Unlikely duo creates bold new comic strip

For years, Winnipeg newspaper editor Sophie Gaulin has wanted to have a comic strip in her French weekly, La Liberté. The only problem? She has zero artistic ability.

"In school, they measured that for me. They said, 'Sophie, when it comes to art, you can draw snow. You keep the page white and you can draw that really well.'"

Finally, she met someone with incredible artistic ability who was willing to collaborate with her — Tadens Mpwene, a business student at Winnipeg's Université de Saint-Boniface.

"The first time I came here," said Mpwene, "I was afraid. I didn't know who this person was and what she likes. But she gave me the opportunity to show what I can do."

What they're creating together is a weekly comic strip on page two of La Liberté called Nelson au Manitoba. Since Gaulin and Mpwene are both immigrants to Canada — Gaulin from France and Mpwene from the Congo — it focuses on the immigrant experience.

The main character, Nelson, comes to Winnipeg from Africa to go to university and meets a range of characters, including a feminist student named Zoe, a gay roommate from France named François, and a Moroccan student named Younes. 

Be sure to listen to Ify Chiwetelu's interview with Mpwene and Gaulin. (Just click 'listen' above.) They reveal what they learned about each other while collaborating, including a huge difference of opinion on a major social issue.