lance spearman 81plan to sell African photo-novel magazines outside of the continent was
not totally unfounded. Perhaps the rise of television, especially of the
related telenovela and daily soap formats, which during the late 1970s
caused a decline in photo-novel consumption every where, prevented a
thorough circulation of Spearman’s adventures beyond Africa. “A fter he
spent so many years enlivening my youth,” writes Kate Getao (2008),
“I wonder what happened to Lance Spearman. Did he retire, impover-
ished and unappreciated, into obscurity?” In a debate over memories of
school days, which took place on Naijarules.com, the leading internet
forum used by Nigerians living abroad, someone asked whether others
remembered Lance Spearman. A certain Vince replied: “Do I remember
spear you ask? Man, lance spear man should be made into a movie
for real” (February 16, 2004)! More than two years later someone writ-
ing under the pseudonym takestyle eventually came across this thread
and replied: “I actually did start writing a Lance Spearman screenplay a
few years ago, but then I changed the character into an original creation
because I wasn’t sure what the situation was with the rights to the Spear
character. I actually should look into that... because I think that movie
should be made, if not by me then by someone else (but preferably by
me)” (March 18, 2006).
POSTSCRIPTIn 2007, when I began researching the history of Lance Spearman and
the other photo-novel heroes, hardly anything could be found about them
on the internet. This has changed; during the past six years, a number of
African bloggers have posted short essays about the African pulp fiction
hero of the 1960s. Most of them draw on Stanley Meisler’s article from
1969, which is now also accessible online. Others provide personal memo-
ries similar to those presented here.^11 I have shared scans of my own copies
of African Film with a number of people in Africa, Europe, and the United
States. Some of these scans now appear on Facebook, where a certain
Kenney Kimeli from Kenya has created a Lance Spearman fan page.^12
Online since May 2012, and growing steadily, this page is a true catalyst
for triggering memories of former African Film fans’ reading experiences.