Since around 2006, the Middle East has played host to a small and steadily growing scene of locally produced comics. Distinct from the rich history of children’s comics in the region (the likes of which I have touched on in the past), this contemporary comics’ culture has seen the output of comics that are explicitly intended for an adult audience. This new crop of independent Middle Eastern comics spans familiar western formats such as graphic novels, monthly issues, and anthologies, while addressing topics ranging from religion to politics to sex. The survey I’ve compiled here is not complete, but it is a start at cataloguing the wonderful dialogue that is happening right now with comic art in the Arab world. My hope is that what follows can serve as a space for others to add to, comment on, and maybe encourage some space shaving on bookshelves.
Lebanon:
Samandal (2007 – Present)
Creators/Editors: Omar Khouri, Tarek Nabaa, Hatem Imam, Lena Merhej, and Fadi Baki (as Fdz Bx)
Website: http://www.samandal.org/
About: If there is a ground zero for this recent wave of Arab comics than Samandal marks the spot. Samandal started in 2006 as a fully-realized and fully-packed comics’ magazine for “picture stories from here and there.” Each subsequent issue — currently up to 11 — has been a sizable collection of comics from local artists in all three of Lebanon’s official languages (Arabic, French, and English). The quality varies, but Samandal at its best features comics that are better than many of its global counterparts. It’s hard not to be excited when reading an issue of Samandal: at its core it is a comics’ anthology that captures the vibrancy and complexity of the country which it was created in. It is no surprise this successful DIY effort has since inspired so many others in the country and region to take a stab at making comics.
In the premier issue the staff offers an answer to “What is Samandal?”
Supplementary Links:
- Samandal’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6091156785&v=info
- And follow them on Twitter: @SamandalComics
- Their full mission statement: http://www.samandal.org/editorial-eng.html
- You can download fully-translated to English versions of their first three issues for free: http://www.samandal.org/eng-trans.html
- Finally, an article about an ingenious program that the Samandal staff started in collaboration with the EU and local NGOs to encourage Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps to make comics: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Arts/Jul/31/Comic-art-goes-multi-cultural-in-Shatilla.ashx#axzz1Wlmgke7Y
A page from co-founder Omar Khouri’s “Salon Tarek el Khurafi” in Issue One
The Educator (2007-2010)
Creator: Fouad Mezher
Website: http://fouadmezher.blogspot.com/
About: The best longer form comic to emerge from the depths of Samandal is the work of Fouad Mezher in The Educator. The story of how straight-laced John Fawkes finds love and a cause in the backdrop of a totalitarian academy seams simple enough at first blush (ha) but one of Mezher’s greatest talents is embedding a seemingly straightforward action comic with commentary about Lebanese politics. Put differently, imagine if Vertigo knew how to do subtlety and refrain from being overly-preachy and you would have something resembling The Educator. This charming (and violent!) comic is also notable for using the high contrast black-and-white approach masterfully for capturing the pseudo-Lebanese landscape.
Mezher’s follow up to The Educator, a comic about an Arab-American girl who becomes a superhero called Enigma, is currently one chapter in and looks like an extradroadinarly promising follow-up.
More black-and-white goodness from The Educator.
Malaak, Angel of Peace (2006 – Present)
Creator: Joumana Medlej
Website: http://www.malaakonline.com/index.html
About: Malaak: Angel of Peace is a prime example of how Arab artists are using a long-established medium to convey a very different kind of message. I’m not usually crazy about superhero comics, but then again superhero comics aren’t usually about measuring the human cost of sectarian violence. As a fellow Lebanese who is discouraged by the political bickering of the country (and region) almost always, it is nice to read Medlej’s clever response to inflammatory rhetoric in the form a superhero who champions the people. In my opinion, the series (currently in its fifth volume and all available for free online) greatest success is the way in which Medlej wonderfully captures Beirut in her pages. From the backgrounds to the people to the dialogue, this is a comic with a distinct point of view from an author who is a keen observer of her surroundings.
Also, it needs to be mentioned that Malaak is pretty great at fighting.
