First Look: Paul Louise Julie's Afrofuturist Epic 'Yohance'

Yohance is an upcoming graphic novel completely inspired by Ancient Africa -- the cultures of Bambara, Benin, Hausa, Tuareg and Zulu to be exact -- and according to its artist, Paul Louise-Julie, it's "the first of its kind." The three-part series revolves around Yohance, "a notorious thief with a shadowy past." But as the story goes on, Yohance will find himself in a centuries-old intergalactic conflict that will force him to face villains he never imagined and venture into places he's never dreamed.

We spoke with Louise-Julie about his ongoing series The Pack in an interview last week and while the comic, which follows a set of werewolves, has some fantasy elements, Louise-Julie wanted to flex his space opera muscles with Yohance. And luckily, there was a demand for it --- especially from black nerds. Yohance gained over 2,000 likes on Facebook almost immediately after the announcement of the series came about.

Check out our interview with Louise-Julie here and get a first look into the world of Yohance below with a sprawling set of concept art shared by the artist.