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1970 Nigerian Bazooka Joe comic

Artist: Samm Schwartz (attributed) (All)

2 Comments - 344 Views - 0 Like

1970 Nigerian Bazooka Joe comic Comic Art

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John Severin, "Our Fighting Forces" #138, p 10. August 1972

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Artwork Details

Title:	1970 Nigerian Bazooka Joe comic
Artist:	Samm Schwartz (attributed) (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	344
Likes on CAF:	0 1
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	3/16/2022
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This is one of the strangest pieces of orginal comic art that I have, though how much of that strangeness is due to cultural mis-reading, I can't say -- at any rate I find it fascinating. Did Nigerian bazooka bubble gum often contain such tragically ironic "gags," or did this read as light-hearted fun to its intended audience? The use of language seems slightly awkward, but in a way that comes off as raw and emotionally ambiguous to me ("I sometimes feel that someone wants to hold me") -- or is that just vernacular Nigerian English that would have seemed perfectly ordinary in its market? (Also, note that the title of the strip is "Bazooka Joe and his Group," while in the American version the word is "gang")

The few other examples of Nigerian Bazooka Joe strips that I've managed to find online seem very much in keeping with the sensibilities of the American version (though the quoted proverbs are pretty serious):

https://lintel.typepad.com/plentyofnothing/2020/11/nigerian-bazooka-joe.html
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/186899453257579286/
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=937038369814130&set=pcb.1591424247612014

In all probability, it's just the cultural distance that gives this strip its quality of sad psychological/social commentary, but I prefer to imagine that the anonymous Nigerian writer had been reading Dostoevsky or Camus, and was able to express a heavy, alienated mood in their tiny, sugar-dusted gag.

(Apparently the book "Bazooka Joe and his Gang" by Jeff Shepherd attributes the art on Nigerian Bazooka Joe strips to Archie artist Samm Schwartz, so he may have drawn this one. I'm just guessing that the writer was Nigerian.)

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About the Owner

	Dan Mazur
Joined:	November 2020
Last Login:	September 2025
Website:	http://www.danmazurcomics.com/
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

2 - Posted on 3/16/2022

Hello My name is Prince Da Collector,

I am contacting you via Nigerian means. I wish to transport 1970 pieces of Joe Bazooka and Sean Gordon Murphy comic artwork and 60000000 Nigerian Naira to you bank account to hide this from international sanctions.

Once you have recieved the shipment and moneys, you will let the money accrue interest while you get to keep the Bazooka Joe comics as profits. After the sanctions are over, send the moneys and Sean Gordon Murphys back to us via Western Union and DHL.

To recieve the shipment and moneys, please provide your contact information and your bank account number.

Many Thank,

Prince Da Collector

Dan Mazur
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 3/18/2022

Marcus Wai wrote:

Hello My name is Prince Da Collector,

I am contacting you via Nigerian means. I wish to transport 1970�pieces�of Joe�Bazooka and Sean Gordon Murphy comic artwork�and 60000000 Nigerian Naira�to you bank account to hide this from international sanctions.

Once you have recieved the shipment and moneys, you will let the money accrue interest�while you get to�keep the Bazooka Joe comics�as�profits.� After the sanctions are over,�send�the moneys and Sean Gordon Murphys back to us via Western Union and DHL.

To recieve the shipment and moneys, please provide your contact information and your bank account number.

Many Thank,

Prince Da Collector

I would totally fall for that scam!

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