As a parting thought I feel comfortable recommending Malaak based solely on the sublime and beautifully executed dream sequences. Proof:
Supplementary Links:
- Joumana’s Personal Blog where she details a lot of the creation process: http://lebanesecomics.blogspot.com/
- Joumana’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/cedarseed / Malaak’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/malaakofpeace
- You can read a short bio on Joumana: http://www.malaakonline.com/malaakauthor.html
- You can order Malaak’s first four volumes here: http://www.malaakonline.com/order.html
- Another short comic of Joumana’s called “Driving in Lebanon”: http://www.cedarseed.com/drivingmanual.html
- And another series called “Stories of my Life”: http://www.cedarseed.com/fire/comics.html
Mazen Kerbaj
Websites: http://mazenkerblog.blogspot.com/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerbaj
About: You can’t really talk about Arab comics without talking about Mazen Kerbaj. Although he hasn’t produced a proper collection of comics to my knowledge, he has been an active practitioner since at least 2000. Kerbaj’s comics skew towards the political (above, obviously) as he bridges the gap between the older generation of Middle Eastern political cartoonists (dating back to 1920s) and the newer Samandal-influenced crop. I find his straightforward approach to comics to be highly effective, almost like a millennial Handala.
Translation: In Beirut there are ugly buildings, and beautiful women! (It’s funny because those words are similar in Arabic. And because it’s true.)
All Photos From Kerbaj’s extensive Flickr Feed.
Egypt:
Metro (2008)
Creator: Magdy El-Shafee
Publisher: Mohamed El-Sharkawi
Website: http://www.magdycomics.com/
About: Because of the recent media attention Magdy El-Shafee’s Metro has garnered, you may already know about this comic that was published in Arabic by El-Malameh Publishing House. Billed as “the first Arabic graphic novel,” Metro tells the story of a young software designer named Shihab who decides to rob a bank in order to pay back a massive amount of debt he owes corrupt officials. The comic paints a scathing portrait of Mubarak-era Egypt (known for last the thirty years as “Egypt”) where all police are corrupt and Egyptians themselves are too complacent to change anything. It should come as no surprise then that during the era of Mubarak’s police state control this revolution-friendly comic was banned soon after its release. El-Shafee and El-Sharkawi were slapped with fines for “distributing graphic pornography” (there is a sex scene in the comic), but not before police raided and confiscated the majority of El-Sharkawi’s offices. Just this past year an unshaken El-Sharkawi tried to open a comic book store only to be thrown in jail and have the property taken away. In my opinion, the story surrounding this comic most certainly eclipses the comic itself.
Supplementary Links:
- You can read 18 pages from Metro translated into English by Humphrey Davies over at the great Words Without Borders. The content rises above the unfortunate use of Comic Sans: http://wordswithoutborders.org/graphic-lit/from-metro/
- Words Without Borders subsequently interviewed El-Shafee about the comic in this nifty little video: http://wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/censorship-in-egypt-an-interview-with-magdy-el-shafee/
- Comics Alliance did an overview of the legal situation around the time plans for an English translation were announced: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/03/24/banned-egypt-comic-metro/
- The politically active El-Sharkawi’s blog (in Arabic) can be found here: http://sharkawy.wordpress.com/
TokTok (2011)
Creators/Editors: Andil, Tawfi2, Shennawy, Makhlouf, Hisham Rahma, Khaled Ab3ziz, Mona Sonbol, and Anwar.
Website: http://toktokmag.com/
About: Egypt’s response to Samandal comes in the form of this new comics’ magazine. As the creators describe the Arabic-only magazine, “TokTok is different from traditional comic books, which are usually made for children. It’s a monthly review that aims to produce a bustling mass of comic strips in a free, contemporary spirit, drawn and edited by its own artists.” Despite the whole revolution thing happening shortly after the release of their first issue, Toktok is back on its monthly rate with this Summer’s release of issue three. The first couple of issues look promising!
From the very well attended TokTok release party. Photos by me.
Supplementary Links:
- You can read the first two issues completely for free over at here: http://issuu.com/toktokmag
Ruins of the Future (2009)
All photos from Ganzeer’s blog
Creator: Ganzeer
Website: www.ganzeer.com / http://ganzeer.blogspot.com/2009/12/archives-ruins-of-future.html
About: Although I haven’t gotten a chance to read Ruins of the Future for myself, it sounds pretty amazing. From what I gather from Ganzeer’s blog it a science fiction graphic novel set in the pyramids. As he writes, “Upon noticing that all scenes at the pyramids in Egyptian movies either take place in the past or present, but nothing in the future, so the idea was suggested to borrow a bit from Egyptian novels, the only source of science fiction in Egypt, and look up some scenes that take place at the pyramids, and see if a full-fledged sci fi graphic novel can come out of it.”
