With illustration and animation, a locally less recognised venture, Mika Twizerimana Hirwa, 23, is an emerging illustrator, who has ventured into publishing as a comic book author.

The self-taught illustrator dabbled in artwork from primary school after he moved to Uganda in 2009. Returning to Rwanda, he studied at St Bernadette de Kamonyi secondary, and high school at Ecole Technique de Kabgayi, majoring in motor vehicle mechanics but didn't pursue the career.

Inspired by Disney movies, he tried digital artwork using Photoshop software, “I took lessons from online tutorials across YouTube,” he said. But from photography, graduated to mastering illustrations.

Hirwa embarked into digital art by experimenting  on several private projects initially using a laptop and PC mouse for drawing, since a Digital Tablet for this domain was unaff ordable, until he acquired a Wacom Tablet from a friend.

Superheroes

When he joined Imagine We Rwanda, a local publication house, he re-ignited his skill as an illustrator to the writers. In 2017, he released first comic book titled Isimbi the Inventor. Isimbi is inspired through daily lives of Rwandan society.

Working with Imagine We Rwanda,boosted his writing and storytelling skill and has now worked on several books, like Izuba by Isaac Nkusi and Atete Rugege on New Face, New Voices; That Child is Me by Clever Irakoze, Ysoldie and Her Magical Shoes by Dominique Alonga.

Kami was his breakthrough comic book. A 2019 superhero story of a 13-year-old orphan in a village who embarks on a quest to find his parents and in the process discovered he had super strength. Its firrst issue The Power of Ancestors endeared him to the public.

Freely accessible

Hirwa invested RWF1.5 million into publication the book’s first edition, “I printed 100 copies, which I gave out for free across my website,” he explains. Hirwa recently published the second issue titled An Old Friend, which is also feely accessible on his website.

He takes the reader into graphical fantasy of a Rwandan superhero, while he brings to life ancient Rwandan customs like dressing, architecture, hairstyles and culture. Making his works known through social media, he has been publishing it in bits — serialisation-style — where he releases a chapter each month.