Comics

Cartoonists in the Arab world

Children of the revolution

How are comic book artists in the Arab world responding to the political situation in the region? Lena Bopp talks to illustrators Lina Ghaibeh and George Khoudry about young artists' collectives and feminist superheroes
Mohamed Abla awarded Goethe Medal

Telling stories through art

Mohamed Abla is the first visual artist from Egypt to be awarded the Goethe-Institut’s Goethe Medal, Germany’s highest honour in the area of foreign cultural policy. Stefan Weidner sheds some light on the artist’s work
Art, life, and the New Patrons

Sartep's graphic journey to a better world

The New Patrons seek to sponsor art projects initiated by citizens in order to better dovetail art and life. Anyone can become their client. In Berlin, the impressive comic "Temple of Refuge" was created on behalf of the Iraqi-Kurdish refugee Sartep Namiq, describing the story of his flight and the hope for a better life. By Stefan Dege
Book review: Riad Sattouf’s graphic novel "The Arab of the Future"

Between worlds

Despite his main focus being on his childhood and youth, spent between East and West, Riad Sattouf also describes the current state of the Arab world in his much-lauded graphic novel series "The Arab of the Future". By Schayan Riaz
Lebanese comic artist Rawand Issa and "Not from Mars"

Being illegal is unbearable

The Lebanese comic artist Rawand Issa loves black. Her illustrations are satirical, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and above all introspective. Her graphic novels also raise political questions, however, and combine minor everyday emotions with major social issues. By Julia Neumann
Interview with graphic novel illustrator Reinhard Kleist

Arab comics – protest, love and the everyday

Reinhard Kleist is regarded as one of Germany’s finest graphic-novel illustrators and has travelled the Arab world extensively, discovering a fascinating local comics scene
Turkish satirical magazine Bayan Yani

Fuelling Turkish feminism

Bayan Yani is a satirical magazine led by women in a country which is becoming increasingly hostile to them. For more than six years, cartoonists and writers in Turkey have combined their talents to make readers not only think, but also laugh in a feminist way.
Indonesian comics

Reincarnating ancient heroes

Taking the Indonesian comics scene by storm: new takes on legendary figures are challenging Japanese manga dominance. Seno Gumira Ajidarma provides an insight into Indonesia′s new graphic novels and serial comics
Fighting extremism through the medium of comics

"We needed to do more than just attend candlelight vigils"

"Paasban" (The Guardian) is a series of Pakistani comic books that seeks to fight extremism by raising awareness among young people. The books tell the story of a group of college friends who become worried when one of their number disappears. They later find out that he was recruited by an extremist organisation. Mustafa Hasnain, Gauhar Aftab and Yahya Ehsan came together to create "Paasban". Roma Rajpal Weiß spoke to Hasnain and Aftab about the series and the inspiration behind it