INDEPENDANT NEWS FOR SATURDAY - Durban woman’s fresh look at comic books - Phindile Nqumako
Durban - Lauren Bianca from Chatsworth has published her first comic book and is already planning the next. The 26-year-old channeled her love of writing, cosplay and Marvel superheroes into ‘The Shadower’. “I finished my psychology degree two years ago. I work as an administrator and in my spare time I cosplay. I play different characters such as the Black Widow and Wanda on video. I wear the suits and I think that is where my love for comics came from,” she said. When her friends, Stacey Lee, Shevan Hemraj, Avumile Nyangintsimbi and Kashveer Singh came up with an idea to write a comic, she decided she would write it herself. “They wanted to do a comic about me and I said ‘no’. I said, let me write a story that would feature us as superheroes,” she said. “It took me a month to write the story and a couple of months to get it published. The difference with this comic book is that this one is pictures taken of people and turned into characters instead of sketches,” she said. The story tells the adventures of a team fighting dark forces in the world with unity and determination, and appeals to all ages. "I do not see a lot of women who are authors of comics and I haven't done any research on that, but I think since the comic book industry is small in South Africa, the representation of women is fair,” she said. She said that in her free time, she sings at functions and that she would welcome any sponsorship for an official launch of her book. “There is going to be part two of this book that will come out soon. People can check out more in the future,” she said. Copies can be ordered by emailing laurenbiancamarvel@gmail.com
