Absolutely Free African Comics to Binge in 2020
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Brief Overview of African Comics
Since about 2016, the popularity of African comics has risen. Many attribute this to the rise of superhero comic book movies particularly the ones produced by Marvel Studios.
With this increased interest, many people began to wonder about the existence of comic books from Africa. Not stories like Black Panther which were created by foreigners depicting the continent, but comics that were made by Africans on the continent.
While many are oblivious, there’s a rapidly growing comic scene on the continent which isn’t only consuming what is produced by the big 3 (Marvel, DC and Image) but creating all-inclusive narratives from every corner of the continent.
A testament to this narrative is the different comic conventions and gatherings across the continent, with a new one seemingly springing up every year such as Lagos Comic-Con, NerdCon, Nairobi Comic-Con, Fancon, Comic-Con Africa, Mboa BD, Lusaka Con, Comic Connect, UNICON, Abuja Comic-Con, ICON Comics and Games Convention, Comexposed, Ibadan Comic Con, Comic Connect Africa and so on.
African comics are dominated by the fantasy genre, with many creators playing with the continent’s rich supernatural legacy. Comics such as Eru, and Aje by Comic Republic are typical examples of this. Science-fiction and superhero comics are another popular genre, with the bulk of superhero comics incorporating a lot of fantasy as well.
The superhero genre in African comics is heavily male-dominated, although there are a number of female African superheroes such as Umzingeli, Shore Wanda, Hawi and Captain South Africa.
There are several publishers of African comics on the continent. Many of them are small, independent studios or individuals, such as Luke Molver, while a few, such as Kugali, Comic Republic, Avandu Vosi, Zebra Comics, YouNeek Studios and TAG Comics are relatively more established.
One of the best ways to discover African comics is through regular anthologies such as the Kugali Anthology, Sam Graphico Anthologyand ComicUp among others.
Curious about the African comics being discussed at such gatherings, this page of free African comics should give you some insight. While not nearly comprehensive enough because of the focus on freely available comics, this is a good starting point. For a database of African comics, kindly visit our ongoing project, nicknamed Bahari Blue, a database of Comics, Games and Animation or AfricaComics.net.
We’re constantly updating this page with free African comic books for your reading pleasure. Visit squidmag.ink/african-comicsfor articles ranging from news to reviews on African comic books and graphic novels.
Info source: https://squidmag.ink/
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