Well, last year, my crew was contemplating shooting our first movie in 2007 and a director suggested one about a superhero. dakmanzero is the only one in this forum that has a solid idea of what a Nigerian superhero should be. His/her powers should be consistent with what is actually tenable in Nigeria i.e juju/jazz/otumokpo.
Their weakness should be distance from the shrine or some kind of abomination.
The superhero's name could be something like VOODOO. Don't even laugh cos that just came
off the top of my head.

Anyway, how come you all forgot our old superheroes:
Benbella
Pa Jimoh
and,
, now this one is crazy but Dauda the sexy guy/ Nackson. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the guy into a hero. He's a damn rapist for crying out loud!
All the same, I'm making my movie on Nackson. I don't care what anyone says. Maybe I'd get an R18 rating, but I'll do it all the same.
Perhaps I could do a little switch; instead of being a rapist, he could be this guy who could sense heat in a woman and went around town giving satisfaction. Is that heroic? Well, whatever. I love this forum. So many intelligent people.
Ah what about Gbefila? She solves problems by spreading rumours. Didn't anyone in here read Funtimes?

Well, last year, my crew was contemplating shooting our first movie in 2007 and a director suggested one about a superhero. dakmanzero is the only one in this forum that has a solid idea of what a Nigerian superhero should be. His/her powers should be consistent with what is actually tenable in Nigeria i.e juju/jazz/otumokpo.
Their weakness should be distance from the shrine or some kind of abomination.
The superhero's name could be something like VOODOO. Don't even laugh cos that just came
off the top of my head.

Anyway, how come you all forgot our old superheroes:
Benbella
Pa Jimoh
and,
, now this one is crazy but Dauda the sexy guy/ Nackson. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the guy into a hero. He's a damn rapist for crying out loud!
All the same, I'm making my movie on Nackson. I don't care what anyone says. Maybe I'd get an R18 rating, but I'll do it all the same.
Perhaps I could do a little switch; instead of being a rapist, he could be this guy who could sense heat in a woman and went around town giving satisfaction. Is that heroic? Well, whatever. I love this forum. So many intelligent people.
Ah what about Gbefila? She solves problems by spreading rumours. Didn't anyone in here read Funtimes?

Well, last year, my crew was contemplating shooting our first movie in 2007 and a director suggested one about a superhero. dakmanzero is the only one in this forum that has a solid idea of what a Nigerian superhero should be. His/her powers should be consistent with what is actually tenable in Nigeria i.e juju/jazz/otumokpo.
Their weakness should be distance from the shrine or some kind of abomination.
The superhero's name could be something like VOODOO. Don't even laugh cos that just came
off the top of my head.

Anyway, how come you all forgot our old superheroes:
Benbella
Pa Jimoh
and,
, now this one is crazy but Dauda the sexy guy/ Nackson. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the guy into a hero. He's a damn rapist for crying out loud!
All the same, I'm making my movie on Nackson. I don't care what anyone says. Maybe I'd get an R18 rating, but I'll do it all the same.
Perhaps I could do a little switch; instead of being a rapist, he could be this guy who could sense heat in a woman and went around town giving satisfaction. Is that heroic? Well, whatever. I love this forum. So many intelligent people.
Ah what about Gbefila? She solves problems by spreading rumours. Didn't anyone in here read Funtimes?

A! A! Guy, see as u take spam thread.
@topic,
d indomies posess abilities that we're seen over & over, don't mofos get sick of monotomy & stereotypical horse s h i t?

Vision : superman/cyclops etc.

Swifty : flash/quicksilver.

Big boi : hulk/the thing/jauggernaut/prime etc.

Stretchy : mr fantastic.

Tweeny : that dude from 'the globetrotters'.

Etc.
See?? I'm not hating, just being real.
BE FUCKING CREATIVE!!!

True brother, more creativity wanted in every sector. Sorry didn't mean the repeat post na network wahala.

I actually have just thought of a great concept for a nigerian hero!!

