▸ DAUGHTERS OF WAR GRAPHIC NOVEL FULL

The Drums of War

In 1955 Dahomey, an elderly woman named Sika recounts her life story to her grandchildren, revealing her past as one of the famed Agojie warriors. The narrative flashes back to the late 19th century, following a young Sika and her friends, Kemi and Afi, as they are conscripted and forged into elite soldiers. They are plunged into the brutal reality of the Franco-Dahomean wars, facing a technologically superior French army that includes the formidable Foreign Legion. Through devastating battles and profound personal loss, Sika witnesses the fall of her kingdom but survives to carry its true history, finally passing the story to a new generation and reclaiming their heritage from the colonial narrative.

In 1955 Abomey, Nana Sika begins recounting her life to her grandchildren Houéfa, Dossi, and Gbodja, correcting Sister Adeline's colonial narrative about the Agojie with the truth of her own experience. The story flashes back to 1889, where young Sika, Kemi, and Afi are forged into elite warriors under the brutal training of Dòkpè, learning that courage is not fearlessness but action despite fear. Sika guides her grandchildren through the ruins of the old compound, the place where she and countless other women slept and trained, awakening memories she has buried for sixty years. In the pre-dawn darkness, Dòkpè leads the exhausted recruits on grueling runs through jungle and road, testing their endurance and resolve with each punishing mile. After a relentless morning run, the hungry women return to the compound anticipating breakfast, but instead of rest and food, three urgent drumbeats shatter the air—not the rhythm of training, but a summons that freezes every conversation and draws the commanders away, signaling that war has come to Dahomey.

Historical FictionAmerican ComicsEnglish12 pagesAug 28, 2026

▸ CAST

CHARACTERS

Legionnaire

protagonist

Nema

supporting

A young Dahomean woman in her late teens to early twenties, serving as an Agojie warrior. She has dark brown skin, short natural hair, and sharp, alert eyes reflecting focus and determination. Nema wears the distinctive uniform of the Agojie: a wrapped cloth skirt in indigo and earth tones secured at the waist, a fitted sleeveless tunic or chest wrap in natural linen, and leather arm cuffs. She carries a musket and wears a leather belt with a sheathed machete. Her build is lean and athletic, honed by rigorous warrior training. She bears minor scars on her forearms from past combat. During the retreat sequence, she moves with urgency and purpose, her posture commanding as she directs other warriors toward safety, showing both physical strength and natural leadership despite her youth.

Fatu

protagonist

Mother of te Children, elegant , educated slim and motherly

French marine

protagonist

Sika

protagonist

As a young West African woman in the 1890s, Sika is tall and long-legged with a lean, developing warrior's build, dark skin, and tightly coiled black hair. She wears the simple cotton wrapper or tunic of an Agojie recruit, often armed with a musket and a short sword. As 'Nana Sika' in 1955, she is an elderly, tall woman, slightly stooped by age, with short, silver-threaded hair, dark, clear eyes, and fine ceremonial marks on her lined cheeks. She wears a faded indigo wrapper and has a distinctive pale scar circling her left wrist.

Dòkpè

supporting

A Dahomean woman in her forties during the 1890s. She is a veteran Agojie officer, lean and hard-muscled. Her face is defined by multiple scars, including one deep scar from her left ear to her jaw that pulls her mouth into a perpetual, grim smile. She wears faded, practical training clothes and carries herself with an air of absolute authority.

Sena

supporting

A senior Agojie officer in the 1890s, older than Dòkpè. She is a West African woman with a narrow, sinewy face and greying hair cut close to her head. A veteran scout, she is alert and moves with quiet purpose, armed with a short musket and a long knife.

King Béhanzin

supporting

The last king of Dahomey in the 1890s. A tall, powerfully built West African man with a broad face and a carefully shaped beard. He is depicted in royal attire: a white cloth draped over one shoulder, leaving the other bare, with heavy necklaces of coral and polished beads on his chest.

Sister Adeline

supporting

A French nun in 1955 Dahomey. She has a long, pale European face, often pink from the heat. She wears a spotless, traditional white Catholic nun's habit and a starched wimple that frames her face.

Houéfa

supporting

A 12-year-old West African girl in 1955. She has dark skin and her hair is in tight braids. She wears a simple blue cotton school dress. Her expression is often grave and watchful.

Dossi

supporting

A 10-year-old West African girl in 1955. She is fine-boned with bright eyes and a round, expressive face. She wears simple clothing appropriate for a schoolgirl in her village.

Gbodja

supporting

An 8-year-old West African boy in 1955. He is thin and reedy, with dusty knees and a closely cropped head. He wears simple shorts and a shirt, often untucked, reflecting his restless energy.

Kemi

supporting

A young West African woman of the 1890s, Kemi is of average height with a compact, controlled, and athletic build. She has dark skin and hair tied firmly away from her face. She is practical and efficient in her movements, wearing the simple uniform of an Agojie warrior and carrying a musket and blade.

Afi

supporting

A young West African woman of the 1890s, Afi is shorter than her friends but powerfully built, with thick shoulders, hips, and muscular legs. She has dark skin and an intense, often defiant expression. She wears the Agojie uniform and carries her weapons with an aggressive readiness, preferring her sword.

