Episode 27: African Comics Before WW2

Episode 27: African Comics Before WW2

From The History of Comics in 500 Issues by Jess Nevins

October 19, 2025 · 40 min · Season 1 · Episode 27

About this episode

This episode explores the development of comics and graphic narrative in Africa before World War Two.

A somewhat scattershot (sorry) chronology of the development of comics and graphic narrative in the colonies and countries of Africa before the beginning of World War Two. In this episode I discuss Paleolithic Algerian rock art, Madagascaran funerary pole sculptures, the King of Cameroon making his own alphabet and the artists who helped him and went on to make proto-comics of their own, caricature and comic art in newspapers in South Africa, the early history of comics in Egypt, the history of comics in Mauritius and the island of Reunion, some surprising developments in Kenya, racist and antisemitic cartoons in South Africa ( quelle surprise ), the first Cameroonian comic, the Belgian Congo of all places being a relative hotbed of graphic narrative (albeit horribly racist), and Egypt surging ahead of everyone else. Enjoy!

People in this episode

Host: Jess Nevins

Topics covered

  • African comics
  • graphic narrative
  • colonial history
  • art history
  • pre-WW2
  • cultural development

Keywords

  • African comics
  • graphic narrative
  • colonial art
  • history of comics
  • pre-WW2 Africa
  • cultural history

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Algeria, Madagascar, Cameroon, South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, Reunion, Kenya, Belgian Congo

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