Caribbean Comics
It struck us as odd recently when we started receiving several messages from artists saying they want to produce comics and manga because no one in the Caribbean is producing them and they really think there is a market for it.
It struck us as odd because there are a lot of Caribbean comics out there. We own a few copies ourselves, and our outgoing President Kevin Jackson, also publishes a mini comic anthology called I Land Chronicles. However, a quick search for Caribbean comics on Google made us realize, there is a valid reason why these persons believed this. Not much came up.
I know when I was growing up I made a few comics in high school and I had friends who did the same. I grew up reading Jamaican comics in the now defunct Xnews and the Jamaica Star. This was all 20/30 years ago. Surely someone has made comics in the Caribbean right?
We decided to highlight some past Jamaican comics which had a significant impression when they came out and some more recent ones that have been gaining some attention. We will also highlight where one can look for Caribbean comics so that as artists and art appreciators we can support the ecosystem and hopefully develop into an industry some day which will hire numerous artists and writers.
Dread & Alive
The Dread & Alive series is owned by Nicholas Dasilva and was illustrated by Rodney Bucemi.
“The first issue of Dread & Alive was launched on February 6, 2010 (Bob Marley’s 65th earthday) in both digital and print versions. The story follows Drew McIntosh, the Roaring Lion, who confronts the evils of Babylon — illegal smugglers, human traffickers, illegal loggers (this IS fiction) among the Maroons in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country.” (Kam-au Amen, 2010).
I first heard about this back in 2010 on a local TV station called Television Jamaica or TVJ for short. It was fascinating because I had never seen a comic with Jamaican themes being sold commercially in the international space before this. It was a big deal back then and was hoped to inspire the birth of more commerical comic book projects.
According to Kam-au Amen, 2010, it was a bit disappointing that there was barely any “Patwa” in the language. Whether or not that is what affected the comic’s popularity or whether it was just ahead of its time is yet to be known, but the comic is still a collectors item we recommend getting your hands on if you get a chance.
What is even more inspiring is that the owner back in 2010 dedicated 30% of electronic sales and 10% of print sales to Help Jamaica to help build and support libraries in Jamaica. That is no longer the case however, but great initiative none the less. You can still pick up a copy of the first edition on Amazon.
Alluh Wi Comics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-YzktpoY8&feature=emb_logo
Alluh Wi Comics claims to be the first Caribbean mobile platform for distributing comics. We haven’t seen any others, so we figure that claim is correct. As an artist you can upload your comics free. How you get paid is through shared revenue based on a subscription model. Patrons pay a monthly fee to access the comics via the mobile app so they can read on the go from anywhere in the Caribbean.
Alluh Wi Comics is the brainchild of Marc R. D. Gibson, an author of a graphic novel series called “Bridgeland”. He is from Bridgetown Barbados.
Spirit Bound
This Trinidadian animator and comic book artist Daniel Robert Blaize has made her name at a young age strictly doing comics and animation for a living. She has won several awards for her works over the years. “Among her many achievements, her short film “Dance of the Daring” won Best Caribbean Animation at Animae Caribe in Trinidad (2015) and Kingstoon in Jamaica (2016). In addition, “Dance of the Daring” was screened at the “International Decade for People of African Descent” and “Caribbean in Motion” international film festivals.” (Daniel Robert).
She often does live streams on Facebook, Instagram and Twitch, while she works on her comics or animations. So if you want to see her process, you can witness how meticulous she is.
If you would like to check out Spirit Bound you can do so here.
Hot Steppa
This ultra talented young self taught animator, comic artist and illustrator from Jamaica, Jenille Brown has many accolades to her name. She works at Listen Mi Caribbean, an animation studio that specializes in telling impactful creative stories.
Hot Steppa according to Jenille is ‘A pyromaniac who turned to arson to satisfy her impulse. ‘Hot Steppa’ started her criminal lifestyle on her own but now heads a small collective of destructive followers. She doesn’t have much in the way of family- her obsession drove them off. She carries around a cylinder to make sure she always has fuel. It also doubles as a club.’
Jenille is the winner of the Jamaica Animation Nation Network’s character design competition in 2017 for her Original Character, Hot Steppa. She is an animator on the award winning short animation from Listen Mi called “The adventures of Kam Kam — Space explorer.” She has gone on to work on several high profiled projects and her portfolio is definitely something to check out.
She released a one shot comic for her O.C. Hot Steppa on webtoons late last year. Check it out here.
Maroon Black
Husband and wife duo, Illustrator Henry Grandison and Writer Racquel Reid-Grandison created a comic called Maroon Black. The story follows a modern day Maroon who travels from his Maroon village to the Kingston, Jamaica’s capital to seek a new life. He arrives at the same time that an Obeah Man has decided to evoke havoc on the city. Of course, no one expected this powerful Maroon warrior to show up, save the day and disrupt this Obeah man’s plans. The series continues with a variety of Jamaican folklore.