There is a story called "Igbo Irunmole" and it is about 7 mythical characters with juju based powers.

I would have my hero be like a modern day historian who stumbles on the fact that these 7 characters are not actually fictional but were real people.

In his researching this theory he goes to this "igbo Irunmole" and somehow finds tyhe cache of juju that these chracters used.

He inherits the use of them and becomes a superhero with these mystical based powers.

I wilkl reread the book but I remember these from memory:

Akara Ogun: He was the leader and I think he ate some juju and got powers

Onikumoekun: he was like superstrong and had a bone from a lion he killed that he used a club to beat anyone

Abami Eda: His name translates to wonder man!! Can't remember his powers.

Let me do some more research.

The problem with igbo irunmole is that most of us who remember it from TV recall it as a hilarious horror comedy

honestly it will be hard getting people to take it seriously

you could take a page from the book of kenshin and naruto- create a fictional universe based on but not directly corellated to traditional naija history

Naruto liberally combines modern day/ancient customs etc. That takes real skill, and not all of us are kishimoto's equal,

Good points.

I actually remember it from trying to read it as a kid and it was quite scary and funney in parts.

But I reckon any nigerian hero must have elements of humour.

As a race esp Yoruba's we love a good laugh.

We are more Spider-man than Wolverine.

Actually I would say more Fantastic Four than any other current hero, esp considering how important family is to us.

Maybe this could be a whole family of heroes with Uncles and Aunties and lots of sons and dauthers?

How about 2 parents 3 kids one auntie and a grandparent inheriting these powers?

It would have the funny family interaction and could also get serious when needed.

You know, we don't have to go for the spandex underpants heroes. Whether we like it or not, in order to make a Nigerian super hero believable, it has to be like some have rightly stated, equipped with concepts and ideologies obtainable from the Nigerian society, be it juju or jazz, you can't give another radiactive bullshyte or mother space and wahtever and the mad scientist angle, those things won't cut it.


Here's my idea of a Naija Super Hero:

Her origin is rooted in the 1570s. Her ancestor made a promise to the powerful river king that he would give up his grand daughter if the Sea King helped them eradicate a strange plague that'd killed half the population. The grandfather was a very smart man, reason being that the grand daughter was going thru the early stage of the ailment and was going to be dead in just two days. The deal was sealed and the sea king fulfilled his end of the deal, unfortunately, the grand daughter died before the end of the plague. This absolved the grandfather from any obligation to the River King.
with one son and became a very successful teacher. On her 27th birthday, the sea King came to collect his bride. A messenger was sent to notify the girl of a meeting with her 'husband' by the river when the sun sinks in the horizon four days from the day of the visit. She thought it was the dumbest and most hilarious thing she'd ever heard. Naturally she ignored the request. Bizarre Things started to happen including visitation by the black wolf, a symbol of the river king. She received a final waring that everyone linked to her from the day the deal was sealed would die if she refuses to return to the 'husband', and the number was well over 1m!

Okay to cut the long story short, overwhelmed by the dire signs that surfaced every moment coupled with the guilt of having the blood of 1m innocent people hanging on her head, she caved in. All these were kept secret from her husband and only son. She was declared missing when she left for the domain of the sea king. After three years her husband and son gave up and she was presumed dead. Her love for the earth husband and son was overwhelming, every day she felt their agony and anxiety. When she realized the fulfillment of the promise to sea king would release the spell on her loved ones, she returned to earth, knowing her relatives would be out of harm's way. On her return, she discovered her physical features have been distorted. Her husband and son couldn't recognize her even when she was standing right in front of them. This was the Sea King's way of keeping her in check,knowing full well she might be tempted to bolt.

She became frustrated and angry with everything around her especially with her husband courting a new woman. She can't go back to the sea king, neither can she go back to the husband. . . in the midst of all the confusion and frustration, she has a trump card! When she was on earth, she had a secret with her son, it was this secret that helped the son realize that mummy is back! She started a new life as a teacher while using those powers from the sea king to fight crime. Her secret is only known to her son!

