DECODED co-Creator Alan Mitchell (centre), with Charles Shaar Murray & Alan Moore
Alan Mitchell
Alan was one of the first Black comic book writers in the UK. In the 1990’s, he co-wrote Third World War, alongside Pat Mills, which appeared in Crisis. Shortly afterwards, he co-created DECODED with Jonathan Akwue. This was originally serialised as The Scrolls of Imhotep in The Alarm, an independent UK magazine. Despite gaining a cult following, the story was never completed and the magazine went out of print.
Having left the story on a cliffhanger for over 20 years, Alan and Jonathan agreed to finally finish the story in 2016. But before they could do so, Alan passed away suddenly as the result of a previously undiagnosed heart condition.
Jonathan vowed to complete the project and drafted a new creative team to bring the story’s epic conclusion to life.
DECODED co-Creator, Jonathan Akwue
Jonathan Akwue
Jonathan has had a long career in the creative industries. Starting out as an illustrator and designer in the 1990’s, he launched a graphic design studio and a social marketing agency, Rat Park.
He then went into the world of advertising, joining ENGINE UK, where he helped create innovative campaigns and content for global brands. He later became Managing Partner at Digitas and CEO of the Creative agency, Lost Boys.
Jonathan is currently President and Global Media Lead at Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest communications groups.
He is a well known champion for Diversity within the Creative industries, having chaired Ideas Foundation for several years; acted as a Trustee of Black Cultural Archives, and co-founded The Great British Diversity Experiment.
Illustrator, Isis Raheem
Isis Raheem
Isis is a young, talented Webcomic Artist and Illustrator experimenting with sequential art and enhanced audience interaction. Working out of Leicester’s Phoenix Interact Lab, she is part of the Artist Collective, Disrupt Space. Her work explores the ways in which technology allows for traditionally closed narratives to be opened up and transformed into more immersive experiences. Stylistically, she is drawn to the aesthetics of Afro-futurism and near-future Speculative Art.
Rudi Okasili-Henry
Rudi is a young comic and concept artist who recently graduated from Coventry University. After working there as a lecturer for a year teaching comic and animation classes, he now aims to bring stories to life and hopefully inspire others to do the same. He has self published a graphic novel under the name "In the Home of a God". Over the past two years he has collaborated with other writers to visualise new narratives.