Post the success of its collaboration with DC Comics, LEADERSHIP Friday speaks with CEO and Head of Content at Zebra Comics, Cameroon, Gaius Ejob on the significance of The Joker: Black Therapy for Africa, and how to leverage on such successes to promote African comics globally.
Ejob whose company is the sole African comics commissioned by DC Comics alongside 12 others from 12 different countries to recreate its iconic character The Joker for an anthology scheduled to release September 17, 2024, penned Black Therapy, an African version of the popular villain.
The announcement of Black Therapy’s release not only spotlighted West African comics creators, but the African Comics industry, changing Africans perceptions of comics as a viable profession rather than a hobby.
To build on the momentum created by Black Therapy to promote African comics to the global stage, the medical doctor-turned-comics-producer stressed the need for originality, quality, collaboration and investment.
To attain the level of Japanese anime and manga, or the Korean Manhwa, Ejob said African comics must stay true to its identity, particularly as such an anthology presents an opportunity for African comics to penetrate into the global comics space.
“These other markets grew because they were telling stories intrinsic to them. They weren’t doing stories the way others are doing it. There is something refreshing about being unique. For instance, the style and storytelling of the manga is different from what we are used to comic-wise. That’s what makes it interesting. If we are to break into these other markets, we have to remain authentic in our storytelling.
“We must also provide quality stories and artwork. You can write a good story with a bad artwork, or vice versa, people won’t patronize it. We have to be intentional about getting trained on the art of comics. People need to learn how to write and draw for comics. Anime and manga are popular because they have schools where people learn the skills, to maintain a certain quality, that they are known for.”
On collaboration, Ejob said, “collaboration such as The Joker anthology, takes one far.” having observed African comics stakeholders’ propensity to want to operate independently, he said collaboration is key to breaking into markets.
He, however, noted that the narrative is changing. Participating in platforms such as Lagos Comic Con, and a handful others in Morrocco and Congo, has enabled the Cameroon-located Zebra Comics embark on meaningful partnerships thus far.
With the global visibility and recognition provided West African comics industry by the DC Comics collaboration, now is as good a time to invest in the industry.
Ejob recommends first, “approach those in the industry in order to invest in the right people. know who is doing what, how much they have done, the quality of their work, the tractions that they are pulling, these are matrixes that determines popularity of their works.
“Next, study the market trends. How has the market evolved over the years. Has it remained stagnant or grown over the years? In the past, we never heard of collaborations like Iwaju with Disney, The Joker with DC and upcoming projects like Iyanu and Kizazi Motors. These started from comics. That’s a way for them to evaluate the industry.”
Finally, African comics can build on recent successes to promote the industry via developing a community of next generation readers with age-appropriate comics. A role, Zebra Comics has taken up early on via its Zebra Kids section, which caters to children aged 8 to 12 years.
“We identified this problem a while back. For us to have the culture of comic book consumption as seen in the West and Asia, we have to start with the children. We are working to create a future here we have an established comic book market, and the only way to do that is to start with the young ones.”
Black Therapy alongside other collections in The Joker anthology will be available online at Zebra Comics website and app, from September 17, 2024. Nigerian comics lovers can pre-order today or access the anthology on release day.
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