New Haitian Comic Book Supershero

From amidst the current tumult in Haiti comes a masterful artistic expression of both hope and entertainment. Artist Thony Loui, who has had to overcome his own challenge of being color blind, created Tanama as a badass supershero who uses her powers to battle a myriad of nefarious characters, both human and alien. In her quest for good, Tanama turns to trees for help. Trees that speak to her, trees that transform into magic portals, and trees that heal. 

The second edition in the comic book series, Tanama: Metamorphosis, was released recently at a series of events in Washington, DC. For each copy, both digital and print, US$1.00 will be donated to plant trees, restore land, and empower farming communities in Haiti with the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), and in sub-Saharan Africa with Trees for the Future. 

The education plan for Tanama starts with the comic book series itself. It is first and foremost a series that is meant to entertain. However, woven into every issue are themes about the environment, the importance of planting and protecting trees, recognizing the role of smallholder farmers, and promoting gender equality. Long term plans include classroom educational materials in which Tanama presents the same themes, with copies of the Tanama comics as inspiration in the libraries of participating schools.

And while on the topic of libraries, the U.S. Library of Congress requested copies of Tanama: Origin, the first in the series, and Tanama: Metamorphosis from the artist. This is the largest library in the world, and you may be surprised to learn they have an extensive comic book collection that includes first editions of Black Panther, Superman, Captain America, Spiderman… and now Tanama.

Tanama: Metamorphosis was made possible through the support of the SFA and the VF Foundation, with additional support from Timberland and the Raising Haiti Foundation.

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Hugh Locke, President, SFA 

Timote Georges, Executive Director, SFA

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