Warning! Spoilers for Clock Striker below!
The Shonen Manga series Clock Striker, introducing the first Black female protagonist in the genre, is about to get its first physical release. Next year, the original digital series from Saturday AM will get a physical release that will tell the story of Cast, who aims to become a member of legendary warrior engineers, the Smiths. The first Shonen manga Black female hero makes the jump from the English Shonen manga magazine Saturday AM.
Saturday AM is a Shonen manga anthology first debuting in 2013, as the United States publisher brought manga stories showcasing "the world's most diverse manga anthology." Among the Shonen manga series published in the anthology include Apple Black by Odunze Oguguo, Saigami by Seny, and Titan King by Tony Dawkins. Saturday Am also has anthologies titled Saturday Brunch focusing on Josei manga, as well as Saturday Afternoon, and Saturday PM. Now, Saturday AM's Clock Striker is getting a physical release, showcasing the first Shonen manga Black female hero.
Clock Striker by Issaka Galadima and Frederick L. Jones first debuted in the Shonen manga anthology Saturday AM back in 2017, as the story followed Cast, who is considered the first Black female Shonen Manga hero. Cast builds a robotic arm that doubles as a mobile laboratory, allowing her to train to be a member of the legendary warrior engineers, the Smiths, who have been missing for years. She ends up meeting Ms. Philomena Clock, a former member of the Smiths, who ends up training Cast. The synopsis for the series teases multiple "deadly adventures" for Cast as she's described as having "unfathomable offensive power" in the form of her scientific experiments and discoveries while also being able to shoot lightning from her cybernetic arm.
The first Shonen manga Black female lead hero's adventures will see her discover what happened to the Smiths and whether she can join the mysterious warriors who haven't been seen in some time. Clock Striker is getting published in a 224-page physical edition, which will collect her earliest adventures.
Seeing the character debut in a physical edition of Clock Strikers is a welcome sight, as the U.S. manga series introduces an exciting new character in Cast that manga readers sadly don't see often in stores. As the first Shonen manga Black female lead hero, Cast offers a diverse perspective the genre sorely lacks. Readers can pick up Clock Strikers #1 when the manga's physical release from Rockport Publishers arrives in comic book stores on February 7th, 2023.