QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH THE COVER ARTIST, HUMPHREY OSORO; Q; So who is Humphrey Osoro? ; A; Well first off I'm a Kenyan-born comic artist and graphic designer based in Kenya. I make comics on the side and do my graphic design work as my day job. I'm a simple guy really, I love anything comics. Anything that tells stories just gets my attention, whether its movies, a good book or even a good work of art. Q; So why comics? A; Growing up ,I dabbled a lot in traditional art forms and in creative writing/storytelling. Once I got good in both, I wanted something that could combine the two and comics did that for me. Comics allowed me to combine my artistic side with my writer side. I was now able to use my art to tell an actual written story and since then I've been hooked to it.
Q; What's your inspiration? A; My main inspirations are guys like Jason Brubacker (author and artist of RE-mind webcomic), Tim Bradstreet (Punisher comic covers) and writers like Elaine Kamari in Kenya (Her blog is "Elly in Nairobi"). All these people push me to keep improving and work that much harder at my craft
Q; Comic artist you say, any comics you've made that we should know of? A; Yes, I am. It seems a bit odd coming from this side of the continent, not many comic artists over here in Kenya. There isn't really an established comic publishing company over here, and the professionals already in the industry are either too busy doing another career that isn’t comics or just aren’t willing to take on newbies and mentor them, so you either self-publish or you're done. It’s all a matter of how determined are you to make comics over here. I of course ended up self publishing my graphic novel, split into a 30page comic book for now. It’s called "The Unaffected Resolve" ,and it's an action/fantasy type comic story set in Kenya.
Q;Tell us a little more about your graphic novel "The Unaffected Resolve"? A; Yeah, about "The Unaffected Resolve". The title of the book comes from the experiences that the characters in the book endure and their unshakable will to resist and defeat these challenges. The comic saga in the book centers around three main characters; Lisa Sagini (A lieutenant in the Kenyan Army),Orville Mukau (Lisa's apprentice) and the Cat-Guy (A mysterious cat creature/human hybrid). The series follows these three characters and the horrors they must battle to bring about an end to the war that's raging on in the Post-Apocalyptic Kenya between the humans who are desperately trying to survive and the mysterious creatures that have ravaged the world and are now invading Kenya. For more information on my graphic novel, you can check out my blog at https://humphreyosoro.wordpress.com Q; Wow, that's a lot of content for just a 30page comic book, are you sure you can fit all that in just 30pages?! A; Of course not! Chapter 1 of the graphic novel is 114 pages in its entirety. The book wasn't really meant to be released as a short 30 page comic. Its true form is in all its 114 page glory. I figured releasing all 114 pages at once really wasn't wise, especially since I still haven't finished coloring the book yet, but I did release part one of the book (30 pages) in black and white for all those diehard fans of the book out there. To get part one of the book, visit www.254comics.com , it’s a great site for new African comics. I've met a lot of good fellows over there and made friends with many of the artists over there. Head over there and support a brother! https://www.254comics.com/comics/unaffectedresolve_1/
Q: Aside from comics what else do you make? A; I dabble in almost everything art related, a jack of all trades of sorts. I do commissions just like any other comic artist. I make illustrations for publications, do portrait commissions, character design , digital paintings and many more I can rattle out of my head right now. Point is, if you want something illustration or art related, then I'm your guy.
You can check out these links for more of my other previous artworks https://www.facebook.com/humphreyosoroillustrations/ https://www.254comics.com/comics/unaffectedresolve_1/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL1agpOjOH6/ https://humphreyosoro.wordpress.com Q: Any parting words? A; Yeah, big thank you to Jofre for reaching out to me. I believe that if more people were like him then more upcoming comic artists would get a chance to break into the market and make a name for themselves