Catalyst Press

Many thanks to the Global Comix team for hosting our illustrators roundtable! Check out this great conversation between Shofela Coker, Mark Modimola, and Karen Vermeulen.

https://globalcomix.com/news/details/651/catalyst-press-creator-roundtable-for-reading-africa-week

Shofela Coker is is an illustrator and director born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. n 2005 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, attended the Memphis College of Art and graduated with a BFA in illustration. He began his career as a character designer and digital sculptor for video game studios at Activision and Sony. He worked as an art director for Jam City San Diego from 2016-2019. As a freelancer his clients have included Disney, Netflix, West Studio, Oddbot, Titmouse and Triggerfish Studios. You can find more of his work at shofcoker.com.
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Mark Modimola is a South African artist based in Johannesburg working in painting, digital art and drawing. His works explore the rhythms of African identity, carrying a spirit that emphasizes the supernatural experience of blackness.

Known for his surreal illustrations, his collaborations with Jaguar for the 2021 #GiveHerACrown campaign, the award winning 2021 South African graphic novel, ALL RISE (Catalyst Press) and his mural for American Express after winning the Graphic Arts challenge in 2023. Modimola's work explores natural themes in the search of a deeper connection between Africans and nature. He is inspired by nature's persona and it's impression on the human spirit.
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Karen Vermeulen is an artist, illustrator and teacher living in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work is happy, uplifting and quirky. When she is not busy with some creative project, she is probably playing with her cat, Sir Henry. You can find more of her work at www.karenvermeulen.com.

Thrilled to officially release our newest graphic novel KARIBA! From a team of creators in Cape Town, South Africa—including the director of Star Wars: Vision Season 2's "Aau's Song"—KARIBA is an African fantasy adventure comic from the shores of the Zambezi River.

Give it a read! https://globalcomix.com/c/kariba/chapters/en/1/1?utm_source=Link&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=kariba&utm_term=GCRID_57100

We had an amazing time at ComicCon in Cape Town! Check out our post (right here on the Global Comix blog) on the highlights from the event. We'll be heading to ComicCon Africa in Johannesburg later this year. Stay tuned! <br><br>https://globalcomix.com/news/details/497/catalyst-press-attends-inaugural-comic-con-cape-town

We're heading to Comic Con South Africa! Join us at Comic Con Cape Town, April 27-30. Meet some members of the Catalyst team, and learn more about our comics including our award-winning King Shaka series by Luke Molver, Pearl of the Sea by Anthony Silverston, Raffaella Delle Donne, and Willem Samuel, KARIBA by Daniel Clarke, James Clarke and Daniel Snaddon, and Madame Livingstone by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie and Barly Baruti.

More info: https://comicconafrica.co.za/

We just added Pearl of the Sea, a middle-grade graphic novel by the team at Triggerfish Animation Studio in South Africa. To learn more about the team, their work, how the South African coast inspired their story, and how they brought Pearl to life, check out this excerpt from their Q&amp;A. You can read the rest at our site:

Catalyst Press: How long does a graphic novel like this take to produce? I know there were a few other people involved in production as well. Can you tell me a bit about the steps it takes? What comes first as you’re developing it—the visualization of the characters and the panels, or the details of the story? You’re all in film—how similar is this process to developing an animation?

Anthony Silverston (co-writer): How many years do you have? This project did start out first as a film. [co-writer] Raffaella [Delle Donne], came up with the idea of a story about a sea monster while I was still directing on [the animated film] Khumba. At the time, I didn’t have headspace or feel ready to direct another film back-to-back, and raising finance for an animated feature is not easy, so development slowly carried on with me dipping my toe in every now and then. The story did go a little circular for a while, but when I did fully engage, I realized I needed to find a personal hook or angle if I was going to direct it. I realized that, because I had been grappling with my own monsters growing up, I had ended up retreating into my shell, while another person close to me often lashed out with anger and aggression instead. This had prevented the relationship from evolving. A lot of people have a huge fear of showing vulnerability, yet it can prevent one from connecting to others if one is not able to. So, that was what the story became about.

Unfortunately, when we were finally ready to pitch the film, we heard about another Sea Beast movie in development at Netflix and decided to use the story as a test case for a graphic novel instead, as it had been a route we’d been considering at Triggerfish for a while, starting with KARIBA which we had supported through the team’s Kickstarter campaign. [Catalyst Press will be releasing KARIBA globally in June].

I brought on Willem Samuel who had experience creating comics and was finishing up as head of story on our feature film Seal Team, and had a gap before moving on to [the animated series] Mama K’s Team 4… The writing process was different to a film in that I wanted to try and have as little text as possible, because Pearl mostly retreats inwards, so Willem brought a lot of extra layers to the story through his visual storytelling, which was amazing to see. It still felt like we had to storyboard a whole feature film as it involved the same challenges of translating script into visuals, but the layout of the panels could affect the speed at which one reads and how the story comes across.

Continue reading: https://www.catalystpress.org/author-qa-pearl-of-the-sea-part-1/

Exciting news for Triggerfish, the creative team behind our recent release Pearl of the Sea. Daniel Clarke, working with Triggerfish, is one of the directors of the Star Wars: Visions short, "Aau’s Song." We'll also be publishing a book by Daniel this summer! Stay tuned for more info about Kariba, a magical fantasy adventure inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the Kariba Dam, one of the largest dams ever constructed. https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-visions-volume-2

Introducing PEARL OF THE SEA, a new graphic novel from the creators at Triggerfish, the award-winning Cape Town animation studio behind Khumba, Zambezia, Seal Team, and more. Give us a follow to be one on of the first to read this epic comic on Global Comix in January! https://www.catalystpress.org/young-adult-books/pearl-of-the-sea/

So excited to publish two new graphic novels from South Africa in 2023... give us a follow to keep in the loop!