Since the release of Ruins of the Future, Ganzeer has strayed away from pure comics while venturing into some pretty amazing illustrative work. Most recently his street art has become a critical component of the revolution. A great example is this “Mask of Fredoom” sticker that Ganzeer has been passing out around Tahrir Square:
Supplementary Links:
- Ganzeer put together this amazing stencil booklet for the revolution in Egypt: http://ganzeer.com/PDFbooks/stencil_booklet1.pdf
- You can see the rest of Ganzeer’s comic work over here, including the newly released Egyptian comic book anthology Autostrade which he designed the cover for: http://ganzeer.blogspot.com/search/label/comix
The United Arab Emirates:
Gold Ring (2009 – Present)
Creator: Qais Sedki
Website: http://www.goldring.ae/main.html
About: A highly buzzed about comic created by an Emirati software engineer turned comics creator by the name of Qais Sedki. Gold Ring marks another “first,” this time the first Arab-language Manga. Because of the UAE’s proximity to Asia it makes sense Dubai was the the first place to use the Manga format to tell a distinctly Arab story. And what a story it is, from the press release: “The story revolves around Sultan, an Arab boy who watches the Gold Ring falconry competition with his friend Ziad. At the competition they find a caged falcon. Sultan convinces his friend to release the falcon into the wild. The next morning, the falcon is at Sultan’s doorstep. Sultan calls the bird ‘Majid’ and trains her for an upcoming falconry competition.” The comic currently has one volume out, with an English translation of the first and a second Arabic volume on the way soon.
Supplementary Links:
- A brief interview with Qais: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/gold-ring-the-uaes-first-manga?pageCount=0
Kuwait:
The 99 (2004 – 2011)
Creator: Dr. Naif Al Mutaway
Website: http://www.the99.org/
About: This is certainly the most well-known Arab comic outside of the Middle East, no doubt attributable to the media savvy of its creator Dr. Naif Al Mutaway. And when I say widely known, I mean that even President Obama gave it a shout out in a speech. The 99 is the tale of superheroes whose powers are based on the 99 attributes of Allah. Although this is a particularly Islamic set-up, Dr. Al Mutaway recruited Marvel/DC vets such as Fabian Nicieza, Stuart Moore, June Brigman, and more to give it that distinct superhero polish from the get go. The ties to the American comic industry are further exemplified by a recent cross over event which saw members of The 99 fighting crime alongside the JLA. Since its premiere and wild success in the Middle East, the comic has spawned a theme park, a television show and there are future talks of developing it into a movie. In fact, as of this year The 99 has halted production as a comic book.
Supplementary Links:
- You can download a free preview of the first issue (as well as pay for all subsequent issues) over here: http://www.the99.org/article-36-33-Articles-17,ckl
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/THE-99-Official-Page / Twitter: @The99Comics
- Wikipedia Article on The 99: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_99
- Watch a TED talk by the charismatic Dr. Al Mutaway over here: http://www.ted.com/talks/naif_al_mutawa_superheroes_inspired_by_islam.html
I should clarify off the bat that I didn’t include comics made by Arabs in diaspora, of which there are many notable titles. I might save those for a separate list / a different time.
Hello Nadim! It’s fdz, one of the founders of Samandal. Much appreciate the kind write up of Samandal and glad that someone is shedding light on the increasing comic production in the region. I wanted to make a slight amendment to the history of Samandal: while the idea formed in 2006, issue zero was actually launched in September, 2007. There are also a few important names you missed that are producing work in the region, beginning with Jad Workshop to Zeina Abi Rached to other independent works to some in Syria and Egypt. I understand that this wasn’t an exhaustive list but I am trying to point out that comic production is snowballing in an interesting way around here and is developing in ways we didn’t think would happen when we first started.
Thanks fdz! I appreciate the comment. I’ll go back and fix the dates on Samandal’s production. Also, thanks very much for the tips on Jad Workshop and Zeina Abi Rached. I’m hoping enough similar loose threads will pop up to have me write a second installment. Anyways, keep up the great work!
Here’s what I found in terms of preliminary links on those suggestions:
The press page for Zeina Abi Rached’s “Beirut Catharsis” (2002, French): http://www.cambourakis.com/spip.php?article20
And an online version of “Beirut Catharsis”: http://www.alba.edu/ar/chezmoicheztoi/beyrouthcatharsis.html
And now that you mention I’ve certainly heard of Jad Khoury’s Jad Workshop, but I can’t seem to find an online presence for that. If I remember correctly Jad Khoury worked (or works) at Lebanon’s Future TV for years doing animation work and collecting local comics.
Also recommended, but not included in the list, is the work of Henry Matthews who has published an Encyclopedia of Lebanese Comics: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=36019
Still, if anyone has links for Syrian, Egyptian, or any other regional comics please comment with them.
