Arab comics, graphic novels not yet mainstream, but on the rise
Longtime and new artists in the genre fight repression and hope to gain wider audiences throughout the region and abroad.
Recently published comics and graphic novels in the Middle East and North Africa, although not yet mainstream, confirm the creative efforts of Arab youth.
A new magazine with the graphic title of (.+..) was presented last November at the seventh edition of the international Cairo Comix Festival. Founder and director George Khoury, aka Jad, known as the pioneer of the Arab comic movement, published the first comic book for adults in the Arab region, "Carnaval," in 1980. In 2019 he won the Mahmoud Kahil Award, the top award for comics, cartoons, and illustration in the region.
“I would like to publish articles, essays, translations, and interviews to better explore the ideas behind the comics,” Jad told Al-Monitor. The first thematic issue features the work of Salam Alhassan from the Syrian collective Comic4 Syria, Seif Eddine Nachi from Tunisia, as well as other well-known artists such as Lena Merhej and Ganzeer.
The comic business is far from lucrative in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the medium builds on a fertile culture of illustrated and comics literature, initially mostly for children, and political cartoons.
