Haitian Supershero Tanama Awakens From Coma

The new supershero Tanama was launched in March, 2020 with a comic book called “Tanama: Origin.” Now Haitian artist Thony Loui is at work on the second comic in the series, “Tanama: Metamorphosis,” scheduled for release online in early 2022. It is a testament to the resilience of Haiti’s extraordinary artistic lifeforce that creativity of this kind can flourish even in these darkest of times for the nation. 

At the end of Origin, Tanama awakens from a coma spent in a protective cocoon hidden deep in the forest. In this new edition, Tanama starts out as Rachelle, a young woman in the process of discovering her superpowers. She is shown above (lower right) in a finished image from Metamorphosis where she is depicted with her friends Honey Bee and Doctor Leaf. 

The Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) is supporting Loui in this endeavor because Tanama is the daughter of smallholder farmers and she advocates for tree planting and women’s empowerment. 

Metamorphosis opens with a mythical Haiti in chaos as an alien lizard race tries to blend in with the population and build their evil empire. Rachelle’s aunt comes to the rescue by retrieving two ancient Taino artifacts made of cotton that, when combined, will release the power needed to fight a giant Komodo dragon that has been awakened by the alien lizards. 

Below are three pages that show the rough sketch stage in advance of being fully rendered and colored. These pages have English text, while the final version will be published simultaneously in Creole, French and English.

Soon after her introduction last year, Tanama became a national spokesperson for Covid-19 awareness and prevention. She was invited to take on this role by the Caris Foundation, with additional support from the Raising Haiti Foundation and the Julian Grace Foundation. Tanama appeared on billboards, murals, posters and social media with information about wearing masks and social distancing.  

Later in 2020 Tanama starred in an Instagram video posted by Timberland to highlight the company’s partnership with the SFA. "Our planet needs more trees to combat climate change," says Tanama in the video, "and we need to grow more food to feed a growing world population. Here in Haiti we've come up with a way to do both at the same time and it all starts with smallholder farmers." 

As her public profile increased, Tanama was invited to make three other guest appearances. She is an animated character, courtesy of Thony Loui, in a Haitian music video honoring doctors and nurses during Covid-19, a Caribbean tree planting award ceremony and a Haitian online festival celebrating innovation.

Stay tuned for the release of Tanama: Metamorphosis early next year. And a special shout out to the VF Foundationfor its support of this latest Tanama installment.

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Hugh Locke, President, SFA

Timote Georges, Executive Director, SFA

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