Bill Masuku

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Bill Masuku
Bill Masuku.jpg
BornBill Tojo Masuku
(1993-03-21) March 21, 1993 (age 31)
Alma materRhodes University
Occupation
  • Comic Book Writer
  • Illustrator
Known forCreating Razor-Man
Websitebillmasuku.com

Bill Tojo Masuku is a Zimbabwean comic book writer and artist. He established himself as one of the many pioneers of the Zimbabwean visual literature with his creator-owned work and his influence on the industry. He studied at Rhodes University in South Africa. Starting out alone with mainstream superhero titles, his stories and narratives at the time reflected the social injustices that the country was facing, leading him to create his character Captain South Africa and others like him in 2013. He went on to work with an industry known Zimbabwean graphic artist, Dananayi Muwanigwa to create a popular character, Black Zeus one shot that appeared alongside other upcoming talents in the market in a compilation comic book Comexposed’s Comic Up Volume 1. Returning home after university he relaunched his comic book universe with his flagship titles Razor-Man, receiving critical acclaim by peers and enthusiasts.

Early Life

Bill Tojo Masuku was born on March 21, 1993 in Harare, Zimbabwe. He attended a private school and decided he wanted to be a comic book industry professional when he was 10. He worked on his own comics for several years through primary and high school teaching himself the general rules of aesthetics and compositions that that were required to illustrate his unique narrative style. He has said that his storytelling is influenced by several films and serialized Japanese animations in particular: the Wachowski Brother’s Matrix film trilogy, Tsotsi, District 9, Inception, Gantz, Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum, and One Piece.

Masuku has also said that in high school, he noted that several of his English Language composition assignments were based around structures of concepts which had considered for many work in progress titles, though he never entered any large writing competitions he say that he keeps the old books for reference.

Comics Career

Better known as a writer than an artist, Masuku began self-publishing his relaunched universe titles in 2016 with his flagship series Razor-Man debuting and selling out at Comexposed’s Comic Book Day in April of the same year. He shortly leant his writing talents to DigiArt Studio’s six published comic book titles as he reinvented one of their main characters.

In 2016 his published works and efforts to building the Zimbabwean comic book industry were noticed by a multimedia company Sigma-Digital Studios and proceeded to form a partnership with them.[1] The merger between the two entities became one of the largest market changes in the industry, as Sigma-Digital who publish titles such Umzingeli and Douglas Mayenza became a shared universe with Razor-man, Captain South Africa and other title characters. The entirety of the collective comic book publishing would be done under Enigma Comix Africa as a subsidiary of Sigma-Digital Studios, before dissolving their partnership in 2018.

In mid-2018 his career was springboarded when he was invited as a guest speaker to the first annual Comic Con Africa hosted by ReedPop in Johannesburg, South Africa. [2] At this event he officially debuted his new Captain South Africa title, a sequel series to his original short comic of the same name. The difference being that this new Captain South Africa was a woman and a non-violent superheroine who championed several social justice movements.[3] The series success and reception went on to be shortlisted for the African Speculative Fiction Society's inaugural 2020 Nommo Awards, alongside another of his own works a short Afrofuturism inspired comic Welcome to Dead World. [4]

In 2019, he became the author of the urban fantasy series Misfortunism, a set of novellas that depict mental health as a form of unstable supernatural forces. The first book in the series, Misfortunism was originally titled 'A Town Called Graham' the central location for the series. The second novella Psychophagy was published later in the same year. Both books were long-listed for the 2020 Nommo awards. Around this time he became a finalist for the Green Enterprize ILO Arts and the Future of Work Competition.

In 2020, he was selected as the British Council’s Design Futures Africa Storyteller for Zimbabwe, a project centered around sustainable development, the green future, and the informal economy. [5]

References

  1. Suul Kabweza, Comexposed interviews Bill Masuku, creator of comic book character, Razor Man, Techzim, Published:27 Aug 2016, Retrieved: 6 September 2016
  2. Comic Con Africa 2018, Local comic book artists set to be a highlight of Comic Con Africa 2018, Comic Con Africa, Published:28 June 2018, Retrieved: 31 August 2020
  3. The New Captain South Africa, Meet Captain South Africa; she'd rather not punch criminals, APNews, Published:16 September 2018, Retrieved: 31 August 2020
  4. 2020 Nommo Awards, 2020 Nommo Awards Short List, ASFS Nommo Awards, Published:15 May 2020, Retrieved: 31 August 2020
  5. Design Futures Africa, Design Fututres Africa Workshop, Twyg, Published:11 Feb 2020, Retrieved: 31 August 2020

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