South African award-winning author Lauren Maduray has graced her fans again with ‘The Shadower’ – a new comic book, with characters she created herself.
She always dreamed of joining Marvel, but instead, she made her own superhero world, using real people as characters, bringing her dream to life.
Maduray received two awards at the Multi-Marketing Book Awards last year December, winning Best Fiction Book for her novel, His Wolf, Her Horse and Best Author for her book, Bring It Back to Life.
Seeing how deeply her books resonate with her readers, she decided to pursue her Marvel dream by creating her own comic book- a project vastly different from her previous works. Through this, she hopes to further inspire her audience to believe that dreams are achievable.
‘The Shadower’ superhero comic book
The comic book has a superhero adventure, using real people as characters. The author even uses pictures of people doing things and showing feelings to tell the story.
The story is about a girl who takes the wrong medicine and gets superpowers. She uses these powers to fight against evil forces that also have powers.
Inspiration behind the book ‘The Shadower’
In an interview with Africa Jamz FM News, Lauren discusses the genesis of her comic book and what motivated her to create it.
“At first, it was for fun. I and my friends love Marvel and comics and one of them wanted to write a comic book about me in regards to Cosplay and Marvel. So, I sat down and thought, “Why don’t we make a superhero comic,’’? So, I sat down and thought about it and thought as there are thousands of comic artists out there, how can mine be different and unique so it will stand out, and that’s how the idea of using real people as characters came about,” explained Lauren.
Lauren also delves into how she achieved a balance between fiction and reality in her storytelling.
“Finding the balance between reality and fiction took some work. For example, we had to get the images to look like they were flying or having a conversation and we had to place ourselves in environments that look like the scene or take a picture of an action and add effects on it,” further elaborated Lauren.
The journey of the protagonist after gaining superhuman powers
In Lauren’s book, like in every story, there’s a protagonist. She goes on to elaborate on the journey of the protagonist both before and after regaining her powers.
“The protagonist, Chasi Aven, now has to learn to be something she was not. She grew from being a person who was a bystander to someone who knows the difference between right and wrong, the importance of working together and also adding a bit of fun in the mixed bowl of seriousness,” said Lauren.
She also talks about how the main character struggles to figure out what’s right and wrong and how to use her powers against the bad guys.
“Chasi Aven was confused at first as to how her powers work and adapted a lot of new powers. But as time goes on, you will see only two were used. The protagonist learns when to use it and is very confident when confronting the dark forces,” said Lauren.
The usage of real facial expressions and actions in ‘The Shadower’ comic book
Lauren explained how using real people’s facial expressions and actions can make readers feel more connected to the characters and the story.
“The facial expressions and added actions allow the reader to feel like they are part of the story. To see real people, means that the story is relatable and close to home and if I had to raise my eyebrows and frown, the reader will know how I’m feeling because it is something they can relate to,” said Lauren.
The navigation between heroism and villainy
In the final details about the book, Lauren reveals how the story explores the complexities of human nature and the gray areas between being a hero and a villain.
“Human nature depends on the person. Some like to be the best and get the best and others like to get enough and hibernate. And to be a hero, is someone who saves the day and a villain is someone who does bad things. This comic book shows how simple good is from bad and that if you do the right thing, always try to find the good in others and give people chances, you feel better than before and if you choose to do something bad by choice or hotspot hate from others, then that’s bad,” said Lauren.
The comic book team recently bid a heartfelt farewell to one of their own, Shevan Hemraj, who recently passed away. Shevan portrayed the character of Atomic Inferno, the villain in the book. His memory will forever be cherished, and his presence deeply missed.
For those interested in reading or purchasing ‘The Shadower’ comic book, hard copies are available at Project Mayhem in Hillcrest, Durban, while the digital version can be found on mmstore.co.za and Amazon.
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