Powers:

1. Ability to melt into a massive pool of water and drown the enemies.
2. She can smash the heaviest metal by rolling into a big ball of solid water (Ice?).
3. Hampers the escape of criminals by making the ground wet/slippery for them or their cars.
4. Can melt and flow in through the tiniest crack (So you can't hide,buster!)

Costume:

None:

She dresses like a regular human being but turns into a see through liquid each time she uses her power.


''Kryptonite"

FIRE. You wanna hurt her? Bring fire!


Whew!

grafikdon

it was all going smoothly until the last few sentences.

For the love of God, a Nigerian superhero should NOT be out to fight crime for idealistic purposes. Its just a ridiculous idea to most of us here. The idea that a Nigerian would 'fight crime' when blessed with superpowers is more alien and unrealistic than a human being flying.

Most 9jans would believe me if I said i could fly by night, but would never believe me if i said i was out to fight crime

The story is supernatural but her powers and weakness are not,

Naruto isnt fighting crime. He's trying to be top of his class and become the new hokage. Indicative of the cutthroat atmosphere in japanese public schools where test scores make the difference between honor/affluence and poverty/disgrace to the family name.

Kenshin isnt fighting crime. He starts out trying to atone for his evil past by protecting the innocent, and later we discover that he actually had a death wish and wanted to be killed fighting to protect those he had killed in the past. Typical Japanese honor/samurai suicide story.

Not only the setting, but the story must be nigerian. What are the things we value here? Family, prestige, legacy, titles, health, religion, the domains are endless. Why do you think soap operas and religious dramas (pastor vs the devil) are so popular here?

A superpowered hero selflessly fighting crime will be a hard sell.

dakmanzero:



A superpowered hero selflessly fighting crime will be a hard sell.

That's what they said about Superman in 1930's.

Thats what WHO said?

Selfless heroes fighting CRIME were a part of popular fiction in the west long before superman.

We have NOTHING like that here. The benign vigilante or super law enforcer is a foreign concept to us.

Even 'the third eye' dealt mostly with domestic/inheritance disputes, not street crime.

I think Nigerian kids need a role model through a superhero, They are the future after all.

@ Darkmanzero,

Ok. perhaps the 'fighting crime'partis a tad cheezy for someone loaded with her kind of powers. Let's say she's constantly battling the minions of the Sea God who are out to bring her back to the master, and in so doing there is a total mayhem, people get hurt, she battles to establish herself in the same society she left alone, she can't's go back to the husband she loves (The real man) and she just doesn't want to go back to the Sea God, so there's always this constant battle with supernatural elements. When the Sea God's minions failed to bring her back, He (Da Sea God) employed the the help of the Abominable Trinity, the three most dreadful demons from the region of Darkness and Damnation, With the invasion of the Abominable Trinity looming, her destruction seemed imminent and she finally gets a little assistance from the Mountain Queen, a very powerful goddess of the mountain in charge of the hefty elementals that guard and nurture the mountains of Wazobia. With Abominable Trinity ready to invade earth with their army of ruthless dreadful ghouls, lost souls the deepest depth of the Netherworld and earthbound Gnomes, She (Our Heroine) with help of the Mountain Queen and the Elementals of Light wait in eagerness for the battle that will shape the fate of the world, ummm okay forget about the world part and say , well, the fate of Wazobia/Naija whatever country she lives in. I'd rather use a real Country like Naija instead of some fictitious coutry. Ok so do you think this is better than the 'fighting crime' part.

She does not fight crime but she gets off her head when her husband or sun is in danger. You mess with either, you're f#@!*! death, she's ruthless like that! And while we are at it, bear in mind she has a son that she may probably never go back to and a husband she loves who has long forgotten about her and is courting another woman. The son believes her mother is 'alive' and became hostile to the new mummy to be, this is a surprise to the father. The mother wants the son to love the new mother to be but deep down,our hero wants that new mother to vanish, whatever it takes. There is a new Player on the scene (Ageless necromancer) who advised her to forget all about her family ties if she wants to survive the wrath of the Sea God. The new player even offered to erase her memory so that she can focus on her survival without any distraction from the material world. She doesn't subscribe to this idea, she loves her family, she wants to survive, whew! There will be jazz here o, jazz upon jazz.

