Paul Monté is a Cameroonian cartoonist and illustrator, born on November 25, 1983 at PMI Ndoungué in Konsamba, in the Littoral region of Cameroon. He is a cartoonist and one of the founding members of the Association des bédéistes du Cameroun (Abc). His passion for drawing began at an early age, and he began to develop it well from the age of 4.

As a child, he lived in Babouantou, a small village near Bafang in the West Cameroon region. It was his father, a carrier on the Bafang line at the time, who introduced him to comics. He would bring home books, often old comics without covers. Paul Monthé still remembers the little follies he indulged in to keep in touch with comics while his brothers played. “If they were necklaces, I'd still have them today,” says the comic artist, before counting the story of how he stole a 100Fcfa coin from his parents. “One day, I was sent to the store to buy bread. The shopkeeper took a sheet of newspaper with a page of Lucky Luke on it. He cut it in half and wrapped my bread with part of it. I was dying for him to wrap my bread with the whole thing, but I didn't have the courage to ask him. It hurt coming out of the end. And then an idea came to me like, maybe if you come back to buy bread really soon, he'll use the rest of the newspaper. So I went and stole a 100-franc coin and went back to buy some bread.Luckily for me, it worked. I kept those two pieces.

Paul Monthé had never envisaged a career in drawing. For him, they were moments of escape during which he traveled through images. At the age of 14, due to financial difficulties in his family, he was forced to stop his secondary studies in 5th grade at the Collège évangélique de Bafang. As he was gifted in drawing, his parents advised him to take a course in silkscreen printing. This was done. Paul goes, but doesn't join, even though he's considered the best in the business.

From screen printing to drawing

The young man then began to take an interest in drawing-related activities. He took part in workshops outside his village and began to be noticed for his work. He met Willy Valdès Kengne (a student at the University of Yaoundé 1), with whom he learned basic drawing techniques. This experience changed his perception of drawing, which was limited to Chinese manga. 

In December 2006, a little more experienced in his work, he offered his services as a cartoonist to the newspaper Ouest-Echos and was hired. In July 2008, he was Willy Valdès Kengne's guest at the Yaoundé Cartoon and Humor Festival, and began participating professionally in 2009. In 2011, he took part in a national comic strip competition in Yaoundé with the NGO Zenü Network. The NGO won 3rd place thanks to drawings submitted by learners on the theme of corruption in schools. The NGO then asked the artists to charge for their work. Monthé held a dozen (10 in the competition and 2 in workshops). He charges 72,000 Fcfa for each piece, i.e. 6,000 Fcfa a piece. An amount considered minimal by some of the industry's elders. When the same opportunity arose for the second time, the cartoonist revised the amount upwards. A work for 15,000Fcfa (still considered minimal).

His work appears on calendars. He began to earn a better living from drawing. He collaborates with Yannick Deubou, promoter of the Mboa BD Festival, and makes “The Camelboy”, “Ekiée”, “On est ensemble” and more. He took part in “Rio dos Camaroes”, a collective album featuring the work of Cameroonian cartoonists including Joélle Epee Mandegué. As part of this collective of Cameroonian cartoonists, he also collaborated on a comic project with Joëlle Ebongué, author of “La vie de d'Ebène Duta”. In the meantime, Joélle Epee Mandegué put him in touch with Vladimir Lentzy, a Frenchman of Russian origin who was interested in his work on this comic strip.

In 2018, he'll be working with Vladimir Lentzy, first in a 15-day workshop in Cameroon, then on the webtoon collection for éditions Dupuis. A great source of pride for the Cameroonian, who was finally able to overcome his increasing financial difficulties following his resignation from Yannick Deubou's Waanda Studio and a congenital malformation (spina bifida) suffered by his first daughter at birth. The married father of 5 worked day and night to support his family at the time. Working with Vladimr Lentzy helped him get back on his feet. He was also invited to visit the Du Puis publishing headquarters in Belgium and France in 2023.

Paul Monthé also represented Cameroon at the first edition of the ICC Créative Afrique Forum, in Paris, France, where the collaboration with the Institut français du Cameroun (IFC) on comics was born. He will take part in the official launch of the “Moabi” collection at the Bilili Festival in Congo in 2021. (Moabi is an African tree whose roots are planted deep in the ground). He was also present at the first edition of the ICC (cultural and creative industries) forum “Africa Creative” in Paris. 

The DB legacy

Also in 2021, he created the Association des bédéistes du Cameroun (Abc), which since December 2024 has published the quarterly KoualaBD, a comic co-written by seven authors including Pondy George (Abc president), Andy Corleone Akz, Hugues Biboum, Robert PouGoue, Ole Tsimi, Gunter Moss (a former 100% young cartoonist) and Paul Monté. Abc's aim is to restore cartooning to its former glory. Since its creation, the members have been working on a festival of caricatures, illustrations, newspaper drawings, school books, cartoons and more.

Through this initiative, Paul Monthé would like to leave a legacy for future generations, so that they know that DB in Africa is not a myth. It exists, contrary to what Europeans think. First a comic book made by Cameroonians and for Cameroonians, then for Africa. This is to get Africans away from the colonization that continues to spread through European comics.  “One of our deepest ideologies is to use comics as a powerful weapon,” he says. 

The DB legacy

Even if screen printing remains a traumatic episode for him, Paul Monthé encourages young people who, like him, have not finished school.He urges them not to let themselves be influenced by society, which will try to pigeonhole them into a category where job opportunities can be summed up as security guards, laborers on a building site (in the neighborhood) and so on.In his opinion, school is a continuous process. He has returned to school, but this time as a teacher.He has taught drawing in several schools, including the Lycée Bilingue de Ngouache, in Bafoussam, in classes 6eme, 5éme, 3éme and Terminale.  He is also sometimes invited to the Institut des Beaux-Arts de Foubam to talk to students and take part in workshop activities.

Awards and recognition

In 2025, Paul Monthé has been drawing for 19 years. In 2005, Paul Monthé was awarded the prize for best comic strip by the Comité National de Lutte Contre le Sida (CNLS). In 2012, he won first prize for drawing at the Festival des Jeunes du Cameroun. In 2020, he received the Mont d'or de la caricature at an award ceremony organized by Ouest-Echos. In 2024, he was awarded the Vermeille Medal and the Silver Medal by the Cameroon government, adding up to 19 years of service to cartooning.

Tatiana Kuessie