The world of comic books is dominated by stories from the West. Two South African brothers are helping reshape that narrative with a central character inspired by the iconic hero.



Nelson Mandela had his own following at the recent Comic Con Africa convention at the end of September in Johannesburg.



At the center of all the organized chaos at the event at the
Gallagher Convention Centre attended by 71,000 visitors over four days was a
comic book bearing the late South African president’s name created by brothers
Phemelo, 28, and Omphile Dibodu, 25.



The comic book, Young Nelson, features an African superhero,
for readers in the continent and beyond.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="819" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-819x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42302" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-300x375.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-600x750.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-240x300.jpg 240w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/69712219_2127595184208556_1696296882583633920_n.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px" /></figure>



Co-founders of Rainbow Nations Comics, a black-owned comic book and publishing company established in 2018, the Dibodu brothers were born and bred in Rustenburg, known as ‘platinum city’, in South Africa’s North West province. 



Far from their hometown, the duo were in the big city for
the event, showcasing their creations to an adept audience – people dressed as
superheroes, cyborgs and zombies – who crowded around their stand and were as
colorful as the comic books they were thumbing through. 



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“Wow, that looks cool, who is Young Nelson?” asked a curious
bystander.



Phemelo was ready with his answers even as his brother
assisted with more queries.&nbsp; 



“Young Nelson is a proudly South African black comic book inspired by the late Nelson Mandela,” responded Phemelo.



In front of him, on the table, a large poster of Young Nelson, featuring a young black male with the South African flag over his shoulders and a gold-colored map of Africa emblazoned on his shirt.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="960" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42307" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n.jpg 960w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/70915590_2143969049237836_5672567550701993984_n-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></figure>



This day saw the launch of the very first issue of Young Nelson titled An Act of Kindness, for R20 ($1.3) a copy.



Phemelo, the writer, and Omphile, the illustrator, say they
were inspired by Mandela and some of their own life experiences growing up.



“I think I wanted to pay tribute to the old man in a way
that it would hopefully inspire others to look at him in the way that many
South Africans see him,” says Phemelo to FORBES AFRICA.



In the story, ‘Young Nelson’ gets his nickname when he volunteers at a local boxing gym. The people watching him witness his skills and ability to solve problems, so they equate him to the young Mandela, who was famously a boxer in his youth.



“[The lead character] doesn’t like the nickname at first but
once he sees the significance of it and his heroics, how they are taken up by
the community to represent who they are, he takes the name and rolls with it
and that’s his superhero name going forward with the series,” Phemelo explains.



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Young Nelson’s real name in the comic is actually ‘Thabo Mo
Afrika’, inspired by South African president Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded
Mandela.



“ ‘Mo Afrika’ is a generic surname [which] translated into
English is ‘an African’. So I wanted to see every African seeing themselves in
Young Nelson,” Phemelo adds.



The young writer’s plan is to take his product to bigger markets, but for now, the African comic industry is a tough market to capture for lack of any funding.



“Imagine getting paid for what you are doing. That would [make a] big difference. Once people realize that their art can be compensated, more of us will actually start creating content the world would want to start reading,” he says. 



Bill Masuku, a speaker at the Comic Con event and who is
also a digital artist, shares the same sentiments.



“In Zimbabwe, where I am from, it is pretty grassroots.
Everyone is self-publishing and if you don’t really have a passion for it, the
book won’t come out,” says Masuku, who has been a part of the African comic
industry for over three years. He is the founder of Enigma Comix Africa, and
creator of Razor-Man and Captain South Africa. 



“As much as new creatives are coming out every day, what
really makes the comic book industry is distribution. And seeing that [Young
Nelson] has such widespread potential really makes me hopeful for where we are
going,” says Masuku.



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For comic books to thrive on the continent, they need a big
financial push from publishers, distributors or investors, unlike any other
medium.



The Dibodu brothers were fortunate to have been sponsored by
the Rustenburg Herald, a weekly local newspaper in Rustenburg.



“The problem with creating by yourself is that you can only
create at a certain rate and you do burn out. So you find people who have been
making comics who have three or four issues out and it’s easy to forget about
them as a consumer,” he adds.



Globally, platforms like Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan make it
easy for Japanese creatives to publish their work as the comic book and manga
industry is thriving there, making it one of the best-selling magazines. Weekly
Shōnen Jump has sold over 7.5 billion copies since 1968.



But the African comic industry has a long way to go.



Kugali, a digital platform founded by three entrepreneurs
and friends from Nigeria and Uganda, is designed to help people find and share
the best African narratives and comics. It is an entertainment company that
focuses on telling stories inspired by Africans, offering much-needed exposure
to young creatives such as Masuku and the Dibodu brothers. For now, the
reception the Dibodus are receiving give them some hope.



“It’s been awesome and inspirational. I didn’t know people
felt the same way as me. It’s amazing when people are [reading] the story of
the character and people are saying ‘you know what, that’s what we need’,” says
Phemelo. At the end of Comic Con, they managed to sell over 300 copies of Young
Nelson.



“People are catching onto the culture. I think it might even
grow bigger than the American industry only because I think we are a very
artistic community… Whether you look at the hieroglyphics in Egypt or the cave
paintings by the bushmen in South Africa, we draw,” he says.



He also plans to sell his comics to local book stores in the country.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1018" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-1024x1018.png" alt="" class="wp-image-42306" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-1024x1018.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-300x298.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-100x100.png 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-600x597.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-150x150.png 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-768x764.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-1536x1527.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster-80x80.png 80w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Young-Nelson-Poster.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



The team is currently working on their next creation – a
black African female superhero called Imbokodo.