I’d also add some webcomics coming out of the region, like inkontheside and Mayazankoul
http://inkontheside.com/
Hi Nadim,
Thanks a lot for the article! I’d add that if you look for JAD as George Khoury, he regularly puts up his recent comics on facebook (they’re originally published in Al-Nahar if I remember correctly…
Hey Nadim! Thanks for putting this together!
I think its little weird to put The 99 next to Samandal or TokTok. The 99 always seemed to me more a branding gimmick or marketing ploy, that largely employed American creators anyways, and wasn’t made by anyone who actually loved comics and cartooning. Did anyone actually read those comics?
Anyways, I’m an American cartoonist who also has spent some time living in the Arab world (Palestine and Egypt) and I have been working on the new issue of World War 3 Illustrated (#42) which I would like to shamelessly plug right now… The issue is dedicated to TAHRIR: Liberation from the Mideast to the Midwest. It will feature new work in English by Mazen Kerbaj and Magdy el Shafee, I believe marking the U.S. print premier of both of them. We were hoping to get more comics from the Arab world, but communication was difficult. We will also be printing words and pictures by Palestinian artist Tayseer Barakat, an interview with Ahmad Nady of Egypt, some of Ganzeer’s stencil work, and hopefully will be opening up our pages to more great Arab cartoonists in the future!
http://www.yippeeskippy.com/worldwar3illustrated/wordpress/?p=767
We are a political comics magazine out of NYC and I am personally very interested in supporting Arab and Muslim cartoonists who are working outside “mainstream” styles and are addressing political issues. If you would like to submit to our magazine, please get in touch with us.
I want to give a shout out also to another cartoonist we will be printing from a part of the world that shares many connections to the Arab world, Malik Sajad of Kashmir, whose work I think is very strong and deserves wide attention:
http://www.kashmirblackandwhite.com/
Hey Ethan! I’m really glad you commented to drop some more knowledge and explain your project. I am already drooling over the idea, so I’ll be sure to pre-order.
As for the inclusion of The 99 and arguably Gold Ring — which are much more commercially geared projects — I thought it was important to include them in the survey to give an idea of the spectrum of comics that are happening right now for the uninitiated. Actually, in an interview I did with Dr. Naif in Abu Dhabi, he explicitly said that in order to create The 99 it had to have the potential to be “as big as Pokemon” and that comics were an afterthought for the message not the initial chosen medium. While I don’t agree with philosophy of comics personally, I still believe it is important to include because of the vast impact he is having with his franchise. So you’re right that it is a huge marketing ploy, but in Egypt and the UAE I met people who actively read them like people in the US actively read DC/Marvel.
Thanks again for the comment! I really like the look of Malik Sajad’s stuff from that link you supplied.
The Educator is really great. I contacted the artist to see if I could pay to see the next five chapters, without having to buy back-issues of Samandal.
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I am researching the comic and cartoon culture of the Arab speaking countries, and have written several articles (in Dutch) about this subject. Next year I will organizane an exhibition in Holland about Arabian comics and cartoons. For this purpose I have collected a lot of relevant information which I store in a powerpoint, in order to use the pictures as reference material. This collection is now some 300 pages thick.
Hello Joost, that sounds very interesting. I would love to hear more about your exhibition as it develops. Because of my research in the Middle East this last year I have many scans of Arab Comics dating back to the 50s that I can contribute. Best of luck!
OK First i would like to say thank you for such a great information
here are comic artist/ publishing houses that i know but not mentioned above
Syria – Something wrong
http://www.homeless-pro.com/tags/something-wrong/
Jordan
Mike V.Derderian : http://brickinthehead.wordpress.com/
Mike got the dark side of the spoon which is a comic strip that is published in Umen magazine
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-Side-of-the-Spoon/127039687347545?sk=info
he is also working on a book project called Palestine the graphic novel
http://www.facebook.com/pages/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-Palestine-The-Graphic-Novel/144399165605829
Aranim –
http://aranim.com
http://www.facebook.com/AranimMediaFactory
Egypt
AK comics http://akcomics.com/
for some reason the web reads coming soon since 2008
Also check these bunch of articles
http://arablit.wordpress.com/category/graphic-novels/
This is the best survey of Middle-eastern comics I’ve seen so far, personal but seriously written up, and with a true effort to cover all the active players. Thank you!
Thanks so much for this! I’m going to spend my whole day getting inspired by these comics.
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This is fantastic! Qatar’s Doha Film Institute just did a video piece speaking to some of the artists at the first Middle East Film & Comic Con. Check it out– http://d-h.fi/Niy5Vc
The last line tells it all: “We’re pretty much the same in every way.”
