‘KARIBA’ and ‘Chaos in Kinshasa’…Two new African graphic novels you must read

Catalyst Press, an indie publisher of African authors, is releasing two new graphic novels as part of its newly launched Panel & Page African graphic novel series, which spotlights illustrated stories from African creatives centered on African history, mythology, and folklore.

Available now is KARIBA, which you may remember from its successful Kickstarter campaign in South Africa back in 2016. Created by three Cape Town creatives and animators—Daniel Clarke and Daniel Snaddon of Triggerfish Animation Studios, and James Clarke, 2016 finalist for the PEN International New Young Voices Award—KARIBA is an African fantasy adventure graphic novel set in the 1950s, blending the history of the Kariba dam with the mythology of the Zambezi River’s Great River Spirit, Nyaminyami. Daniel Clarke has been getting lots of press lately for “Aau’s Song”, his new project with Lucasfilm, a Star Wars: Visions short film available on Disney+. KARIBA received Starred Reviews from Foreword Reviews and Booklist, which called the graphic novel “utterly breathtaking.” The story follows a young girl named Siku, who has the power to manipulate water, and must journey to the Kariba Dam to save her father and find her destiny.

KARIBA

In February, Catalyst will release Chaos in Kinshasa, the press’ second graphic novel from beloved Congolese comics creator Barly Baruti, translated from the original French by Batchelder Award-winning translator Ivanka Hahnenberger and co-written by Belgian comics journalist Thierry Bellefroid. Based on the legendary 1974 Rumble in the Jungle boxing fight in the Congo between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, Chaos in Kinshasa follows an American criminal who travels to see the fight and gets unwittingly involved in an Angolan plot to overthrow President Mobutu Sese Seko. Catalyst Press released Madame Livingstone, another Barly Baruti comic, in 2021.

Both books are distributed globally by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, a division of Ingram, and in Southern Africa by Protea Distribution. You can purchase them online at Bookshop.org, Indiepubs, Amazon, or order them from your local bookstore. Ebooks available. To get in touch with Catalyst Press, email [email protected].