Comic Con Cape Town 2026 ran from 30 April to 3 May at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and while international guests like Evanna Lynch from Harry Potter and Callum Kerr from One Piece drew plenty of attention, some of the most compelling work on display came from right here in the city.
Ten emerging Cape Town artists were given their own booths in Artist Alley as part of the Emerging Artist exhibition, backed by the City’s Community, Arts and Culture Development Department. For most of them, it was the largest audience they had ever presented their work to.
Getting there took more than just talent. Before the doors opened, all ten artists completed a structured training programme covering everything from how to present their work to how to talk to buyers and build a brand. Facilitators Clyde Beech and Robin Moodley worked with them individually, reviewing their artwork and giving direct, practical feedback. The programme also included mentorship sessions and hands-on preparation to help them turn their creative practice into something commercially viable.
The artists were originally identified through three Mural Meet Up sessions held in public spaces around Cape Town, designed to pull in talent from across different disciplines and communities.
The cohort that came through reflected just how broad Cape Town’s creative scene really is.
The ten Emerging Artists who participated were:
Malik Fredericks — Woodstock
Malik Fredericks describes himself as a storyteller who works through humour, bold colour, and simple shapes. His booth featured paintings, illustration prints, stickers, fridge magnets, and coasters — work that is immediately accessible and clearly designed with an audience in mind.
Darnéy Marks — Mitchells Plain
Born and raised in the Cape Flats, Darnéy Marks brought a sharp creative vision shaped by anime, cyberpunk aesthetics, and dystopian worlds. Her background spans film, live performance, and VFX studies, and her work focuses on original narratives that centre on underrepresented perspectives. Her long-term goal is to establish her own animation studio and production house.
Gabriela Valerio — Brooklyn
Known online as yougavemejoy, Gabriela Valerio comes from a family of artists and is working towards becoming the first to pursue it professionally full-time. At Comic Con, she previewed an original comic she both wrote and illustrated — a project rooted in hip hop, jazz, R&B, and a lifelong love of cartoons and anime.
Kyle Murphy — Athlone
Going by the name Know1, Kyle Murphy is a self-taught graffiti and mural artist whose work uses bold imagery to raise social issues and document the resilience of Cape Town’s communities. His practice draws from hip hop culture and the city’s streets and landscapes, using public art as a means of genuine connection.
Logan Nathan — Kuils River
Logan Nathan specialises in anime, manga, and semi-realistic illustration, producing both fan art and original characters. At Comic Con, he sold prints in multiple sizes alongside T-shirts, hoodies, and colouring-on clothing items that came with fabric markers — a creative and interactive product range.
Sachin Parbhoo — Plumstead
Working under the name Skaybees Ink, Sachin Parbhoo creates stylised pen ink drawings influenced by psychedelic themes and stoner culture. His booth offered hoodies, T-shirts, prints, and stickers featuring both original pieces and fan art.
Shadley Davids — Kensington
A self-taught freelance digital artist, Shadley Davids works across character design, creature art, 3D modelling, animation, and game development. His influences include fantasy and science fiction worlds such as Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, and Dungeons and Dragons, and his work stretches from whimsical to superhero territory.
Simbarashe Machona — Blackheath
Simbarashe Machona works in pencil and paint, specialising in realistic portraits and bold character art drawn from comics, anime, and everyday life. He offered prints, original artwork, and stickers at his booth, and took live commissions for custom portraits and character illustrations throughout the event.
Thurston Jacobs — Kraaifontein
Thurston Jacobs, also known as RA and founder of ABOXAN ARTS, works across illustration, graffiti, traditional art, and visual storytelling. His work is rooted in African stories, cultures, and Afro-futuristic themes, blending imagined characters and landscapes with lived experience.
Bhongoletu Maholwana — Gugulethu
Bhongoletu Maholwana represented Gugulethu as part of this year’s diverse and geographically spread cohort, bringing creative work from one of Cape Town’s most culturally rich communities to one of the city’s biggest pop culture stages.
Comic Con Cape Town is the city’s largest pop culture and gaming festival, bringing together fans of comics, film, television, anime, and esports under one roof. This year’s edition proved that it is also becoming a meaningful platform for local creative careers.
Author: Editorial Team
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