Kwezi: Pokello ya mohlophisi (Sotho, Southern, Paperback)

The African superhero universe is set to widen in South Africa. Kwezi, which means "star" in Xhosa and Zulu, is the brainchild of Loyiso Mkize a designer and fine artist who got his start in comics as an illustrator for the long-running Supa Strikas soccer series. Mkize describes Kwezi as "a coming of age story about finding one's heritage." The comic follows a narcissistic teenage boy named Kwezi as he discovers his superhuman abilities amid the daily hustle of the fictional Gold City- a bustling metropolis modelled after Johannesburg. Portrayed as a cocky anti-hero obsessed with selfies and Twitter, Kwezi is initially fueled by the attention from his adoring online fans, but he soon finds out that his powers come with a cultural responsibility. To accurately reflect Kwezi's world and that of potential readers, the comic's dialogue is peppered with street slang and pop culture references that place the story in a familiar context for young South Africans. The first three issues were self-published and took three years to develop after local publishers balked at the idea that a South African superhero could be a successful endeavour.