I think it will be nice to strip her of all that is not supernatural.


Additional powers.


1. She can summon the elements like Wind and make the ground rumble (earthquake).

2. She's clairvoyant (Can see beyond the capacity of the human eye)

3. She can teleport. (Usually melts from point A and appears on point B in a flash).


Hmmm let me think of more stuff.

Raymand:

I think Nigerian kids need a role model through a superhero, They are the future after all.

That's not a bad idea, but the problem with that concept is, it will lead to a glut of 'kiddie pacifiers' , just like Hollywood is bombarding us with 'kiddie pacifier' talking animal fiasco, year after year, it's cool but it becomes irritating after you see about four of them ridiculously similar in everything, be it concept, style or story.

Yea, but that leaves a choice for the kids, to be good guys or bad guys, here in Nigeria kids don't have that choice the idea is to be successful you have to be 'smart' (rip people off).

@ Raymand

Ya got a point there. There is nothing for them at all and It won't be fair to have only 'Spawn-ish' Naija comics, won't be fair at all.

You need to be sure who you are targeting.

If you want to give the kids a role model, do they have the pockets to pay for what you want to give them.

in the 80s superhero cartoons and transformers survived because of toy sales.
nowadays the flash cartoons survive due to video game sales and sms/ringtones/targeted advertising plus DVD compilations.

Will kids buy comics here in 9ja? How many kids do you know that collect comics the way we used to? How many parents will regularly buy comics for their young kids?

You are aiming at the University students and Secondary school students who are far ahead of the whole 'role model' thing. They want entertaining stories, not preachy morality tales.

Yeah Grafikdon I kinda like your new direction. Some of the names (wazobia??!?!?!? trinity) sound a bit cheezy but I know these are all just first-draft off the cuff shenanigans- you'll improve them, Im sure. The family-centric tone is more Nigerian and believable. Yes, I like it much more now! But beware lest it become another agbara-nla with angels vs demons (demons being traditional culture). I'm sure such a story will sell, but you'll eventually be railroaded into producing another glorified jehova witness tract masquerading as a proper comic book. I think leaving the western spirituality aspect out for now will be smart- or you could incorporate it as a parallel storyline, ever present but not directly interfering with the main supernatural story. For example our heroine could have been a not-so-devout-but-definitelty-church-going christian before her transition, and now she kind of wonders whether all this is happening to her because she only went to church to flaunt her wealth and chase potential boyfriends. Her husband could be a truly devoted christian who is oblivious to her current plight- and distressed at his son's apparent apathy to his attempts to make a good christian out of him, and his stubborn refusal to stop reading all the traditional paraphernalia he has been studying and shady traditionalists he associates with. The boy could be a torn/conflicted figure, b

but ignore me. I dont want to hijack your creation. Do your thing and lets appraise it after the fact!

Hmmm! I gave a thought about a Holy Fighter, more like a Christian super-hero that fights Spiritual forces to protect Nigerians of the evil its becoming with agents everywhere. The story-line would involve most of this happenings(horror) in Nigeria now. Just like Van-Helsing.

All we need do is we make it in series. I believe there are lot of things that could really be created. Story-lines could be written by a group of people. as long as a tradition is followed up.

What do you think?

@Darkmanzero. . . lol at the 'agbara-nla with angels and demons'. Actually, I used 'spirit' words for lack of better terms, you're so right about the rough draft thingy. If I am ever going to do anything about this or any other concepts whatsoever, it will have to be animated series but the big problem here is the purists in Naija will NEVER allow such a concept to see the light of the day, you can't get it through any Television unless you look beyond Naija, which will defeat the whole idea of 'Naija Super Hero' and I wouldn't be part of any 'Eze goes to School' series, not bad but I wouldn't be part of anything like that if it is going to be animated. They'd rather have you come up with cheezy stuff like 'Adventures of Captain Waka Waka' or 'Papa Bomboy The Good father' or perhaps 'Evil Mama Put' et cetera et cetera and if they want to go gaga on you, they'd recommend another one where pastor waves bible and the bad guys get their ass whupped, heavenly gangsta style!

