Comic Strips: Nigerian millennial cartoonists are bringing humour online, old school style

Cartoon strips and magazines which were popular in the 80s and 90s are slowly coming back to life thanks to social media.

Nigerian 90s kids have a telling affinity with comics and animations. Till date, certain people still talk nerdy about their favourite anime and comics.

The love for shows like Tom and Jerry, Superbook, Boondocks, Excalibur and anime like the popular Naruto are a part of Nigerian youth sub-culture.

Supa Strikas, published in 2002 by Lagos Angel Network founder, Harry Tomi Davies developed a cult following in its heyday with star football player Shegs scoring impossible goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Before the 2001 advent of Supa Strikas there were comics of the '80s and '90s that created both humour and political relevance from slapstick characters as against the more serious Super Story and porn-esque Lolly was Ikebe Super starring the Papa Ajasco characters and equally published by Wale Adenuga.

ALSO READ: Chiwetel Ejiofor to become a villain in MCU

It became the progeny for Papa Ajasco and company TV series circa 1995/96 after Ikebe Super went under, due to economic tensions and whatnot.

When it comes to comic strips, Nigerian newspapers dominated this area. Vanguard was a flag bearer with a dedicated page for comic strips such as the blatant Captain America rip-off, Kaptain Africa, and the swashbuckling okada man Terror Muda.

The front page was for Mr & Mrs, a humorous portrayal of marriage with a Nigerian lens and the weekends were for Sarge, a satire of the Nigerian Police Force.

These comic strips were popular during the 90s but with the advent of the Internet, print media has relinquished its power to new media.

Nigerian news websites have not paid attention to comic strips as a form of entertainment and political/social commentary.

Business news website Business Day Online features the sarcastic comic strips of cartoonist Mike Asukwo who offers a humorous take on the latest happenings in the world of Nigerian politics.

Vanguard replicates its print comic strips on its website but they lack the punch (no pun intended) of yesteryears.

For Nigerian millennials, Twitter is now host to comic strips with content that can entirely relate with. One of such cartoonists at the forefront is Awele Emili, a 21-year old graduate of medical pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics, and self-taught artist who got interested in art in Primary school.

 

 

Asides the stories in her art, the images and backgrounds are equally crafted with incredible nuance and textbook imagination, even to the hair and props. Her idea of art must stem from the old school. She seems a modernist, impressionist artist with a knack for realism and a mediaeval, pre-modernist work ethic.

 

Another standout factor is also that her art is usual trendy to be attractive, either generally to the season, or resonate with certain people. It’s either an astute sense of timing, or a natural nose for relevant art.

From someone who could barely get 30 Retweets from her equally beautiful January posts, her reputation has rightly skyrocketed to incredible art, with a dedicated millennial following since June.

ALSO READ: How strong will Deadpool be in real life?

It is no surprise that during her chat with Pulse, Awele says, “There’s no segregation, art is a part of me, it’s my passion. I see societal relevance and humour are your storytelling tools. Everything inspires me, from everyday conversations, to encounters, to social media. It’s literally everything.”

 

While Emili's style can be attributed to a number of things, to her its plain old, “illustrations. I want it to portray life and tell stories.”

 

Her rise to relevance typifies the effect and impact of how making relatable art near always precipitates success. For such relatability, she feels societal discussions inspire art, “It really does. Art is an expression. It passes the message well if done right. It has been passing the message for different nations for centuries.”

Asides the art, she seems a genuinely approachable person who just wants appreciation and payment for her art. On the money side of things, she says, “It’s been okay. Not so bad to be honest.” To the question on payment in her line of work, she believes hard work will serve you well.

There is also Justin Irabor, the mastermind behind arguably the most known comic series Obaranda.

 

Irabor on a weekly basis releases a fresh trip of boldly coloured comic that resonates with Nigeria. The comic is unapologetically and humorously Nigerian. Obaranda highlights the struggles of an everyday aboki, Nigerian churches, choir leader and Twitter etiquette.

While Twitter can get too toxic on some days, these comic strips help us to forget about the hyper-wokeness on the social media platform.

We are still far from the days of widely read comic strips on Nigerian dailies, these cartoonists and others are helping to revive the artform on a major scale.