Investigation of Comic Book Art and Graphic Storytelling in Contemporary Nigerian Popular Culture

Nigerian comic book art and graphic storytelling have undergone a significant revival in the digital era, with independent creators addressing local social narratives through a medium historically dominated by imported content, and documenting this emergent creative field provides important insight into contemporary Nigerian visual culture. This study investigated comic book art and graphic storytelling practice in contemporary Nigeria, focusing on creators based in Lagos and Port Harcourt, South West and South South Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was employed, with online and in-person questionnaires administered to 35 active comic book creators, supplemented by close visual analysis of 20 published or digitally distributed Nigerian comic book works. The survey assessed genre preferences, distribution channels, thematic content, creative tools, and professional challenges. Visual analysis examined drawing style, character design, narrative structure, and cultural specificity. Results showed that action-adventure (45.7 percent), socio-political satire (34.3 percent), and Afrofuturist speculative content (25.7 percent) were the dominant genres. Digital self-publishing through social media and PDF distribution dominated distribution at 77.1 percent. Cultural specificity (local language code-switching in dialogue, Nigerian setting specificity) was identified as a key differentiating strategy by 68.6 percent of creators. Commercial sustainability was rated as difficult by 82.9 percent of respondents. The study recommends industry association formation, government arts council support, and exhibition platforms for Nigerian sequential art at major creative hubs.

Keywords: comic book art, graphic storytelling, Nigerian popular culture, sequential art, Lagos