Supa Strikas
| Country | Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, East Timor, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Poland, Republic of Palau, Reunion, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia |
|---|---|
| Language | English, French, Spanish, Bahasa Malaysia, Tagalog, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi and Kiswahili |
| Genre | football-themed comic |
| Published | 2001-present |
Supa Strikas is a pan-African football (soccer)-themed comic,[1] about the world’s greatest football team. Despite their enormous talent, the players must adapt in a game where being the best is only the beginning, and where the opposition is always full of surprises. The Supa Strikas comic prints 1.4 million copies per month in 16 countries. Supa Strikas appeared on Caltex and Texaco as an ad.
The comic’s global headline sponsor is Chevron (the Caltex and Texaco brands appear on Supa Strikas’ match and training apparel), with other headline sponsors including VISA, GT Bank and Henkel. Partner sponsors feature in each Supa strikas territory, including Grassroot Soccer, Metropolitan Life, Spur Steak Ranches, VISA, South African National Roads Agency, MTN, amongst others.
Sponsors exposure includes perimeter boards in game scenes, product placement / engagement (e.g.: the team often eats at Spur Steak Ranches in the South African edition) and full page advertisements.
History
The comic series was first published in South Africa in 2000. Afterwards publication spread to various sub-saharan African countries.[2] By 2002 was available in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda soon followed.[3]
Supa Strikas, an adaptation of the British comic Roy of the Rovers, receives sponsorship from several companies, including Nike, Caltex, and other South African businesses. The sponsoring firms have product names on various panels.[1][4]
The series was based on "Shakes" Mokena, a boy from Soweto area of Johannesburg.[3] With demand for the comic growing increasingly global, Supa Strikas’ core characters remained local but a more international cast grew around them, including characters of Asian, Latin American and European extraction.
Today, the comic is available across Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Reunion, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Egypt); in Latin America (Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Brazil, Honduras and Guatemala); in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland) and Asia (Malaysia and Philippines).[5]
Supa Strikas is also an animated series.[6] The 22 minute per episode show debuted in early 2009 in all Supa Strikas territories, and returns in 2010.
Main Plot
In their bid to raise the Super League trophy, the world’s greatest soccer team, Supa Strikas, must adventure through the world of soccer. Supa Strikas explore the roots of the game (from Mexico to China), meet its greatest players (past and present) and confront its most unscrupulous coaches and players!
The story centers around the team’s young striker, Shakes, whom many believe is the best striker in the world. But for Shakes and his teammates, being the best is only the beginning. The game’s global legacy and the players who dream of being crowned Super League champs mean Shakes must constantly challenge himself to remain in contention. As a result he often finds himself spearheading the team’s exploration of the unknown – be it a strange land, a strange opposition or a new soccer challenge.
Supa Strikas combines humor (often in the form of Shakes’ best mate, Spenza), action, technology and exploration in the context of a real soccer challenge. The stories are usually positive life messages that deal with self-actualization, fair play, teamwork and respect.
Characters
Shakes
The star player of supa strikas and whom many believe to be the best striker in the world. He is the leading Goal Scorer of the super league . He wears the jersey with number 10 on it . Most fans believe that he is the best striker in the world and has the record for most super league goals .
El Matador
Shakes partner in attack and the most expensive player in super league. His signature move is the back kick. He wears a jersey with number 20 on it. He wears a pair of golden coloured spectacles .
Klaus
He is the player who is well versed in passing techniques. He is very fond of detectives. He is often referred to by the name "super sub". His jersey has number 2 on it. He is often very scared
Lankey
He is used as replacement for El Matador and wears a jersey with number 23. He is tall, white and has brown hair . He and Klaus are together known as second choice midfielder .
Spenza
Shakes best friend from childhood and a supa strikas fan . He is the one who helps supa strikas solve problems . He wears a white hat and often keeps a magnifying glass .
Dancing Rasta
The Captain of Supa Strikas team and a well versed climber . He wears a jersey with number 9 on it . Most fans believe he is the greatest captain in super league. He is very motivational captain as seen in the last episode .
