The Four Color Media Monitor

Okay Africa has an article about an Ethiopian comic funded on Kickstarter, featuring a locally-created superhero, Jember, that's being translated and marketed overseas:

After the successful release of their graphic novel, Jember, Etan Comics is teaming up with the non-profit Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD) to launch a special collaboration. Etan is working with the Seattle-based organization, which has produced over 700 bilingual early-reader titles, to turn Jember into a bilingual kids book that's based on the award-winning graphic novel.

The release of the book coincides with Black History Month, and will be launched in 11 different languages, including Amharic, Arabic, French, Greek, Igbo, Kiswahili, Spanish, and Wolayta. Jember was first published in hardcover format in October 2022, and after its release it garnered +$12K pre-orders on Kickstarter. The comic book is designed to help emerging readers build their reading confidence, and learn more about African cultures and languages. Created and written by Beserat Debebe, it was illustrated by Yonatan Solomon and Michael Okoroagha.

Learning about foreign countries and their cultures is something that's doubtless very insufficient in USA schools these days, if they raise the issues at all. So this could be very good project for the purpose of learning about overseas countries.

In addition to the above, I also found an earlier article from nearly 3 years ago, about a comic starring a superheroine from the same country:

Founder of Etan Comics and Ethiopian writer, Beserat Debebe, has been been nominated for this year's NOMMO Awards for African Speculative Fiction for his Hawi comic in the category of "Best Graphic Novel". The Nommo Awards are presented in four categories namely "Best Novel", "Best Novella", "Best Short Story" and "Best Graphic Novel". Hawi is the first female comic to ever come out of Ethiopia. Additionally, Debebe's Jember, which was the country's first ever comic, made it onto the long-list in the same category.

Hawi, as described in OkayAfrica's interview with Debebe, "centers a female superhero, a young Ethiopian woman named Ement Legesse, who is tasked with having to rescue her mother after she's abducted. The colorful visuals are stunning and showcase Debebe's talented team of African artists and their unique ability to capture the vibrancy of Ethiopia. A story about returning to one's roots and having the courage to rise above the challenges that come with seeking reconciliation and belonging, it's one we can all relate to whether literally or figuratively."

Following its wildly successful kickstarter which covered the remaining costs of production, Hawi has become a beloved work of art not just for Ethiopians but Africans across the continent and the diaspora.

And with any luck, this'll be marketed overseas as well, if they haven't done so yet.

Labels: Africa, history, indie publishers, sales, technology