The last thing I will do is bring in those part, actually I'd rather tone down (or tone out) the elementals vs demon part. In other to make it consistent I'd rather have another sea king assist her but with ulterior motives, so in the end, it becomes just a battle for survival between the minions and allies (From the netherworld) of the rival sea kings with the heroine caught in the middle. The other sea kind is helping her because he wants an alliance with the heroine (Remember she absorbed 50% of the original sea king's powers). When they do you a favor, they demand a return and their demand are usually 'expensive'. So our heroine gets screwed either way. Sea king helps her defeat Sea king, sea king wants to marry her (merge?) as a way to return the 'favour', heroine says f$#@! no! Sea king is pissed, sea king wants to get the booty (okay maybe be not but you get the idea) by force, heroine says 'You gotta kill me first', sea king says 'no problemo'. . . more ass whupping, another ass whupping, followed by more ass whupping. . . sea king is humiliated by the heroine, sea king makes peace with the other sea king, situation gets worse.

Heroine's ancestor (the one that gave her away centuries ago) comes to the rescue but surprisingly not to help her whupp a@s but to 'liberate' her from the grip of the supernatural. This will make her normal again, making her vulnerable to the sea kings who will kill her anyway. Now she thinks the grandfather musta smoked supernatural weed to come up with a dumbshit idea like that. There is a problem; if she retains her power, she will become suckered into the netherworld, away from everything she knows for eternity, if she lets go, she is $@!& dead! So she wants to cling to her powers. The ancestor isn't happy because in order for him to be released from his curse, he must free the grand daughter from the grip of the sea king even if it means snuffing her life, at the same time, it is going to get worse for him if he personally takes away the life of the grand daughter. He now hopes the allegiance of the sea kings will bring an end to the heroine so that he shall be free at last. Not so fast! There is a deposed netherworld king who wants to regain his throne. He finds it necessary to assist the heroine and unlike other 'assistants' he is honest enough to make his motives clear, 'I rub your back, you rub my back'. Knowing she needs all the assistance available to ward off the two kings, she accepts the offer. . . the struggle continues.

The son continues to drift apart because he turned into a bully knowing that the 'mother' is 'immortal' (Yes, scratch the idea of fire, you can't kill her, no human can! Only the supernatural can cause her any harm). The mother refuses to play into her son's new found 'hobby' and actually watches as he gets his butt whupped silly by a group of boys.

"I will not spare anyone who attempts to cause you and your father harm with no apparent reason, I will show no mercy! But the moment you start poking your fingers on foreheads just for the heck of it, you're on your own. Just because I am what I am doesn't mean you should go looking for trouble. I am not here to play God. If people want to die, let them die! If they want to kill each other, I don't care! If they want to live, let 'em live! It is of no importance to me!"

The son (who is 11 btw) didn't appreciate his mother's 'advise'. In order to get back at her and really hurt her, he becomes friends with her father's mistress ( she hates this mistress with passion) and actually askes the father to get married to this woman. Boy was she hurt! That likkle bastard! She is shocked her 11 yr old son is capable of such sick game just to make a statement. Angry and frustrated, our heroine retires deeper into her shell, nobody wants her. . . this is where is will be nice to stay out of her way, stay away from the son. . . because she's too angry she could kill him! The son wants the mummy to come back and apologize so that he could go back on 'hate the mistress' mode. . . that never happened because the mother is keeping the distance and the father proposes to the mistress, happy that the son after years of hostility has approved of the mistress. . . question is, will our heroine allow this union?


@ darkmanzero,yup those cheezy names are actually 'placeholder'. They gotta go if I want to take this anywhere beyond paper.

