Comics That Aren't Funny

NYC -- It was a superb evening, a man says while walking out of a nightclub. Seconds later, blood squirts from his chest as he is stabbed to death by three thugs who flee with his wallet.
The Ivory Coast artist Mendozza y Caramba portrays this scene in his comic “AAAAA!” – part of the “Africa Comic” exhibition at Studio Museum Harlem through March 18. This show is anything but comical. It features hand-drawn illustrations in both color and black and white by 35 artists from 20 African nations. Common themes include violence, corruption, poverty and oppression.
One of the most disturbing comic strips, created in 1999 and titled “1974,” is by Joe Dog, a South African artist. In it, a white man and his two sons are attacked my ministrel caricatures outside of their suburban home: one son is speared in the back, another’s throat is slit and the father is struck in the head by an axe. In the 35th frame, we discover it’s all a dream. One of the boys awakes in a sweat, hurries to school and is beaten by his white teacher for being late. In the background, a black janitor sweeps the floor.
Many pieces are political commentaries, such as “Vote, Again and Again” by Jamón y Queso of Equatorial Guinea. Here, we witness a day in the life of a destitute day laborer. A mosquito pierces his skin; a mangy dog wanders through his garbage-strewn village; beer bottles crowd his nightstand. In the final frames, the man shreds a political poster and proclaims, “It’s hard to be a democrat when you are living under a dictatorship.”
Not all of the show’s content is utterly dismal. In a bizarre comic by Congolese artists Al’Mata and Sapi Gampez, two kids find a piano in the wreckage of a cargo plane. They learn how to play it and grow up to be celebrated performers. Their success prompts the ministry of culture to open a music conservatory.
For the 23 non-English comics, translations are available. But in most cases, the illustrations alone convey the story: life in parts of contemporary Africa is brutal. (JM)