Juni Ba, is a comic book artist, illustrator, writer and character designer from Senegal. He is currently based in Montpellier, France. The bio on his website reads, “Juni was born in Senegal. After years between different cultures, decided to channel his influences in his passion for illustration. He is open to all projects, especially the strangest ones.”

A cursory look at Juni Ba’s art and you can immediately understand the last part of his bio, “especially the strangest ones.” Juni’s art is often compared to Mike Mignola, the creator of Hell Boy and it’s not difficult to see why. His uninhibited, free-flowing lines, the calm, pastel nature of his colours and the bizarre and sometimes macabre style of his art are truly unique. Unlike Mike Mignola, Juni Ba’s art takes inspiration from his home city, Dakar and is a refreshing take on African art.

Juni Ba is a prolific artist and comic creator with about 4 titles to his name so far. Namely, The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber (together with Hass Otsmane-Elhaou ), Ndaw, Kayin and Abeni (together with Keenan Kornegay) and Monkey Meat.

In May of 2019, he was one of the artists selected to make variant covers of Excellence by Image Comics. Juni Ba along with other artists was commissioned to celebrate the “Excellence” of creators of colour with a number of variant covers in a series called Visions of Excellence.

Recently, Juni Ba, in partnership with Kugali launched an African prompt list, Kugalinktober, separate from the official #Inktober list. This prompt was made in response to a request by two Kenyan artists,  Odile Art and Nemo. 

Juni Ba is a regular contributor to the Kugali Anthology with his comics Kayin and Abeni and Monkey Meat Island, He has also worked extensively on the brand identity of Kugali, having handled several illustration and design work for Kugali.  

Juni’s expressive and fluid art is one that sets him apart from his peers, essentially making him a maverick, the real definition of deviant art.

Enjoy.

Bonus Juni Ba Art

See more of Juni Ba’s work on Instagram, GumRoad, Tumblr, ArtStation, his website and Facebook.

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Bahari Blue is Squid Mag’s Kadi Yao Tay and Kofi Sydney Asare’s and illustrator Bolaji “Art Nerd X” Olaloye’s scrapbook of favourite African (including the diaspora sometimes) artists they love, are inspired by and believe the whole world needs to know about.

So far we’ve featured Alfred Achiampong, Venus Bambisa, Malcolm Wopé, Simangaliso Sibaya, Kofi Ofosu, Ifesinachi Orjiekwe, Kudzai Ngundu, Salim Busuru and Rodney Tawanda Ngundu.