Let’s create Afro-superheroes
2010-07-25 13:00
When I was a wee lad living in Maseru, we had as neighbours an English family with a son about two years younger than me.
I can’t remember his name so let’s call him Michael.
One thing I do remember about ‘lil Mike was that he had an amazing comic book collection.
For those too young to know – before animated cartoons on the telly, there were comic books for children – not the more detailed and complex graphic novels that exist today.
Anyway, Michael had everything from Beano and Dennis the Menace to Hot Shot Hamish, Whizzer and Chips, and Roy Of The Rovers.
And the two of us spent many a day sitting in his room, submerged in these.
As I grew older, I got into comics like Archie and TinTin as well as cartoons on TV such as He-Man and X-Men, followed by the American classics from Batman to Judge Dredd.
I still have a couple of mint copies of Spawn which cost me more than a DVD or CD.
In the film Unbreakable, Samuel L Jackson’s character unpacks some comic sub-plots, how they reflect society and the significance of the superhero – how the hero is illustrated versus the villain and the nuances involved.
As children, we look at these characters and aspire to be like them in the simplest sense, hence my son walking around in his Superman outfit with a towel over his shoulders.
There are lessons learnt and strong principles that we absorb as children.
This is why I have always lamented the virtual non-existence of comic books and cartoons/animated series featuring African superheroes.
The Japanese-created industry of manga and anime has taken the world by storm with a range of characters that relate to or reflect their society.
As technology starts to reach further into our lives, there is a great opportunity to expand into areas such as animation, illustration and storytelling.
The genre has evolved over the years but I truly believe there is space for comics that unfold on the African continent with heroes that reflect us and our lives.