A mini about Madiba

This Friday in South Africa, A Son of the Eastern Cape, the first 28-page comic (in a series of 9) about the life of Nelson Mandela will hit kids' hands via schools and newspapers across the country. Artistic head Nic Buchanan and his team sifted through what visual record there exists of the President/activist/prisoner/folk hero/etc. to create a story in comics.

The first of the nine comics, A son of the Eastern Cape, covers Mandela's humble birth on 18 July 1918, in the mud hut village of Mwezo, near Qunu in what was then the Transkei, up to his arrival in Johannesburg as a precocious lad in 1941.

The aim of the project is to present youth and adults alike with a portrait of Mandela's life, capturing not only the horrendous Apartheid conditions he faced and fought, but also the human mistakes and character that grew from his experiences. Citing this as a goal is a really sobering and bold undertaking considering not only the historically established censorship of the country, but also his own intimately personal struggles and failings in marriage.

One section depicts how Mandela and his step-brother stole cattle, lied to clan elders and ran away to Johannesburg to escape an arranged marriage. Mandela's first name Rolihlahla is translated in the comic as "the one who troubles", although he is most commonly referred to by his clan name Madiba.

Comics as journalism is seeing an amazing addition here, and if U.S. and European publishers are as eager as they seem to publish this Stateside, I look forward to seeing the series cross the Atlantic.