He'd have a pot belly, crash land all the time, all accidents would have to occur b4 2pm because he'll be off by 2. He'll use his 'staff' status to demand for free everything. And the honeyz would be in trouble!!!

@gd

Now THIS is more like it!

As an artist, youll have to consider the art direction and exactly what hook you are going to use to draw in the audience.

As a story writer you will have to figure out how you can restructure the story to fit into a monthly /weekly paperback format, and how you will be able to write in some 'enemy of the day' filler in order to allow the series gain momentum before you start with the rollercoaster that leads up to the finale.

Once you come up with a suitable formula, you can sketch up a draft pilot and before you know it, things will be moving quicker than you can imagine!

@ gd, i couldnt follow up your story cos i felt it had too many pointless twists. But i feel i can trust you to weave out a compelling read if you sit with a creative crew of writers where you still exercise creative control.

@ darkmanzero
u may have a point, but u know the kind of society we live in, u guys are merging spiritism with superheroes, for Kids? in Nigeria? U will only get worse rebuff than harrypotter got, why dont we try and stick to Logic in creating these characters, rather than try to mystify the whole thing, I see it as escapist, cos u dont have to give any plausible explanation for the powers after u've attributed it all to a certain water god or spirit. How convenient.
as for the indomitables bit, I think ur issue would be with the guys who created cos I raised the same argument concerning already existing abilities but by then it was too late cos the stuff was already all over the place. but they came up with a point that struck me, if u've observed, in the whole superhero thingy there's no such thing as original powers cos all people do is recycle the same old powers or enhance them slightly. If u've seen the series HEROES u will understand what I'm saying, none of those chracters is original. Is it
Nathan petrelli?- flying?(very new indeed)
Claire?-Rapid tissue regeneration (wolverine)
Hiro?-Time shifting and teleporting (old concept, nightcrawler can attest to that)
Sylar? power absorption (ask[b]rogue[/b] and parasite)
Matt? hearing people's thoughts (they even got that from 4400)
The Haitian? memory drain (na today?)
The radioactive guy? (human torch, pyro,firestorm etc )
I'm not against the idea of breaking away and thinkiing outside of the box, but if u're going to do that, make it believable and explainable.

@moondust, hey there!

Please read the posts for more indepth answers to your questions. I'll put a few lil summaries here though:

1) issue of targeting has been discussed above
2) issue of supernatural vs science fiction has been discussed above

As for the issue of the unoriginal nature of the Indomitables, dont worry, you dont need to defend them to us. I know in a 1,000 years you would never have come up with such a lame idea if not constrained by the wishes of your sponsors/publishers. Thats why I said I cant wait to see what you come up with once you have freed yourself from the shackles, hopefully indomitables will make enough cash to enable that. Ive seen your art and by God you're good.

Heroes is highly original. We'll discuss that later after these other issues are cleared up. (just wanna hear what u have to say *AFTER* reading our discussions) Please dont let anyone give you that BS about there being no original superheroes/powers. If u take that from them, they will stifle your innate creativity, which was surely what led you to criticise their ideas in the first place.

@ darkmanzero

I've gone through it again and its still shrouded in mystery and darkness.
however, u guys seem to be on the verge acquiring the de-mystification formular
pls may I know why u think heroes is original? cos to me its only a better version of 4400.
and darkman, are you in Lagos? what do u do? do u write? cos i've got a proposition 4 u


@grafikdon

Homie wats good? long time!
I like your Idea, but isn't there a way we can involve less spirits and jazz?
howz the current project comin?

Alrighty, let's take these one at a time,

a) Targetting and scenario:

Somewhere along the gline, gd was concerned about the fact that anti-heroes or heroes that do not live up to the standards of selflessness or moral high-ground taken by the traditional costumed characters would be poor role models for children.

My response was 'what is your target audience?'

ie, if we target young children, will we turn a profit? Since young children cannot generally afford these comics, the answer unfortunately is No. Unless of course we can get a sponsor to subsidize us, in which case we end up with another supa strikers or,  (sorry bout this, ) Indomitables.

