Supa Strikas

Supa Strikas is a pan-African football (soccer)-themed comic, 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. By 2002 was available in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda soon followed.

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.

The series was based on "Shakes" Mokena, a boy from Soweto area of Johannesburg. 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).

Supa Strikas is also an animated series. 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.

Main Characters
Shakes,El Metador,Twisting Tiger, Cool Joe, Dancing Rasta, The Blog, North Shaw

Episodes
1 	"Dancing Rasta On a Ice" Dancing Rasta accidentally injures his knee while climbing mountains with two of his football players,while the Boss of Supa Strikas plan 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 help one of supa strikas player and give the player a trainig of head shot.

4 	"Compound Compromised" Skarra uses a fan named Cat to break in to Supa Strikas' Secret Training Compound.

5 	"Blasts From The Past" Shakes and El Matador travel to Qetzlqazl to find Santos' weakness against the Azul.

6 	"Between Friends" Supa Strikas face Twisting Tiger's her best friend mico chan form team, FC Nakama. FC Nakama coach make a vidio of twisting tiger all moves of Supa Strikas and give to a foot ball 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" Shakes 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.

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.

17 	"Spaceballs" Supa Strikas try to find the right training to prevail against Orion.

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.

19 	"Amal 3's a Crowd" Cool Joe tries to understand how the Amal 3 play so well.

20 	"Bad Altitude" Dancing Rasta takes Shakes and North Shaw to the icy mountains to improve their altitude for their match against Iron Tank.

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 train in the secret training program of Big Bo in his house. But 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.)

26 	"Bringing Down The House" All of Supa Strikas' enemies band together to be the All-Stars team; Vince plans to destroy Supa Strikas' community center at 4

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, although 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 while their captain is Dancing Rasta and their coach is Coach. Invincible United: The main antagonist team represents .They are the meanest and the most dishonest team in the Super League. Their coach is Vince and their lead striker is Skarra.

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 Ali Zaman.

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, 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:The team representing Spain.Their lead striker is Riano.

Iron Tank:The team representing Germany.Their coach is Admiral Van Pushup and their lead striker is Uber.

Nakama:The team representing Japan.Their coach is Ura Giri. Their lead is Miko Chen.

Technicali:The team representing Australia.Their coach is Toni Vern. Their lead striker is Chuck T. Chipperson.