Aya: Claws Come Out by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie review – Ivory Coast’s comic soap opera | Comics and graphic novels
The Aya story began two decades ago, when Marguerite Abouet, a Parisian legal assistant with roots in Ivory Coast, got together with Clément Oubrerie, an animator and children’s book illustrator, to produce a graphic novel inspired by her African childhood. That book eventually became a bestselling series, one loved and acclaimed for its vivid portrayal of life in Ivory Coast in the 1970s, a period during which the country experienced an economic boom. Since translated into 15 languages, it made both Abouet and her…