So, we are not targetting the kiddies. Who then are we targetting? busy adults who would be ashamed to be seen with comics? Hell no. We target the 17-25 age bracket- the University students who have lots of free time and cash to burn. Now do THESE guys need role models in comic books?

I sincerely hope the answer is No. At that age no-one should be imitating superman.

What adolescents want, when they read, is something that seems 'mature' and 'realistic'. Apart from ultra violence and gobs of half-naked women, this generally means characters doing 'what you would expect any normal person to do' in certain circumstances. Given the atmosphere in our country and the culture/mindset, An altruistic character or a crime-fighter is the very depth of unrealistic unbelievable nonsense. Similarly, planet-scale events would likely not be appealing because, unlike the united states, we are not socialised to think of ourselves as the centre of the world. Nigerians think of nigerians before  Nigeria, and leaving Nigeria before thinking about the World. Our stories should reflect our culture and mindset.

I like using anime as a focal point for these discussions. I have a friend who lives in japan and tells me about th atmosphere there and the way things are run. Funny enough in most manga and anime you can see this nicely represented. How many manga superheroes are selfless crimefighters defending the world? Almost none. What do we have instead?

Naruto: Struggling student trying to be the best in his class. In japan the secondary/tertiary eucation system is rigid, cutthroat and ruthless. A single failing grade is the diffeence between lifetime employment in a prestigious company and humiliation, disgrace and shame to your family name. Students are driven to pass as though it is life and death. The parallels with naruto are chilling.

Kenshin: Former killer trying to atone for his past life by protecting the innocent. Seems pretty altruistic until you discover the samurai actually has a deathwish and wishes to be KILLED protecting the innocent. Classical tragic traditional tale, of course rife with martial arts/japanese traditional environments/dressing/surroundings.

Gundam: Soldiers fighting on opposing sides of a war, neither of which is clearly good or evil, but both demanding of great sacrifice, with the only real evil being technology capable of mass destruction. Practically all mech anime can be lumped into this world-war-2-parallel universe.

You can see that the japanese have done a good job of adapting the medium of comic books to their environment and society. The abundance of supernatural/shinto/buddhist elements in manga should be indicative of the fact that unlike us, they have found a way of making their traditional mysticism interesting.

A nigerian comic involving sea kings, magic, otehr worlds, sacrifices of unborn children, etc doesnt HAVE to be set in the past, doesnt HAVE to be full of bare footed dirty villagers spitting on cowries, doesn;t HAVE to look like our revolting home movies. Comic books allow the imagination to break free of boundaries, and produce an ideal ssetting that doesnt HAVE to be accurate, but is certainly appealing.

Do you actually believe that ancient chinese temples were as grand, spotless and colorful as they appear in CTHD or wuxia films? Do you believe that teh greeks and spartans had such grand and glorious armour, rilliant palaces and amazing fighting skills as they do in 300, Troy and so on? DO you believe that samurai kept long hair like kenshin, used complex strategies and skills with the rigid ode of honour shown in classical samurai/ninja films? NO! they were all dirty barefooted people scrabbling in the dirt like anyone else.

Watch a kurosawa movie to see what teh samurai really were like. Watch Alexander to see what the ancient greeks were reallly like (for the most part, still some oje here and there). Its all NOT DIFFERENT from us. But it is rmanticised for entertainment. Why cant we do the same? Just because it hasnt been done doesnt mean it cant be done. In fact, its a great opening for what CAN be done.

Then there's the Scifi vs Magic angle.

The truth is, we arent scientifically inclined in nigeria. Little real research comes out of here, and noone has any interest in science. People will take their pastor's word over their doctor's any day, and debates on evolution and religion will always devolve into illogical sentimenta;l mishmashes of nonsense. That is because, as a people, we are much more inclined to the magical, the mystical, the fantastic. Just like the japanese. Name ONE hardcore science fiction japanime/manga that doesnt include pure JAZZ at some point or another. Ghosts, spirits, demons, Kappa, these appear even in their scifi, and japan is a hi-tech society. In naija most people dont even know how to use a computer. People believe that mobile phones use witchcraft. I was in a kombi bus one day when someone advised the conductor not to answer his phone at a filling station. Everyone agreed, and the general consensus on the reason was that the phones operate using the wind, and the wind brings fire. Yes, go figure.


