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Mandela 'to outstrip Superman'
07/07/2005 18:16 - (SA)
Johannesburg - South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela is to become a comic strip hero in a new project aimed at encouraging young people to read, said his charity foundation on Thursday.
"We are harnessing comics to get across the message and the values of Mr Mandela," said John Samuel, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
One million copies of each of the seven comic strips depicting Mandela's life will be distributed in newspapers and schools across South Africa as part of events celebrating the former president's 87th birthday on July 18.
Samuel said: "Comics are an extremely useful way of bringing young people into reading.
"Comics, in fact, are a powerful vehicle for introducing literature, various aspects of reading to young people.
"And this is our objective here."
Samuel dismissed a suggestion that the world's most revered statesman should not be reduced to a comic figure.
Perils of cheapening the Mandela name
"It would take a lot more than comics to demean his stature," said Samuel. "That's the least of our problems."
Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid before becoming president in 1994, won a court order in May to stop a former confidante from selling fake artwork bearing his name.
The scandal about the fake Mandela art has highlighted the perils of cheapening the Mandela name through too many money-raising ventures.
Mandela is to spend his 87th birthday with his wife, Graça Machel, the wife of former Mozambican president Samora Machel, his three daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, at his home in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu.
Other than the comic strips, the Nobel peace prize laureate also will be attending a rugby match in his honor on July 23 and a lecture by fellow prize winner Wangari Maathai from Kenya on July 19.
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