It is funny how I heard about this one. My cousin drove up to my house one day and pulled out this black and maroon coloured comic and showed me. I asked him where he got this from. He said he came to ask me if I knew who did it. He picked it up somewhere and was curious who the artist was. They didn’t have their name or contact information on it anywhere.
Later on by some “buckups” (Dumb luck), I met this tall lanky guy named Henry Grandison. Somehow in conversation the comic came up and I discovered he was the artist. I asked him if there were more copies and where I could buy it. He said it was a one shot comic he did for his art students to demonstrate how they could tell their own stories. When I showed him I had a copy he was shocked. I told him it was a borrows but I was willing to buy an issue. Sadly, like he said it was a one shot.
However, as luck again would have it, the next time I saw him he gave me a copy after printing some more. Soon enough he and his late wife began putting out more issues and even contributed a few pages to I Land Chronicles.
Henry is an award winning illustrator and comic book artist. Besides the Maroon Black Facebook page which we linked above, we could not find a space where you can buy this comic because their main website is down, but you can check out his work in this issue of I Land Chronicles.
Spectacular Specs
This concept by Gashwayne Hudson won 1st place for best storyboard, 2nd place for best character and tied for 2nd place winner of the concept category of the 2019 Kingstoon Animation Festival.
Gashwayne is a very talented artist and animator, working at Listen Mi Caribbean with Jenille Brown and a several other talents. He has also worked on the animation “The adventures of Kam Kam — Space Explorer”.
Spectacular specs is the story of a school girl who wants to make a difference in the world. She discovers magical glasses that allow her to do just that. The glasses however has a say in how she does it, as it grants her a different power each day that only lasts for 24 hours.
Gashwayne has released 3 issues so far on webtoons and plans to release a new issue every 2 weeks.
Marijuana Man
This Ziggy Marley produced comic came out in 2011. Marijuana Man is authored by Ziggy Marley, Joey Casey and illustrated by Jim Mahfood. Together they brought to life this superman like character who has arrived on earth from another planet to deliver a message and save earth in the process all while trying to figure out how to save his own planet.
Ziggy also published a motion comic version on youtube
We tried searching around for more details on what became of this comic but outside of the articles promoting it in 2011/2012 there was not much else.
I Land Chronicles
In 2016 Kevin Jackson approached good friend Rory Daley and Patrick Allen about creating a comic book anthology that features 4 differnt artist’s comics in each issue. The aim was to use the comic as a way to promote other comic book artists. To date there are 3 issues available and a 4th on the way.
It features artists such as Patrick Allen, Craig Small, Negash Davidson, Steven Roper, Rory Daley and several others. The comic was sold physically at Bookophilia for a while and is now avalailable on Amazon. In both hard and soft copy.
At least 2 artists who have contributed to this anthology have gone on to acquire commissioned projects as a result of the exposure and it is the hope of the publishers that this anthology will get bigger and feature artists from across the Caribbean. The aim is not for artist to solely make a living from this publication alone as it is sold at a very small margin to allow it to keep producing more and more while keeping the price point low. The real goal is to provde comics and artists with exposure that will lead readers to finding the full issues of their comic.
In a sense it’s somewhat of a magazine with samples of comics to tease the reader into finding other comic book creators and their works.
What’s Next?
First off, this is not an exhaustive list of all the Caribbean comics in existence. There are so many more. Perhaps we will have to keep writing articles like this from time to time to keep readers up to date but you might be wondering how have we not heard about all of these?
You would imagine being Ziggy Marley, the son of Bob Marley and a great singer with many hit albums of his own, that this would have definitely garnered a lot of attention back then, however, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Not many have heard of it. In many respects, black created comics that celebrate varieties of black culture or perspectives have not been popular over the years.
Marvel’s Black panther definitely placed some well needed attention on diversity in comics. Despite that propertty existing from the 60’s a movie was not made until 2018. The representation of diversity in comics has not been good over the years. So much so many forgot that before Black Panther, Wesley Snipes played a black super hero in 1998’s Blade. A full 20 years prior.
In addition to that disparity, a caucasion male played the role of Iron Fist. While that character in the comics was also Caucassian, the storyline of training in China and becoming the ultimate martial artist has always raised criticism as to why the character was not Asian. In 2018 after the success of Black Panther in the Avenger series, Marvel Founder Stan Lee wanted to create a latino super hero. (Remezcla, 2018).
As much as comics made by different ethnic groups are rising in popularity. The Caribbean still has work to do to carve their own niche. One of the ways we can ensure Caribbean comics get their shine is to spread the word and support. The more sales these artists see, is the more they will be encouraged to continue and the more they can afford to continue.
So next time you hear someone ask “why doesn’t the Caribbean produce comics?” show them this article and hopefully we will see a positive change.