(b) Heroes

If you compare it to the 4400, then you are correct, and I stand corrected. However if we lump them both together, what we have is an original take on familiar character archetypes.

The take is original because when a superherio is concieved and created for a costumed-action-figure story, the character is designed as a fighter, someone that will be able to go up against reasonable odds and do abttle in a reasonable interesting fashion. The powers shown in the 4400 and heroes are however, chosen in the context of providing an engaging, dramatic tale in the veins of 'the x-files'.

The girl that heals for example, is not like Logan. Logan had to be outfitted with adamantium, animal senses and reactions in order to be a capable fighter. Ms bennet on the other hand is NOT equipped to fight anyone. she cant run superfast, she can't backflip and use karate kicks.

Hiro's form of teleporting isnt the 'bamf' type that NC uses, which is expressly intended as a plot device to facilitate some interesting and fast-paced battles. retracting nails to cling on walls and night vision make him the perfect stalker-hunter character. Not Hiro. Hiro's teleporting is used to add more intrigue to the story- to  allow the *writers* to transcend time and space.

Petrelli flies. So? what happened to the laser eyes, invincibility, invulnerability, super vision,  ever wondered WHY petrelli doesnt fly so often? because flight isn't so cool without a few of those extra traits. And it certainly isnt a great tool for combat.

and so on.

Heroes is a human drama about people with extraordinary talents. The 4400 is an x-files derivative with an abundance of human subjects. Notice that in the 4400, the powers are usually more blatantly used as plot devices- a man who can make others see their future, a woman who can make others confront their worst fears. These are NOT the same old powers recycled. These are original and interesting takes on the idea of superpowered human beings as a whole.

Similarly, look at Naruto. Many ninjas have 'jutsus' that correspond, in a similar loose fashion, to comicbook superpowers. But doesnt it seem silly to equate Naruto to mr. Madrox or Kimimaro to Marrow? It all just dosnt gel.



(c)  Yes and No. I am based in Lagos but currently am out of town.

(d) I write computer programs. However I used to write a lot when I was in school. Ive written a few novel-length treatises that I still keep on me, and quite a few of my friends used my scripts as the bases for comic books- all done in a strictly hobbyist fashion of course.

In as much as i agree that the Nigerian society is not scientifically inclined, that does not mean there can't be a merging between scientific themes and magic.

It goes in line with your post on whom to target. Since them kiddies can't afford comics and their parents would see it as a "waste of time", and as the older generation would feel "na baby dey read cartoon", the target's obviously 17-25 years o' age- as darkie rightly put it.

And i believe out of 3 groups, the 17-25 year bracket is the most scientifically inclined. There are the ones mostly in uni, so that tetiary education affects their mindset/thinking. This is not saying they still don't believe in jazz. So the scientific angle still cuts it, it only depends on how that idea is being used or meged with jazz.

If u'd go a few pages back, i gave  the storyline of a character i'm working on- Dreddlock. There was nothing like jazz in it. The storyline more political than anything - and if one thing that is the shiznit in Nigeria, it's poli[i]tricks[/i]!

Yeah, i think your dreddlock idea has much potential if u exploit the whole politics/oil money corruption angle. And with foreign oil companiesminvolved, theres a big opportunity for a sci fi angle.

Remember my suggestion about the oil companies funding the research though! The nigerian govt funding the research is SOOOOOOO far fetched!

i think the Niger delta area will produce one for us, that is, if they have not produced one already.

@3D_Hunter

I am not following your gist, care to throw more light?

Super heroes don't have to be Nigerian or African.
Whatever you come up with, just make sure it's something Nigerians can appreciate.