Twisting Tiger
A right legged midfielder who previously played for Nakama FC . He is often called by as "twisting tiger" because of his ability to twist. He is very accurate and wears a jersey with number 16 on it. He believes on the tiger lucky charm.
Cool Joe
He is known as the "king of pading" as his crosses have helped supa padas score many pads and his crossing technique is very . owns a disco club known as Cool Joe's. He wears a jersey with number 12 on it.
Squad
| No. | Name | Position | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Keeper | ||||||
| 1 | Big Bo | GK | Key Goal Keeper/Vice Captain | |||
| 12 | De Los Santos | GK | from Azul | |||
| Defender | ||||||
| 8 | North Shaw | CB | Key Defender | |||
| 55 | The Blok | RB | Key Defender | |||
| 2 | Eagle Eye | LB | Key Defender (but is not shown much in most episodes) | |||
| 6 | Alam | CB | From Fc Sultan | |||
| 3 | Rizo | CB | Occasional Defender | |||
| Midfielder | ||||||
| 9 | Dancing Rasta | CAM | Captain/Occasional Player for free/penalty kick | |||
| 16 | Twisting Tiger | RM | Key Midfielder/Occasional Defensive Midfielder | |||
| 7 | Cool Joe | LM | Key Midfielder/Key Player For Corner Kick | |||
| 15 | Liquido | CM | From Fc Hydra | |||
| 14 | Don Aldo | CM | From Fc Palmantieri | |||
| Striker | ||||||
| 9 | Dooma | ST | From Invincible United | |||
| 10 | Shakes | ST | Key Striker/Key Player for penalty/free kick | |||
| 20 | El Matador | RW | Key Winger/most expensive player in super league | |||
| 23 | Lankey | LW | Occasional Winger | |||
| 02 | Klaus | ST | Reserve striker | |||
| Skarra | ST | From fc Invincible united | ||||
Episodes
Season 1
1 "Dancing Rasta On a Ice"
Dancing Rasta accidentally injures his knee while climbing mountains with two of his teammates,while the Supa Strikas' Boss Has plans to make Big Bo the team captain.
2 "Cool Joe Looses His Groove"
Toni Vern switches Cool Joe's records to destroy his groove.
3 "The Lost Star"
Supa Strikas seek the help of the long-lost star of Palmentieri, Edwin, to counter the "Palmantieri Way". Edwin helps one of the supa strikas players and give the player a training of head shot.
4 "Compound Compromised"
Skarra seeks help from a fan named Cat to break in to Supa Strikas' Secret Training Compound.
5 "Blasts From The Past"
Sohail and El Matador travel to Qetzlqazl to find Santos' weakness against the Azul.
6 "Between Friends"
Supa Strikas face Twisting Tiger's best friend miko chen form team, FC Nakama. FC Nakama's Coach makes a video of twisting tiger all moves of Supa Strikas and give to the football coach which was Supa Strikas first match.
7 "Instinct Extinct"
Riano helps Shakes prepare against his team, Barka, because he wants to play the real him.
8 "Big Bo Lockdown"
A criminal named Knuckles passes himself as Big Bo while Big Bo seeks help from a prison gang to escape from prison.
9 "The End Of Dreams"
Sohail accidentally injures his knee after using his training program.
10 "No El' in Team"
Coach sends Shakes to take El Matador to Solanesia to teach him the way of Chinlon so that he would stop thinking about scoring goals only.
11 "Wolf In Coach's Clothing"
When Coach goes to the hospital, Vince hires a man named Krakowski to coach Supa Strikas lose against Palmentieri and Invincible United under the damp conditions.
12 "Communication Blok"
Tony Vern creates a fog to blind Supa Strikas and a communication device to keep Technicali in their tracks, but The Blok comes up with a special formation.
13 "Ball Control"
Supa Strikas and Invincible United face in the Super League Finals; Tony Vern uses a remote-control ball to help Invincible United win the Super League Final.
