The story focuses on an uber-confident teenager whose … He studied and now lives in Cape Town where he has worked as Head illustrator for the south african soccer comic series Supa Strikas. How much has Africa been held back by illicit financial outflows? I saw that in how people reacted to Black Panther — them using the Basotho blanket, even though Mohau’s been doing it for a minute.”. The story focuses on an uber-confident teenager whose relationship with his ancestors grows stronger as his powers increase. He emphasises the difficulty that comes with trying to publish and distribute something like Kwezi. A comic book fan from a young age, Mkize says that he’s always just expected that a South African superhero existed. Once he finally succeeds in pulling the man away from the throng, he introduces himself: “My name is Mohau”. Later Mashigo will make another reference to Mohau’s Sesotho regalia, this time in relation to it being worn by characters in the record-smashing film Black Panther, which premiered in South Africa last week. Stream@UNGA: Can music fight climate change? “It’s a work in progress,” he says — reiterating the importance of pushing for representation within the publishing industry. “Surely it’s not just Peter Parker [Spider-Man]. Loyiso Mkize’s comic, “Kwezi,” is selling out quickly in South Africa, according to The Economist. He tried to reach out to Mkize over Instagram, but it didn’t work so now he’s here — at a discussion held at Bridge Books, in a burrow of the trendy Maboneng Precinct in downtown Johannesburg. These are unprecedented times, and the role of media to tell and record the story of South Africa as it develops is more important than ever. Trump and Melania test positive for COVID-19: Live news, Trump and wife Melania test positive for COVID-19, Nagorno-Karabakh: Deadly fighting spills into fifth day. She covers topics relating to labour, corruption and the law. Mkize insists that the reason he created Kwezi was to make something that speaks to young people — without them having to look towards influences so far outside themselves: “It will colour their lives. Atlanta Black Star is a narrative company. And he wasn’t there,” he says. “You are stealing his identity,” Mohale Mashigo, Kwezi’s writer, laughs. Nineteen-year-old antihero Kwezi — modelled after Mkize’s cousin Siphe Nxasana — first came into being back in 2014. With no end in sight to the crisis – where do we go from here? And with Black Pather’s inclusion in the soon-to-be-released “Avengers: Infinity War,” the creators of African comics anthology “Kugali,” due in June, want to take advantage of the continued momentum. With a black director, writer, costume designer, a leading cast of black men and women and a budget of more than $200 million, 'Black Panther' opened to huge fanfare. Set in Gold City, a proxy for Johannesburg, Kwezi creates a familiar universe for its superheroes — peppering its narrative, as Mashigo puts it, with small nyana words from the South African vocabulary. The success of Marvel’s “Black Panther” has reached around the globe and has now expanded toward comic series on the continent where the fictional Wakanda exists. Contribute to Atlanta Black Star today and help us share our narratives. With the success of the Marvel film — and it being met with such jubilant acclaim across the continent — and the announcement that ComicCon will be coming to South Africa in September, Mashigo says that this superhero moment is testament to the fact that people want to see the best of themselves reflected back at them. She had previously been tapped to write another Black Panther series, “Long Live The King.”. To help us continue for another 35 future years with the same proud values, please consider taking out a subscription. ‘What an Incredible Mark He’s Left for Us’: Director Ryan Coogler Pays Tribute to Chadwick Boseman, ‘To Be Young, Gifted, and Black’: Remembering Actor Chadwick Boseman, ‘A Wedding In Wakanda’: 12 Couples Tie the Knot at Atlanta-Area Church Free of Charge. What’s next for Kuwait after the death of its ruler? Surely there’s a superhero out there that I can read about, who maybe speaks my language. He says he’s here because he wants to ask Mkize how he knows him, how he was able to write his life without ever having met him. Another writer feeling the positive impact of “Black Panther” is Zimbabwean Bill Masuku. Nineteen-year-old antihero Kwezi — modelled after Mkize’s cousin Siphe Nxasana — first came into being back in 2014, when the comic book creator was working as an illustrator for the long-running Supa Strikas soccer series. Can Ethiopia and Egypt agree on the Nile? SINCE the release of “Black Panther”, a film based on a Marvel comic, internet searches for African travel have spiked. What has Russia gained from five years of fighting in Syria? In the real Johannesburg, customers want the issue in Zulu and Xhosa, which actually serves as the language of Wakanda. Thanks to the heightened interest in African culture and superheroes, comics focused on superhumans from the motherland are in major demand and African comic book writers are reaping the benefits. The pair say that the worst thing would be for Kwezi to be the last South African comic book, insisting that their job is to pass the tradition of superhero-making on to future creators. A young man tries to get Loyiso Mkize’s attention. Sarah Smit is a general news reporter at the Mail & Guardian. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. He said his comic about vigilante superhero Razor-Man has been made easier to sell where interest in the medium isn’t widespread. In 2013 he started his own visual arts company LMArt (Pty) Ltd under which he created South Africa’s first superhero comic book series, KWEZI. I like that,’” Mashigo says. Mohau pulls out his ID book to drive home that he is indeed Mohau. At the edge of recognition, Mkize is pulled away again. Loyiso Mkize is a South African visual artist and was born in Butterworth, 19th March 1987. It will inform their perspective and how they see themselves.”. The Mail & Guardian is a proud news publisher with roots stretching back 35 years, and we’ve survived right from day one thanks to the support of readers who value fiercely independent journalism that is beholden to no-one. The film, which explores loss and land resettlement, is absorbing and technically accomplished, Inspired by Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of King T’Challa in ‘Black Panther’, Akwasi Frimpong set out to make his look, and impact, rich, black and cross-cultural, Days of Cannibalism tells a compelling story about Chinese traders moving into Lesotho in search of economic success and the effects this has on the Basotho people, The department is fighting with a small Free State town, which it accuses of continuing to employ an illegal immigrant, "Until the law itself makes it nigh impossible for tragedies like Tatane, Marikana and Khosa to occur without real consequence, our fractured relationship with authority will persist. All material © Mail & Guardian Online. The comic book, she says, is “a great device to show us the best of who we are and what we have. Material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission. “We really just wanted to take from what is already ours, so that South Africans could see it and say: ‘I get that. Loyiso Mkize’s comic, “Kwezi,” is selling out quickly in South Africa, according to The Economist. A young man tries to get Loyiso Mkize’s attention. The young man, a university student and writer, tells me that his name is Mohau — like one of the characters in Mkize’s comic book Kwezi. The best local and international journalism, handpicked and in your inbox every weekday. Artist: Loyiso Mkize Loyiso Mkize is a South African born artist who has an amazing body of work. ", Under the spotlight will be the Economic Freedom Fighters’ behaviour at the State of the Nation address and during the public enterprise department’s budget speech, please consider taking out a subscription, ‘This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection’ is an intriguing work set in Lesotho about a grieving mother, How Chadwick Boseman inspired Africa’s first black skeleton racer, Days of Cannibalism Review: Not a Hannibal Lecter story, Municipality won’t remove former mayor, despite home affairs demands, EFF MPs to be investigated for disrupting parliamentary proceedings. Mkize and Mashigo say that what makes Kwezi special is the fact that, in the comic’s creation, they get to draw from the cultural terrain of South Africa; Azania wears isicholo, representing her Zulu heritage and Khoi wields a bow and arrow — a nod to his Khoisan identity. Japan’s Hafu: Why does being mixed race feel so foreign?