adams.

In later years I was heavily influenced by the original founders of Image comics, and  at the time of their launch back in the early nineties, there were no other characters that were as fresh and exciting as theirs, and that made me want to create my own. 

As I’ve grown I try to meld that craving for freshness with my Nubian culture, my Caribbean roots, and hip-hop. Above all, my greatest influences and inspiration comes from anything that’s exciting and new. Artists that are pushing the envelope and following their own path.

I never consider anything I do a “masterpiece” or finished. I’m always on the journey of making the piece as good as it can be, and I just draw till I feel I’ve done all I can. The hardest part has always been to me “how do I make this piece as visually appealing as possible”? I always try to add something I think may not have been seen before. In this case, I really wanted to showcase how advanced Wakanda is, and I wanted to see a Panther mecha. This piece is meant to showcase T’Challa planting a flag of dominance to whomever he’s facing and letting them know “Not here you won’t.”  “