Season 2
14 "Led Steppin'"
Vince puts moisture-absorbing led in Cool Joe's special shoes to make Supa Strikas lose against Colossus and Orion under the damp conditions.
15 "Training Trap"
Dingaan accidentally traps Shakes and El Matador in the Secret Training Compound. Supa Strikas have to win against Invincible United by getting able to go through Invincible United's "Double Wall" without Shakes and El Matador.
16 "Super Skarra"
Skarra uses the Match Measure to find the right training program for him to match every Supa Strika. But his super training program only last 30 minutes and Shakes managed to outmatched Skarra.
17 "Spaceballs"
Supa Strikas try to find the right training to prevail against Orion's airborne play.
18 "El Sound Of Silencio"
Skarra hires three Invincible United fans to get fans banned from Supa Strikas' match against The Azul so El Matador will lose his confidence. Luckily, the 3 invincible united fans plan has foiled thanks to Spenza and a fan named Fran.
19 "Amal 3's a Crowd"
Cool Joe tries to understand how the Amal 3 play so well. But manages to find out that the reason why the team are confused to see which one's the main striker because the Amal 3 has switched jersey numbers.
20 "Bad Altitude"
Dancing Rasta takes Shakes and North Shaw to the icy mountains to improve their altitude for their match against Iron Tank's at their home stadium at the highest place.
21 "Blok/Attak"
Attak, Blok's Brother, stars playing for Technicali team. Toni Vern made Attak a collar so that Attak's teammates would understand him. He makes another one for Blok that makes Blok speak nonsense.
22 "Tough Luck"
El Matador accidentally casts Twisting Tiger's lucky charm to the ocean; FC Hydra cheat against Supa Strikas by tilting their home stadium while the team celebrates Spenza's birthday.
23 "Hypno-Test"
Toni Vern uses hypnosis to teach Technicali all moves of Supa Strikas.
24 "Big Bo, To Go"
Ninja and Bolo accidentally give Big Bo amnesia and send Big Bo to Littleton. Then Shakes trains in the secret training program of Big Bo in his house. Spenza found Big Bo.
25 "Beautiful Gaming"
Ura Giri gets rid of Coach, but Shakes seeks the help of a kid named Hack, who is a master of the Super League 3000X (a game version of the Super League.) Hack managed to formulate a counterattack against Ura Giri's Boshido Standard.
26 "Bringing Down The House"
All of The Supa Strikas' enemies band together to be the All-Stars team; Vince plans to destroy Supa Strikas' community center. But got foiled thanks to Spenza.
Season 3
27 "Hot Shots"
Coach takes the Supa Strikas to the desert to get used to the heat for their game with the Sultans
28 "Sky's the Limit"
Supa Strikas have to defeat orion. But Orion have a special technique for flying in the air but Supa Strikas go to space to discover how to defeat orion.
29 "Own Ghoul"
Big Bo's rival Awesome Dawson ( Manager of Grim FC) Plans to take Big Bo down and spoil his career.
30 '"Suit Yourself"
Toni Vern creates a suit which can make a player have great statistics but Klaus uses that suit in the Technicali game.
31 "Sleight of foot"
Vince hires a magician named Auto von Drake to show Invincible United most Honest,clean and Supa Strikas most dishonest and bad.
32 "Cool Joe loses his groove Pt 2"
Cool Joe joins the group of Multi-millionaire plutonium makers A & R from which he loses his focus in football and his match against Iron Tank.
33 "1 Super League under the sea"
Hydra has a unique method of putting pressure on defense.But coach has a master plan and North Shaw is dreaming about surfing the biggest and toughest waves.But he can't go because he is the key player of defence and midfield. Liquido taunts him about surfing and eventually North came for surfing but he sees that the stadium has sinked leaving him behind for hydra game.
34 "How to get a header in, in the super league"
In the Barka game Sohail misses a header.Coach sends Shakes to El Ariete for header training while press is busy after El Matador.Shakes does not finish the third step of header that is guts which can be a major disadvantage for Shakes in the Barka game.
