Ẹsẹ gàn. O ṣeun púpọ̀ // The outpouring of love for this story has been incredible. We even did some maths...
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 07:08:34 PM
In just over eight hours (at the time of writing), we have found ourselves at 88.5% funded. We're usually quite good with words, but all we can think of to say is 'Wow'. Wow.
There simply are not words to describe how grateful we are, and how much extra inspiration you have given us to ensure that Nani is the absolute best that it can be. However, beyond being grateful for the donations, and the retweets, and the shares, the thing that we are most grateful for is the fact that projects like ours, African stories like ours, are finally making their way into the spotlight.
This all sounds very grandiose, but this isn't our first rodeo. The first Kickstarter that we at Kugali embarked upon was in early 2018, to help us make our first Anthology. In the first two days, we hit 30% funded, and were over the moon. $1600 in 36 hours.
With Nani, we've raised $11,845 in 8 hours. The numbers are a little different since he wrote this an hour-or-so ago, but one of our co-founders, Tolu, did the maths.
Personally, I think the excitedly handwritten scrawl adds character.
At this rate, by the time we wake up we'll know that Nani Volume 2 isn't just a plan any more. I doubt any of us will ever sleep more soundly then we do tonight. Whether you came from YouTube, or Twitter, or have been with us from day one, thank you so very much for helping our story grow. It's a little cliche but at Kugali we absolutely believe that the stories we tell are bigger than all of us; and thanks to all of you, they just got a whole lot bigger.
A Personal Thanks From Ziki
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 07:07:45 PM
An AWESOME project by some friends of Kugali, and a wonderful video about our book!
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 07:06:26 PM
At Kugali, we're all about representing the best of African storytelling, but Africa isn't the only place that needs more truly great narrative representation in comics! We've been given such a boost in our platform here, and we want to use it as best we can, so we hope it's alright to recommend a project that we LOVE, even if it isn't a Kugali work... If you're at all interested in Mesoamerican or Mexican culture, then check out AZTLAN immediately!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aztlan/aztlan-graphic-novel
You can get these wonderfully unique hardcover books in any of FOUR languages, so accessibility for these stories is really front and centre. If you like mythologies, warriors, female heroes... Well, if you like Nani, really, you might just fall in love with Aztlan, so give them a peek!
* * * * *
We also want to start shouting out some of the wonderful people who have made videos talking about Nani and spread the word about what we do. First up is NoriaReads, a booktube creator from Nigeria, who is both incredibly eloquent and wonderfully sassy - incredibly entertaining, wonderful to work with, and we couldn't recommend her more. Subscribe to help support African creatives, and check out what she had to say about Nani Volume 1!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AsGkP5ccCM
If YOU would like to make a video talking about your experiences with Nani, we'll happily feature you in one of our updates too! Just send us a message when it's up, we'd absolutely love to hear your thoughts!
ANOTHER great African comic on Kickstarter!
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 07:06:05 PM
We've just found out about another wonderful African comic trying to get funded on kickstarter, and we wanted you all to know about it! HAWI Issues 1-2 are available at the link below, and are a distinctly African take on superheroes!
http://kck.st/2D0RTAW
HAWI is the epic African fantasy story of a first-gen immigrant who returns to her birth nation for the first time, only to have her mother kidnapped by a masked stranger. Before she knows it, she finds herself in a perilous journey across a mythical East African empire searching for her mother and a way back home...
Sounds pretty similar to Nani, huh? Well, it's an entirely different set of storytellers and artists, but it's been really cool for us to see the same story framework approached in such a different way! Nani is based on West African mythology, while HAWI is more centred on East African mythologies - two halves of a whole! The people over at ETAN Comics are quickly becoming good friends of ours, so we'd really love it if you'd go and check out their project!
I know we've recommended a lot of Kickstarters lately, and we'll try to keep it more Nani-focused going forwards, but it's clear that there are so many wonderful, culture-driven comics on the up right now that we can't resist!
Have a great day friends, we've got some very cool news coming for the next stretch goal!
Next Stretch Goal Unlocked!
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 02:08:07 AM
Fellow Citizens of Samma,
We are doing so well with this campaign! Not only did we smash our initial goal, we've already bulldozed through our first stretch goal and we're about to smash the second! It's barely been a week since we launched!
So... What are the next stretch goals?
It is time for us to reveal the fact that our next stretch goal will be a Nani Digital Artbook. This 24-page artbook will have Work-in-Progress images, concept art, character bios and tons of extra information on many of the world-building aspects that have gone into the story. If you're still not sure what to expect, we've included a preview below to give you a better idea of what this art book is all about (bear in mind it will be higher resolution!). Also... We're saying nothing right now, but the 60K stretch goal will be something very special! Get sharing and let's see how far we can take this!
