Two Londoners aspire to portray real life issues faced by adults and young people alike, such as gang culture, racism and anti social behavior in south London for the time using comics based in a fictional sci-fi type universe to promote positive messages.
How do you encourage young people to aspire to be the best they can be?
What would the streets of London be like in the future?
Londoners Anthony Aina and Steven Okeya aspire to answer these questions in their upcoming range of comic books series. Creators of the Start-up Penificent, Steven and Anthony have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to facilitate the development of their two pilot comic book issues. The company have set out to raise £6000 for the development costs and self-publishing costs for the 1st issues of The Peace of War and The Peace of War: A dream to live. The comic books are heavily influenced by London culture they grew up in but have been warped by a sci-fi universe. Penificent aims to address issues faced by young people and to provide a positive influence through comics and an assortment of digital media.
“Imagine comics that spread real issues young people face all across London and even around the world, but showered in sci-fi fairy dust. Thus creating a very unique experience” – Penificent
Penificent wants to connect with young people, they use characters of different ethnic backgrounds but not solely limited to minorities. They are passionate about tackling racism and discrimination but in a fresh new way. Inspiration for their stories and goals come from events in real life ranging from a corner estate in south London to the broader issues involving wars and famine plaguing the world of the today. They aspire to tackle gang culture through their media by trying to create positive role models of out the people that connect with their characters.
Penificent want to integrate comics into education. There comics contain thought provoking questions at the end of each issue aimed at an individual read or to be discussed in a classroom full of children. Questions such as “What do you think you should do if someone was to tempt you to do something bad like Zack was?” Or “What would you have done in Ryoko’s shoes, if the same. Why?”
Steven and Anthony believe that these are the types of situations young people face and questions they ask themselves without even knowing, because they themselves have asked these questions. They also eventually want to open Penificent workshops for young people to come and explore their creativity, they believe it is an amazing way for kids to express themselves, create stories and characters while having fun at the same time.
The Stories
The Peace of War portrays the different ways people experience war. War has become the norm and people see it as the new peace. The story is set in the 2100s a war torn planet Earth ravaged by the machines infected with human emotion. It follows a young man named Zeo who is a descendant of an extinct race who were slaughtered by their biggest enemies, and follows the story of Robowoman, a machine who was infected with extreme emotion and compassion.
The Peace of War: A Dream to Live, is based on events from The Peace of War story, it is a more kid friendly aimed for 7-13 year olds. This story starts from the year 2130 which takes a more detailed look into Zeo’s (The Peace of War main character) time. The story digs deeper in the reality of the world they live in and what humans will really went through under the control of an anti-human dictator.
So do you want to join the ride, helping to start something inspired, positive and new? Or maybe you just want to find out what sci-fi fairy dust is.
Check out Penificent on Kickstarter.com here and help inspire.
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com
Email(s): Goldokeya@gmail.com, Anthonyaina14@yahoo.co.uk
