African Superheroes

African Superheroes

The announcement of Marvel Studio's "Phase 3" and Warner Brother's equally loaded schedule of DC-related films has turned out to to be a kind of double edged sword in my opinion. As an avid comic-book reader (ahem, via Wikipedia summaries),  I look forward to the plethora of live action superhero movies that will be available in the near future. However, at the same time I have some feeling of apprehension which is probably justified on the following grounds: should any or a number of these movies genuinely flop (in terms of critical response and box office), it could trigger a crash, similar to the North American Video Game Crash of 1983, consequently leading to the abortion of several of these films and putting the entire future of live action comic films at risk.

Movies, aside, I wrote this article to address the limited access that I continue to experience. In fact, the most intimate encounter I may have had with superheroes in my toddler days was with those seemingly awesome toys that came with a chicky-meal from KFC! I did not care about the fact that KFC made money by packaging toys and miserably tiny pieces of chicken. No kid from the 90s can deny the satisfaction of boasting about your cheap chicky-meal toy during break time at school and simultaneously denying your classmates the right to even touch that toy with their not-so-finger-licking dirty hands... just before the teacher confiscated them. 

On a serious note, due to lack of accessibility to comics in the past, I feel deprived of some of the greatest story-lines in comic book history, story-lines that inspired major motion pictures that pseudo- comic-book fans like myself quote today. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the market was mainly in that magical land USA. 

Nonetheless, on the continent, we have had our fair share of comics. Dating back as far as the 60s, the African continent had its own James Bond: Lance Spearman, whose photo comic was syndicated in  various local magazines of that era. And who could not forget Supa Strikas? The ultimate soccer story that defied the laws that govern football today (Sepp Blatter, match fixing, Arsenals injury record, to name a few...).  Moreover, it would also be a harsh generalization to conclude that the African Comic Industry is dead... Earlier in 2014 I had the privilege of visiting a mini "comic-con" convention in Cape Town, where some professional work was on display. 

Unfortunately, I have a bone to pick with the current comic-book industry as it is and has been on the continent. This is due to the fact that most of the work out there fails to the noticeably absent lack of relevant, original storytelling. Where are the unique tales that are inspired by ordinary people and situations that occur on the continent? Much of the media is just copy-paste of Hollywood. As nice as it may be, I cannot relate to an alien who lives in a very modern first world fictional city known as Metropolis, even if you rename the city to  "Ke-Nako-Land. Nor can I identify with some intelligent nerdy kid in New York who has a spider sense and swings webs while burdened with the great responsibility that comes with such power... Even if you contextualize him and make him some intelligent kid who goes by the identity "Dung-Beetle Man". 

I wish I had the talent to bring to life something original and truly African at the same time, but I have just not been endowed with the patience to translate such stories into artistic full page comics. I do believe that it is better to do something about an issue that presses you than complain about it, but for now complaining is all I can do..

Perhaps if there is some artistic genius out there who shares my passion for comics, here me out. I have this masterpiece of a story that has been lying dormant in my mind for a while now:

The Chronicles of Homework-Boy:

Bichu was your typical African school boy.. lazy with a work ethic that only existed to help him steal chicken stew from his neighbor's parents whenever he is really bored and hungry. However tragedy strikes when he is caught and receives his  receives the beating of his life from his  neighbors and his parents. Shaken by such an experience, Bichu uses the memory of his tears to transform himself into a diligent hard working student who completes his homework on time every time....