Josef Yohannes står bak tegneserien The Urban Legend, om superhelten Malcolm Tzegai Madiba som er lærer av Eritreisk opprinnelse.- Jeg lagde en tegneseriehelt som jeg selv savnet. Barn i vesten har alltid hatt luksusen av å ha superhelter som Batman, Superman eller Hulk. Barn i Afrika har ikke det, de har to typer forbilder; idrettsutøvere eller musikkartister. Jeg så et vakuum der, sier Yohannes, som har studert statsvitenskap og menneskerettigheter. Han skriver historiene, mens illustratør Steve Baker, basert i Birmingham, tegner.
From Uganda to the DRC, Nigeria to Côte d'Ivoire, comic book creators and graphic novel illustrators are taking full advantage of the art-form to tell uniquely African stories. Eritrean-Norwegian comic book artist and writer Josef Yohannes' The Urban Legend is a school teacher who adopts his alter-ego after the murder of his cousin.Yohannes, who published the first issue of The Urban Legend in 2012, looked to history — both personal and public — for his superhero's moniker. "The name was very important and played an essential part in who he was and what he stands for," he told OkayAfrica. "So I named him Malcolm Tzegai Madiba. I named him after Malcolm X, my father Tzegai (which is also my middle name) and Nelson Mandela.
The Urban Legend takes up the fight against the coronavirus by publishing a comic strip with information about the covid-19 situation in the world and how to fight the virus.The message is simple:"Be a Superhero, Stay Home!"
Not long ago we were asked by the organization Liflaga if they could make an Urban Legend apple juice, where the proceeds would go to charity.
The Urban Legend & Furuset IF “Superhero cup” was a great success with a lot great superhero teams competing for the grand prize. There were so many talented players in this cup, I’m truly amazed. Congratulations to the winner of this year “Superhero cup”, the BLACK PANTHER team! They beat the Falcon team on penalties after a 2-2 draw!