The world of comic books and animation in South Africa is steadily expanding and Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP aim to excite comic book enthusiasts as well as encourage aspiring artists to explore their potential by exposing them to four talented and respected local artists and animators who have been added to the line-up at this year’s Comic Con Africa in September.
Sharing the vision of Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP is Terence Maluleke, a digital artist focusing on character design and concept art, and one of the founders of Kasi Sketchbook, a program that aims to create drawing clubs in the townships encouraging young artists to “Draw Your World” in their Kasi Sketchbooks. He will be joined at Comic Con Africa by his partner at Tribe Studios, Simangaliso Sibaya, who is currently working as a visual developer, concept artist, character designer and storyboard artist.
The fun and excitement around Comic Con Africa is also linked to encouraging the viability of animation as a career choice. Ray Whitcher, who was part of the first panel discussion on South African and Australian comics at the San Diego Comic Con of 2013, has experienced much success within this industry, and is in the unique position of simultaneously being an academic researcher of South African comics, as well as a comic creator. When he’s not teaching animation and comic theory at Wits University, he draws for the Star Wars: Clone Wars Confidential, That Bulletproof Kid comics or works on his own comic, Wanton.Warren Louw, a freelance illustrator, works in both traditional and digital media and creates images with meticulous detail and imagination. Warren has gained considerable attention internationally with over 2 million page views on his DeviantArt account alone. He has also been a special guest artist at international shows such as San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con, La Mole Mexico, the Middle East Film Festival and others.
Warren’s work has been featured in print publications such as ImagineFX Magazine, various UDON Entertainment tribute art books, Masters of Anatomy and 21 Draw. He has created comic covers for UDON’s Darkstalkers, Street Fighter and Street Fighter VS. Darkstalkers as well as DC Comics’ Power Girl, Harley Quinn, Justice League, Batman, Batman Who Laughs, Green Lanterns and Nightwing to name but a few.
Meet these local artists at Comic Con Africa and learn more about what they do, get your comic books signed and participate in Q&A sessions with panellists on the main stage. Tickets for Comic Con Africa are available at computicet.com. For more information about Comic Con Africa 2019, please visit: https://www.comicconafrica.co.za/en.html