“We are looking for new creators we can partner with and
create our own justice league, our own Avengers, to actually have young kids in
South Africa look at their heroes the same way Americans look at their heroes
in the Comic Cons to come.” 



Young Nelson is a refreshing reminder that not all heroes wear capes.

RNC – Phemelo Dibodu (left) and Omphile Dibodu (right)

Colors For Mandela

For Nas Hoosen, the bug bit when he was five. From that day on he loved reading comics. But, because they were so scarce, he started making up his own.
Who would have thought these first drawings would be the start of a journey that would take Hoosen to writing his own feature film, The Wild Waste, for Cape Town’s Triggerfish Animation Studios, at the age of 29?
“I’d get part three of a story and it would end on a cliff-hanger, so I used to draw my own Spider-Man comics just so I could see the stories continue,” says Hoosen.
On any given day you will find the energetic Hoosen in Ansteys, one of the oldest art deco buildings in Johannesburg. Movie deals are as uncommon in this African city as comic book stores.
Hoosen was lucky to land it; his story was one in 1,400 submissions from 30 countries in a competition run by Triggerfish in 2015. Triggerfish was looking for four feature films and four TV series for development.
The cherry on top was the final eight would get a foot in the door with a mentorship at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Hollywood. Called Story Lab, the competition is also supported by the South African Department of Trade and Industry.
“We toured every skull of the multi-headed hydra that is Disney, from the Lucasfilm offices to the Imagineering workshop. It’s everything you think it is, a bunch of stuff you can’t imagine, and then sometimes you’re just sitting in a Mexican restaurant with the screenwriter of The Lion King.”
Hoosen says it’s too early to tell what The Wild Waste will look like on screen; he describes it as a big shapeless thing constantly on the move.
“The gist is that it’s a big, exciting romp through a version of South Africa that I think we haven’t seen before. It’s an urban fantasy adventure film with robots and monsters and an epic quest at the heart of it. And it’s going to be fun,” says Hoosen.
“I don’t think most people – me included – realize just how much goes into the production of a film, particularly when you don’t have the resources to make screenwriting your full-time job. But it continues in earnest, with tons of planning and plotting and writing and rewriting and note-taking.”
Hoosen’s journey into the realm of fantasy started with Action Comics #532. He remembers the story vividly. Hoosen grew up a big reader. His older brother bought his first comic books and on Saturdays he shared bowls of cereal watching cartoons.
Hoosen didn’t get to where he is now by just sitting on the couch. He had some battles.
“My mother didn’t want me to study film because she was afraid I wouldn’t find work, so I studied journalism instead. And there are always going to be huge barriers for young people wanting to do what they’re passionate about, particularly if they come from households where money is a big concern. Our parents want the best for us but they also want us to have stable, healthy and successful lives more than anything, so they set up barriers rooted in expectation that for a long while really confuse us,” says Hoosen.
In addition to his movie, Hoosen co-founded the South African comic SECTOR, for which he writes the psychedelic horror series Red Air. The anthology releases an issue every two months and showcases Africa’s rising talent.
“Red Air is about a small group of astronauts who have been shipped off to build a civilization in the red deserts of Mars. But they’re losing it; disassociating. They have to listen to the same pop music day in and day out, over and over. And then one of them goes insane and starts murdering the others. It’s a comic about murder, music and madness. It’s a John Carpenter homage. It’s a psychedelic exploration of our subconscious relationship with pop culture. It’s also a lot of fun to write,” says Hoosen.
One of SECTOR’s co-founders is Moray Rhoda, often called the godfather of South African comics.
“The comic book industry is a huge money sink. Most people aren’t getting paid. Some are like [renowned illustrator] Jason Masters and some others who work with international publishers. For the rest of us who are selling locally, one issue will pay for the next issue at best. There is little incentive to carry on, unless you manage to build a fan base and have people interested in seeing where your stories follow on,” says Rhoda.
This is why SECTOR, which is one of the few independent comics produced in Africa, plays an important role in providing a platform to local artists to develop their work.
“SECTOR came out of a much larger conversation that was happening in the South African comics scene&#8230; We felt like the scene needed a lot of work – quality control, editorial guidance, and a shared financial interest to motivate people to make work on time and (mostly) hit their deadlines. Moray brought this up in the larger comics community and found enough interested parties that we could band together and make this book happen,” says Hoosen.
South Africans are playing an important role in the $1-billion comic book industry. Hoosen says Africa has produced successful professionals like Sean Izaakse, Joe Daily, Masters, Lauren Beukes and Dale Halverson.
“They all make fantastic work that is available through publishers like Marvel, Dynamite, Vertigo and Fantagraphics. And that’s not to mention guys like Loyiso Mkize, who make work like Kwezi locally, which is now being distributed through Exclusive Books.”
“One thing I do want to see more of is marginalized voices rising to the top. I mentioned five major creators and they’re all incredibly talented, but they’re also all incredibly white. I want to see black creators, I want to see more than one woman in the mix. This is South Africa after all.”
“We have the talent and the capability, but we need to be making the work. Creative people are by nature, I think, hesitant and trepidatious about making work and showing it to people. But f*** that. No one else can draw like you or write like you or think like you, so you need to be out there making work and showing it to people and getting feedback and working to improve.”
The popcorn must taste sweeter every time Hoosen sits in a movie theater watching an African story.

Tag: Comics

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