Nawi

supporting

The high commander of the Agojie in the 1890s, a woman approaching fifty. Shorter than Dòkpè but with a body thickened by age and battle, not soft. Her West African face bears fine ritual marks and a broad scar from her temple to her nose. Two fingers on her left hand are permanently damaged. She wears a clean indigo tunic decorated with cowrie shells and a short blade at her waist.

Nana Sika

protagonist

PAGE 1

Panel 1:Wide establishing shot of a mud-brick schoolroom in 1955 Abomey. Narrow windows cut fierce white bars of sunlight across the room. Children in European-style school clothes sit at wooden benches. At the front, Sister Adeline stands rigid in her spotless white habit and starched wimple, a framed Sacred Heart on the wall behind her. Flies hover at the windows. Houéfa sits at the front bench, back straight, blue cotton dress clinging with sweat, tight braids pulling at her scalp. Dossi sits beside her, round face alert. Gbodja sits behind them, shirt untucked on one side, closely cropped head gleaming with perspiration.

Narrator:“Abomey, Dahomey — 1955.”

Panel 2:Medium shot on Sister Adeline, pale face pink from heat, moisture along her upper lip. Her expression is severe, chin lifted. One finger taps her wooden rosary beads at her waist.

“Sister Adeline: The Agojie were heathens. They worshipped false gods and carried out the king's cruelest orders.”

Panel 3:Close-up on Houéfa and Dossi side by side. Houéfa's brow is furrowed, her expression grave and skeptical. Dossi looks at her sister with an equally confused face, mouth slightly open.

Panel 4:Medium shot of Gbodja on his bench behind the girls. His hand is raised, chin up, defiant. Several children around him have turned to look. Sister Adeline stares across the room at him from the front.

“Gbodja: Our father says they were great warriors.”

Panel 5:Over-the-shoulder shot from behind Houéfa, looking toward Sister Adeline at the front. Houéfa's hand is raised high. Sister Adeline's mouth is tight, her expression cautious. The framed Sacred Heart hangs on the wall above her.

“Houéfa: If they were poor soldiers, why did the French need rifles and cannon to defeat them?”

PAGE 2

Panel 1:Medium shot of Sister Adeline placing her book firmly on the desk. Her jaw is set, her expression controlled but strained. The chalk dust swirls around her.

“Sister Adeline: The Agojie were undisciplined women. Courage could not overcome modern weapons.”

Panel 2:Wide shot of the schoolyard as children burst through the gates into afternoon sunlight. Dust rises around bare feet and worn sandals. Voices fill the air. Houéfa, Dossi, and Gbodja walk together along the red-earth road, their shadows long ahead of them. Beyond the schoolyard, low red-brown walls and mango trees spread beneath a bleached sky.

Narrator:“The bell rang before anyone could ask another question.”

Panel 3:Medium shot of the three children walking together on the red-earth road. Dossi gestures expressively. Gbodja kicks a stone from the path. Houéfa walks with her arms folded, thinking.

“Gbodja: Sister Adeline says they were heathens. Dossi: Sister Adeline is French.”

Panel 4:Medium shot of Houéfa walking, looking straight ahead with a firm expression. Her school dress is dusty at the hem from the road.

“Houéfa: Dying does not mean they could not fight. Losing is not the same thing.”

Panel 5:Wide shot of the family compound entrance. The house is built of earth the color of dried blood, walls cool and faintly damp. A low roof casts deep shade across the doorway. In the yard beyond the crooked wooden gate, Nana Sika is bent over a cooking fire, stirring with a long wooden spoon. Steam rolls from the pot. A hen scratches among cassava plants nearby.

Narrator:“The room always carried the smell of Sika's life — woodsmoke, dried leaves, old wicker, pipe tobacco.”

PAGE 3

Panel 1:Close-up on Nana Sika's face in profile, lit by the cooking fire. She is tall and broad-shouldered, slightly stooped but not broken. Short silver-threaded hair at her temples. Fine ceremonial marks on her lined cheeks. A pale scar circles her left wrist. Her dark eyes are clear and sharp.

“Gbodja: We learnt about the Agojie today, Nana.”

Panel 2:Medium shot of Sika still stirring the pot, her back to the children. The wooden spoon has slowed. Her broad shoulders are still. A hen pecks at the ground near her feet.

“Gbodja: Sister Adeline says they were heathens. Sika: Perhaps they believed in different gods.”

Panel 3:Medium shot of Houéfa watching Sika closely, arms at her sides. Her expression is grave and alert, noticing something the others do not.

“Houéfa: She says the Agojie were poor warriors. Father says the opposite. Which one is true?”

Panel 4:Medium shot of Sika turning to face the three children. Her right hand has closed around her left wrist, directly over the pale scar. Her feet have shifted slightly, one ahead of the other. Her expression is composed but firm.

“Sika: They were fierce warriors. Very well trained. Very dangerous.”

Panel 5:Close-up on Sika's left wrist and right hand. The right hand grips the wrist tightly. The pale scar is clearly visible circling the wrist like a permanent bracelet. Her fingers are strong and creased with age.

“Gbodja: How do you know, Nana? Sika: Old people hear many things.”

Daughters Of War Graphic Novel Full: The Drums of War

CHARACTERS

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