Joshua Okoromodeke: Starting Out
Posted: Tuesday, August 24, 2004
By: Darren Schroeder
Small press comic creators are doing their thing all over the world - in your home town and places you night not have heard of. Here's what once such creator is doing in West Africa.
Darren Schroeder: What is your full name?
J.O.Joshua Okoromodeke
DS: Age?
J.O. 27 Years
DS: What picture has had the greatest impact on you?
J.O. Photo's of slumes and getto's by a Ghanaian artist called Kofi Stoker, it reminds me of the sufferings the black race goes through.
DS: Where do you live?
J.O. Lagos, in Nigeria.
DS: How many people live in Lagos?
J.O. Over 4 million.
DS: What sort of thing do you do for fun there?
J.O. Go places like fastfood joints, concerts, read comics and magazines, listen to music and so on.
DS: How are the Nigerian team doing in the Olympics?
J.O. Pretty tight though, but they're managing.
DS: Is there much of a local comic scene there?
J.O. The market remains relatively unexploited
DS: How did you get interested in comics?
J.O. I got interested in comics as a child at age 9 I was facinated by the art and comic characters and power displays, I discovered my hidden artistic talents at age 12 and I was inspired to creat my own comic books.
DS: What work have you been doing recently?
J.O. Designing comic books and hoping to publish them soon, hopefuly local and international.
DS: What comics have you read recently? Why did you like/dislike them?
J.O. I read a comic called Supa Strikas a comic on football, talking about a boy with an aim to achieve great hights in the field despite the up's and down's he faced along the way. I like it because the story inspired me on not giving up in what ever good thing I hope to achieve regardless of the obstacles that my come my way.
DS: Are there any local African comics?
J.O. There is but one presently, that comic Supa Strikas I told you about. Apart from it we have influx of foreign comics.
DS: Who publishes that?
J.O. A comic company from South Africa owned by one Mr OlIver Power.
DS: What sort of foreign comics interest you?
J.O. I've only seen American comics, eg X-men, Superman, Spiderman just to name a few.
DS: What sort of comics are you creating?
J.O. Nigerians have great interest in foreign comics but greater interest in seeing comic that has to do with their present enviroment and that is the kind of comics I am creating now, e.g the samples I scanned.
DS: Are those super hero stories?
J.O. Not all of them.some are based on real life experience and gospel stories.
DS: Describe the story of Accursed for us.
J.O. It's a story about a curse placed on a man by a forest spirit from childhood and this man had a twin sister whom he barely knows, for they seperated since childhood as they were attempting to escapes death at the hands of their wicked village king who killed twin children in ancient times.
It was as a result of the curse that he was changed into a warewolf like beast.In the story, he seeks to return to his normal self by searching for a way to appease the spirit and at thesame time seeks for his twin sister, and along the line he met a forerigner, who also tried to help him solve this mystery.
DS: Do you print many copies?
J.O. Well it depends on the demands.
DS: What materials do you use for the colouring of your comics?
J.O. I make use of coloured markers and pencil colours.
DS: Have you done any formal training in art/illustration?
J.O. I am naturally talented but I do hope to get to the university to study more on graphic art and computer graphics.
DS: How long does it take for you to draw one page?
J.O. Top's, less than thirty minutes (pencil).
DS: Do you work with any other comic creators?
J.O. None at the moment, I work alone.
DS: How any comics have you produced?
J.O. I have lost count.
DS: How hard was it to sell them?
J.O. Not so difficult if you have a good and experinced marketers and or distributors who underwstand the market.
DS: What sort of audience is there for comics in Nigeria?
J.O. We have comic crazy kid's above 18yrs and youths from 20 and above, and also some comic crazed adults.
What are your contact details?
J.O. I can be contacted by e-mail: hero_2k@justice.com or joshdecartoonist@yahoo.com
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