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astronato

06-18-2006, 12:06 PM

I have a friend who grew up in Barbados who told me of a comic from his childhood called Fearless Fang. He described Fang as sort of a black Tarzan type, who wore a loin cloth. His era was the 60's.

The only other detail he could remember was that Fearless Fang was a star of movies from Uganda or Nigeria.

In searching the net I found one small mention of Fearless Fang and that his book was referred to as a "photo-comic".

Does anyone have any recollections of this character? Can you point me in the right direction to get some information?

thanks

astronato

07-13-2006, 04:03 PM

shameless bump.

C'mon, I know there is a comic book historian/expert out there somewhere who knows :)

Sir Tim Drake

07-13-2006, 07:56 PM

I don't know anything about comics from Barbados, Uganda or Nigeria. You might check out Pilcher and Brooks's Essential Guide to World Comics, which is available at major chain bookstores, and see whether it mentions this character. This book isn't exhaustive, but it's a good reference for comics from smaller national industries.

Rob Allen

07-14-2006, 01:10 PM

You might also see if there's a Yahoo group devoted to comics from any of those areas.

Does www.comics.org have anything on Fang? Or www.bailsprojects.com ?

Red Oak Kid

07-15-2006, 11:01 AM

I have a friend who grew up in Barbados who told me of a comic from his childhood called Fearless Fang. He described Fang as sort of a black Tarzan type, who wore a loin cloth. His era was the 60's.

In searching the net I found one small mention of Fearless Fang and that his book was referred to as a "photo-comic".

Thanks

Can you find out from your friend if it was drawn or was it made up of photos?

Dang! There's a name for those photo comics that are big in Europe and South America, but my brain is not working so good anymore.

Sir Tim Drake

07-15-2006, 12:18 PM

Can you find out from your friend if it was drawn or was it made up of photos?

Dang! There's a name for those photo comics that are big in Europe and South America, but my brain is not working so good anymore.

Fumetti? ...

Simon Garth

07-16-2006, 04:04 AM

Never heard of him, but some quick googling turned up a Nigerian bulletin board that mentions something called Drum magazine (which sounds like it was a fumetti thing), and also a TV series(?) called Lance Spearman that Fearless Fang appeared in.

You could try http://www.naijarules.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1028, but it doesn't look active any more

astronato

07-20-2006, 03:58 PM

thanks folks!

orfeo

11-05-2006, 08:40 PM

rick

11-05-2006, 09:04 PM

yeah, the Fearless Fang comics were pretty big in Africa during the 1960s and 70s. as you've noted, they were more like fumetti... photo comics (or "look books"). that genre as a whole was quite popular on the continent back then. some other popular titles included The Spear (a sort of James Bond/T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents type of character) and The Stranger (masked western hero).

there were also a number of romance photo comics like "Sadness & Joy".

First off, hello and welcome to the board.

Secondly, I seem to have this vague memory of seeing one of these books at some point back in the 80's. The book I saw was in French had color covers and black and white interiors and it was a funetti book about a black Tarzan.

I'm betting it's the same book.

Sir Tim Drake

11-05-2006, 10:09 PM

orfeo

11-15-2006, 06:11 PM

First off, hello and welcome to the board.

Secondly, I seem to have this vague memory of seeing one of these books at some point back in the 80's. The book I saw was in French had color covers and black and white interiors and it was a funetti book about a black Tarzan.

I'm betting it's the same book.

yep... that would be it! (i'm trying to track them down myself!)

and thanks for the welcome, guys!

klule2k

07-18-2007, 05:35 AM

Fearless fang was a photo comic in the late 60s early 70s, produced in nairobi kenya.
same company produced another comic The Spear featuring a criminal fighter Lance Spearman
Fearless fang was dressed in an animal skin and he live in the jungle. he was friends with all the animals in the jungle and he used to spend his time helpin peoaple or animals

Xero

07-18-2007, 11:06 AM

More info here.

http://www.naijarules.com/vb/personal-journals-books-school-daze/1028-atoka-photo-comics.html

lol

08-30-2007, 02:22 PM

I lived in Mombasa, Kenya, in the 1960's and the Fearless Fang photo comic was hugely popular. He was a black superhero based on Tarzan with the unforgettable catchphrase 'Nevertheless, OK'.

