The author of Muntu warriors
I am Junior Macdonald Beckley, born and raised in Grenoble, France, with origins in Chad and Sierra Leone. Former 2D and 3D character designer and creator of Muntu Warriors. If I had to give one word to sum up my career, it would be “failure”. Because I have failed a lot in my life. And I’ve had doors slammed in my face many times. But I didn’t give up, and continued to believe in myself and my projects.
But if you want to know more, here is my story…
Basketball career
In the beginning, I wanted to become a professional basketball player. I left my parents’ house at 14 to pursue my basketball career. My dream was to play in the NBA. I wanted to play for my favorite team at the time: The San Antonio Spurs. And become a pivot like Tim Duncan.
I was a high level basketball athlete at INSEP where I received my first big setback in my face: I was rejected because I wasn’t good enough. What’s more, I was dropped from the French team list several times, the last one being before I even passed the selection tests.
Then, I played with SLUC Nancy Basket, with whom I was champion of France cadet (U18) two years in a row, and winner of a French cup in Bercy. But at one point, I received my second big setback in my face, because they also made me understand that I was not good enough to continue with them, and I found myself at a moment of my career, having to choose between two of my passions: basketball and drawing, because my other dream has always been to create a universe and to make movies, series and games.
Art school career
My first years of art school were spent in Lyon, where I failed and failed again. I went to the “Écoles de Condé” and failed miserably after one year. My third big setback in the face. My teachers even made me understand that I had no future as an artist. This failure was very hard for me because I sacrificed my basketball career for it. And I constantly felt that I had made a colossal mistake.
But I didn’t give up and I went to a second school behind this one called Emile Cohl, which specialized in comics, 2D animation and academic arts. This one was much better, I lasted 2 years before being rejected in the 3rd year. Because I was last in my class. 4th big setback in the face.
After 4 years of art school, I was back to square one. But I refused to give up and went to another school in Paris called New3dge, where I finally got my breakthrough and my degree. I was able to learn all the basics needed to work in the video game industry, especially Character Art which is my specialty. Sometimes I was also able to teach other students some artistic tricks I learned, either from the school or from myself.
Professional career
My first experience in the video game industry was in 2017 after finishing my studies, where I worked at Ninpô Games in Paris. With them, I worked on the game Vanishing Stars.
Soon after, I worked as a 2D and 3D Character Graphic Designer at Ubisoft Paris, on the Just Dance franchise.
And on the side, I was doing some commissions here and there for some clients. At the end of my contract with Ubisoft I could have used this Momentum to try to find another job in the industry. But at that moment I had the opportunity to create my own project. What I always wanted to do.
So I started my own business right away to create the project you are visiting right now…
The creation of Muntu Warriors
Muntu Warriors is a project I had the idea for in 2016, while studying at New3dge. But which I put aside for a while to work in video games. It wasn’t until 2019 that I decided I was going to get serious about the project.
Before launching the project, I did a market survey in Paris to know which of my ideas they would like to see the most. To my great surprise, the majority, all ethnic groups included, wanted to see African superheroes.
And on a personal note, as much as I love cartoons, manga and games, I couldn’t find much in the way of fiction that I could really relate to or identify with my culture as a black person. There are tons of them for sure. But to find them you have to do a lot of research. And most of them have not been as successful as they should have been.
The same goes for my own background! It’s frustrating to say that the first things I learned about black history were slavery, colonization, poverty and racism. But Africa is worth much more than that. We have had great kings, great kingdoms, mythologies, deities, historical figures, great moments in history. And that are still not covered in fiction today. That’s why through Muntu Warriors to show you a better vision of Africa and black culture.
About Muntu warriors
The battle between good and evil takes place in Muntu...
The earth is not alone in the universe. It is surrounded by multiple worlds that we do not know. One of them is called Muntu. Whose source of power is a sacred tree, considered the origin of all life and the cradle of humanity: the Orisun.
From this tree were born powerful spirits with a strange appearance: that of African masks. They are called Orishas.