I am writing a paper about the depiction of moslims in cartoons in the Dutch press, during the past 15 years. For this study I tried to buy Jack Shaheens Comic Book Arab at New York University, to no avail. Is there someone who can send me a copy (by pdf maybe) of this study?
I doubt anyone here has access to that…and Nadim hasn’t been around the blog for awhile. Sorry about that.
Though this was posted some time ago, I want to praise The Hooded Utilitarian for keeping it available online. As people search for examples of and access to Arab Comics online, this curated virtual tour, as it were, by Nadim is fantastic.
Dear Mr.Damluji… Seems we all forgot about AL MOGHAMER,or in English The Adventurer,A Lebanese comic book in 1963,by the publishing group of BISSAT EL REEH (The Magic Carpet)>.1962? By Late&Great Mr.ZUHAIR BAALBAKI,a GENTLEMAN by all what that word… means,Al Moghamer was a weekly size A4 magazine ,priced 75 Lebanese piasters,in today s money its …worthless? anyhow,and as they say do not judge a book by its cover, so was the problem with that MAG. as each cover was different from the previous or the next, a bit confusing f or the reader then,and unpredictable too,once ,it was a famous celebrity s photo such as Mrs.Doris DAY/Sophia LOREN/Hayley MILLS/Mr Omar SHARRIF with his wife then ,sadly missed ,Arab screen s 1st LADY Mrs.Faten HAMAMA circa (1955)?..Other times it was something from American DETECTIVE/TARZAN..Jungle style cartoons/drawings,by great American Artists , other times romantics, same as UNFORGETTABLE Artist Mr. NORMAN ROCKWELL works??.. it changed its contents from serial Adventures .. cartoons ,to almost T.v Cinema entertainment weekly ,as Lebanese /Arab T.V. s were newborn in 1959,so it became ,crosswords/riddles/pen-pals broken hearts advisory services for the youth of that period 1960/70 s !! Maybe Mr.Baalbaki was a bit hasty to publish such modern magazine for a conservative society that was enduring Wars /Civil conflicts/Uncertain future…bombarded by Egyptian propaganda press, also when by 1958/59 when Egypt s Dar el Hilal publishers of CHILDREN s SAMIR weekly..began to publish Arabic version of Mr.W.Disney s MICKEY..weekly! so there was a void a large space, market. for a local new projects,after his kid s weekly in 1962 Bissat El Reeh from AGES 6-12, AL MOGHAMER was dedicated to kids/teenagers to the age of 21 and over?..I was fortunate enough to meet this real GENTLEMAN here in LONDON/G.B IN 1983/4 not sure ,in an Arab Newsagent on QUEENSWAY Street,very kind and helpful high spirited individual , we all miss him thoroughly ,as we lost him in 2005. But his legacy carries on through his descendants.The worst thing in all this was that children s cartoonist were rare and as endangered species ,no academies teaching art of cartoon drawing, and the existing ones such as great Mr.Khalil Ashqar/DIRAN/Pirre Sadeq/ Jean Mashalani/Shaaban Lawand/ Mahmoud Kahill were drawing AL SAYYAD/AD DABBOUR/ AL HAWADESS/ AL OUSBOUH AL ARABI /KOL SHAY poli./satirical Magazines covers & pages.. got no time for kids..in other words?/ only few like, AZIZ and Abdallah Shahal for Donia al ahdath/ZARZOUR children s mags. But Mr, BAALBAKI took a wise step by inviting Egypt s SAMIR magazine s Armenian origine ,cartoonist, Mrs.Bahiga TOMASSIAN (jija) who was luckily then in BEIRUT ,drawing comic strips on AL ANWAR ( limelight) daily paper ( in Dar El SAYYAD).in the kids corner in that paper?? between 1960/61, so she done a very good job too by bringing over SAMIR s loyal /avid readers to buy Bissat El Reeh ..TOO! to follow her cute characters she created in both mags.from 1956-1965 almost , very remarkable era in Arab comics world…Samir was with his mate Tah Tah(or the loser)..but BAHIGA in Bissat El Rih made them a brother & a sister which attracted more female children to read/purchase it ..a clever turn??even she tried that in SAMIR ..too, sometimes earlier as
a TRIO ?/ anyhow thanks to them all they gave us a very happy CHILDHOOD…GOD bless the living and the sadly missed ones ..they bwill always will be remembered!!!….yours truly :IS-HAK BARSOUM-IAN/ London/G.B