35 '"Suspended Animation"
Toni Vern tricks Shakes into getting into the wrong room instead of his room similar to Shake's jersey #10. Then, Toni captures Shakes and uses Shake's "The Zone" to make his team play well and fast, but Shakes manages to waste it by disguising himself as Moofy the Technicali Mascot.
36 "Dribbler on the Roof"
Sheikh invites supa strikas to la mirage to play friendly against sultans . But the winner will be announced by votes can shakes help supa strikas in the windstorm of middle east .
37 "Cheese, Lies and Videotape"
Supa Strikas take on Nakama against their defense and Coach teaches them discipline but Shakes,Klaus and El Matador go to the underground mall without permission of coach which became an epic adventure till morning and fully tired they have to take on Nakama's defense.
38 "Shakes On a Train"
Due to Volcano Eruption Supa Strikas have to go by train. Meanwhile Shakes takes training for Knuckle ball for match against invincible united.
39 "Dooma Day"
Vince makes Dooma as captain of invincible united but actually he has lifetime ban on playing football and undergoes Personality Change . Will Shakes defeat him in the final .
Teams
These are the teams which represents each country from each continent in the Supa Strikas series. Teams which includes:
Supa Strikas: The main team which represents South Africa. The team's player roster line-up is becoming more and more international. They are currently called the "Best Team in the World". Their lead striker is Shakes and el matador while their captain is Dancing Rasta and their coach is Coach.
Invincible United: The main antagonist team represents South Africa.They are the meanest and the most dishonest team in the Super League. Their coach is Vince and their lead striker is Skarra(who was Shakes ex-best friends) .
Sa Ming United: The team representing China. They have a small appearance in any of the episodes.
Sultan: The team representing the United Arab Emirates. Their former lead striker's are the 'Amal 3.Their coach is Sheikh.
Colossus: The team representing Greece. Their coach is Nick Kickalopolous.
Orion: The team representing France. Their lead striker is Andrec Meda. The team's specialty is airborne play. Their coach, Professor Black, is crazy about space observation and exploration.
Hydra: The team which also represents France. Their stadium floats in the middle of the sea. Their coach is Coach Del Aqua. Their lead striker is Liquido.
Cosmos: The team representing the United States of America. Their coach is a cowboy hobo. Their lead players are Ninja and Bolo.
FC All Star: An all-star team consisting of all the lead players from the teams that the Supa Strikas has faced so far. Their team captain is Skarra. This team only appeared in the final episode of the series 2, Bringing Down the House.
Palmentieri: The team representing Brazil. Their lead striker is Don Aldo. Their legend player is Edwin.
Azul:The team representing Mexico.Their best player is De Los Santos who plays for the goalkeeper.
Barka FC:The team representing Spain.Their lead striker is Riano. Their Stadium is in Barcelona
Iron Tank:The team representing Germany.Their coach is Admiral Van Pushup and their lead striker is Johann Uber
Nakama FC:The team representing Japan.Their coach is Ura Giri. Their lead is Miko Chen.
FC Technicali:The team representing Los Angeles. Their coach is Toni Vern. Their lead striker is Chuck T Chipperson and John J. Johnson Jr. is their lead modfielder.the mostly uses technology in the game and one of the second cheater in super league.
See also
- South African Comics
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pilcher, Tim and Brad Brooks. (Foreword: Dave Gibbons). The Essential Guide to World Comics. Collins and Brown. 2005. 292-293.
- ↑ "Supa Strikas to Hit Local Market." Africa-Asia Intelligence Wire/Africa News. Saturday 7 December 2002.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Supa Strikas." Texaco. Accessed October 20, 2008.
- ↑ Pilcher, Tim and Brad Brooks. (Foreword: Dave Gibbons). The Essential Guide to World Comics. Collins and Brown. 2005. 295.
- ↑ "Komik melangkau sempadan" (in Malay). Kosmo!. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ↑ "Animated Series." Supa Strikas. Accessed October 20, 2008.
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