Humans and tribes live in harmony around the Orishas. Worshipping some and fearing others. In exchange, the Orishas offered humans the ultimate power: to merge with them. Thus, anyone who proves worthy will be able to merge with an Orisha and benefit from its powers.
These individuals with supernatural abilities are called Muntu Warriors.
However, the eternal struggle between good and evil is at the heart of every story. And this time, the evil took the form of an Orisha… A demon named Eshu. Who tried to betray his people and conquer the world. Causing centuries of war between Muntu Warriors in more battles than history can remember.
Fortunately, Eshu was defeated by the Orisha Aganju. And his legendary champion known as the hero of a thousand suns. As punishment, Eshu was locked in a parallel dimension between two worlds. Finally, peace was restored. But the forces of evil are tenacious. For after three long decades, the cage of the Orisha of chaos has been broken. Eshu is back…
Who is responsible for such a misfortune? It was the work of a science teacher from a world outside Muntu, unaware of the danger he was about to unleash. He was even more unaware that his journey would lead him against his will to become the greatest hero the world has ever known…
The goal of Muntu Warriors
The goal of Muntu Warriors is to use Black and African culture from all over the world, as well as their core values and traditions, and show them through comic books, entertainment and fiction.
The focus of Muntu warriors
Muntu Warriors focuses its attention on these 6 core values and traditions of African and Black culture.
Leadership, business and entrepreneurship
Family
Kingdoms and deities
Treasures and wealth
Beauty and fashion
Creatures, legends and myths
In the Muntu Warriors comic books
The comic books of Muntu Warriors are divided into two series.
Main story
Comic book series around the story of the main protagonist: Asanda Zuma, a south african science teacher who hates fiction, and his adventure where he will become against his will a superhero in order to save a world he has himself put in danger.
Origin stories
Individual comic books about the stories of each hero of Muntu Warriors, in which we will discover their powers and objectives. Each story has somehow a link to the main story.
Muntu warriors in numbers
Here are some cool numbers about the impact of Muntu Warriors so far
On the BSP comics app
On Instagram
Frequently asked questions
It is for everyone who wants to discover a new version of african culture through entertainment, especially those who love superheroes, comics, videogames, movies and anime.
It is available in English and French for now. So it can reach a larger audience. Maybe in the future it will be translated into more languages.
Because I want to use my culture and traditions as a black man to show you a new and original vision of the myths and stories of my african heritage. We have a ton of amazing stuff in our culture who deserve to be known all around the world.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I DO NOT DO ART COMMISSIONS! I love your support and I’m honored that you thought about me working on your project, but Muntu Warriors takes a lot of time to create. I can’t, and don’t want to allow myself to work on other projects, unless it’s directly connected with Muntu Warriors. I have clients and fans who support me and invest in me to make Muntu Warriors, and it would be a disgrace if I take their support to work on something else.
Muntu is a term taken from bantu culture. It means human or mankind. In my universe, muntu is the name of a parallel world who takes his life force from a great tree named the Orisun, also referred to as “the cradle of mankind”. Spirits named Orishas are born from this tree. And some humans have the ability to fuse with them: A person who fused with an Orisha is called a Muntu Warrior.
Officially, I’d like to say it is readable starting at 10 or 12 years old. Because Muntu Warriors contain violence, blood and a little bit of swear words. Even if these are not excessive and it can be readapted for a younger audience. But think of it like this: if someone can read Naruto, One Piece, or DBZ, or if he can watch Marvel or DC comic books and movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America or Batman, he can definitely read Muntu Warriors.
You can find the comic books on the Black Sands Entertainment shop and on Amazon.
You can also find webcomics on my membership platform Muntu Warriors Prime. And on my Patreon: BeckleyArt
And if you want to read for free, download the BSP Comics App on your smartphone. The App BSP Comics is on the Apple Store and the Google Play store and it’s absolutely free.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!! Muntu Warriors has the potential to be in so many platforms and variations, from movies to anime, music, gastronomy, even crypto-currency. As the project progresses, I will explore other ways to diffuse the project.
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