muhebwe

09-03-2007, 08:47 PM

I am not a big comic fan, but just today I wound up thinking about Lance Spearman and upon googling him wound up here. I have vague recollections of the Lance Spearman comic book when I was a kid in Uganda. My feeble memory conjures up a "Lawrence Fishburne look alike" busting criminals in a debonair James Bond fashion. I seem to recall a villain with the name Zorro with a hook for a hand and an eye patch. It was very likely a "Drum" publication. Drum also published a magazine by the same name that was widely circulated and read in East Africa and Southern Africa, I think. All I can recall about Fearless Fang is the friendship with animals.

prproulx

02-07-2008, 10:14 AM

I lived in Ghana as a kid and loved the Lance Spearman comics. They were photographs with words typed in! His nemesis was Rabon Zolo or something like that.
Lance drove an early model Corvette Stingray which was actually a picture of a dinky-toy!:D

iceknight

06-09-2009, 01:33 AM

Hey there... I remember Fearless Fang... and Spear... and most of the others mentioned on this thread. I used to collect them... but when we left Africa, I only had a specific weight allowance, and was forced to leave most of my belongings behind! %$#%$ (swear!) - There was no TV in Tanzania (at the time, I don't know if they have TV now) ... so one immersed myself in comics and "photoplay" (which is what I call photonovels / photo-roman / fumetti, etc... and even made a vampire one as a school project (I was the vampire)...
Sadly it had many setbacks... one was that after taking 72 black & white pictures with my Olympus Pen camera... the film was somewhat resistant, and I spun it back with force... but must have torn through the holes... and opened it, drawing out the undeveloped film saying: "HEY! There are no pictures on here!!!" (haha... I learnt a BIG lesson in photography that day... and had to take it ALL again!!! %$#%$# - Then the head teacher, who loved the idea (as a teaching aid) "borrowed" the whole project... and I never saw it again! &%$&#% grrrrr!
I have been kicking myself ever since to not have boxed the "Photoplay" magazines up, and sent them to Iceland by POST! - AND given the teacher a duplicate set, not all my hard work originals. *sigh*

... but yes, I am also interested in obtaining someone's collection of these photo-comics... or even if someone knows what happened to MY collection (I found this thread through google, so someone who owns a collection MUST see this one day!)

Spear, Fearless Fang, Drum, Joy, I had some of each... Sold at the news stand outside the New Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, for example. - It stands to reason SOMEONE, somewhere in Africa MUST have a whole BUNCH of these sitting around somewhere gathering dust... and be interested in selling us a few, so we can enjoy the memory.

Yours,
Thor

ps. The comic itself, that Spear was in was called "FILM" (in Tanzania and Kenya, anyway). - Sadly it is such a generic name that it is hard to find anything concerning the comic by that name.
The Fearless Fang photo-comics were called "BOOM".

WOOHOOO!!! - Just found a mention of the company that made them!
http://www.chimurengalibrary.co.za/periodicals.php?id=26

Satish Chandarana

06-18-2009, 05:18 PM

The comics were popular in Kisumu, Kenya. Lance Spearman was in the comics, Film, and Fearless Fang was in, Boom.
The last time I saw the comics was in 1968.

dan bailey

10-14-2010, 07:51 AM

'Nevertheless, OK'.

Note to self: Incorporate this into my everyday conversation ASAP.

The Confessor

10-14-2010, 09:54 AM

Note to self: Incorporate this into my everyday conversation ASAP.

Myself, I've just read some Herbie Popnecker and made a resolution to drop the phrase "You want I should bop you with this here lollipop?" into conversation more regularly...especially if the conversation starts to get heated. :biggrin:

pawapoint

02-23-2011, 10:47 AM

Yes I read the photo novel of fearless fang as a young man growing up in the 70s in Nigeria. The Photo novel made an interesting read as we were always looking forward to it. I used to have copies of some of the editions but lost them over the years.If needed I believe that I can try to find a way to get many episodes to the interested persons, but am not making a 100% promise but i know it is very possible to get some episodes.

I have a friend who grew up in Barbados who told me of a comic from his childhood called Fearless Fang. He described Fang as sort of a black Tarzan type, who wore a loin cloth. His era was the 60's.

The only other detail he could remember was that Fearless Fang was a star of movies from Uganda or Nigeria.

In searching the net I found one small mention of Fearless Fang and that his book was referred to as a "photo-comic".

Does anyone have any recollections of this character? Can you point me in the right direction to get some information?

thanks