A virtually unknown Palestinian BD / سلسلة شبه مجهولة من القصص المصورة القلسطينية

As I was browsing the shelves of my favourite second-hand bookseller in Maadi (more about them in another post), I stumbled across a series of Palestinian BD's, entitled al-Rumāh al-ṣighār / الرماة الصغار ('The Little Slingshooters').

These works are of considerable interest, not only because of their sophisticated presentation, but also because they represent a conscious attempt to promote the work of Arab comic-book authors -- and to use this artistic medium to narrate the Paestinian Intifadah to a younger audience.

The editorial statement, reproduced on the back cover of each of the volumes, reviews the state of BD publishing in the Arab world:

"Despite an increase in the Arab production of comic strips, foreign products published in Arabic remain dominant. The heroes of foreign stories, such as Grendizer, Superman, Dan Cooper, and Tin Tin, are still the ones best known by young Arab readers." 

In order to redress the balance, the editors propose this series of graphic stories, all on the theme of the first Intifadah. It seems that their attempt to reach a wide audience was not hugely successful, considering the fact that there are exceedingly few references to the series, and no holdings in any major university library (the sole exception being Kuweit University Library; the Library of Congress appear to have one volume floating about). In other words, the series remains virtually unknown.

Now there is a series record in WorldCat, derived from the Arab Union Catalogue entry linked above. There number of volumes given is five, and indeed each volume has a list of five titles on the back of each end-paper. For the record, I provide a list with full citations for each volume below.

At the time of publication, the publisher had offices in Limassol, London, and Cairo. In Egypt, the works were distributed by Sīnā lil-Nashr (18, Sh. Ḍarīḥ Sāʿd, Cairo. Tel. 3547178). A note on the front fly-leaf states that the volumes were published in cooperation with "Dāʾirat al-Thaqāfah, Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah". The series editor is given as Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Labbād (Bio | Video)! I seriously doubt that one can obtain the volumes from any of these sources; should you be interested in seeing them, please contact me, and we can try and work out a solution.

ملواح, سيد علي. المطاردة. صورة الغلاف

Malwāḥ, Sayyid ʿAlī. al-Muṭāradah. al-Rumāh al-ṣighār, 1. Limassol: al-Ṣaqr al-ʿArabī lil-Ibdāʿ, 1991.

ملواح, سيد علي. المطاردة. الرماة الصغار, 1.ليماسول: الصقر العربي للإبداع, 1991.

The first three volumes in the series are more artistic in nature, and serious in content. Funky colours only appear on the title page, while the content is all black and white - in every sense. The story lines all revolve around Palestinian youths who outsmart bloodthirsty Israeli soldiers.

سلمان, عمار. خريطة من ذهب. صورة الغلاف

Salmān, ʿAmmār. Kharīṭah min dhahab. al-Rumāh al-ṣighār, 2. Limassol: al-Ṣaqr al-ʿArabī lil-Ibdāʿ, 1991.

سلمان, عمار. خريطة من ذهب. الرماة الصغار, 2.ليماسول: الصقر العربي للإبداع, 1991.

مزاري, محمد. العرض مستمر. صورة الغلاف

Mazārī , Muḥammad. al-ʿArḍ mustamirr. al-Rumāh al-ṣighār, 3. Limassol: al-Ṣaqr al-ʿArabī lil-Ibdāʿ, 1991.

مزاري, محمد. العرض مستمر. الرماة الصغار, 3. ليماسول: الصقر العربي للإبداع, 1991.

Volume three in the series is my favourite as far as the artwork is concerned. The narration is not text based, but draws on evocative images, and cleverly chosen transitions. For example, the narrative begins as the pattern on a Palestinian headdress transforms into the grooves on a grenade hanging from the the belt of an Israeli soldier.

محفوظ, حيدر. الآلة الجهنمية. صورة الغلاف

Maḥfūẓ, Ḥaydar. al-Ālah al-juhannamīyah. al-Rumāh al-ṣighār, 4. Limassol: al-Ṣaqr al-ʿArabī lil-Ibdāʿ, 1991.

محفوظ, حيدر. الآلة الجهنمية. الرماة الصغار, 4. ليماسول: الصقر العربي للإبداع, 1991.

اللباد, محيي الدين. 30 سؤالاً. صورة الغلاف

al-Labbād,  Muḥyī al-Dīn. 30 Suʾālan. al-Rumāh al-ṣighār, 5. Limassol: al-Ṣaqr al-ʿArabī lil-Ibdāʿ, 1991.

اللباد, محيي الدين. 30 سؤالاً. الرماة الصغار, 5. ليماسول: الصقر العربي للإبداع, 1991.

... and more BD: Toktok! المزيد عن القصص المصورة: توك توك

TokTok #3 Front cover

In the last post, I already referred to TokTok, the more lighthearted (but by no means trivial) predecessor and pioneer in Egyptian BD magazines. If I add a separate post here devoted to that title, it is not because my conscience demands fair treatment, but because I had an opportunity to encounter, see and hear part of the editorial team last week. Meet the full team:

The TokTok editorial team (RTL): Makhlūf, Shinnāwī, Tawfīq, Hishām Raḥmah, ʿAbd Allāh, ʾAndīl

Dina Heshmat of the Arabic department had kindly taken the initiative to invite them for one of their informal lunchtime gatherings. Shinnāwī, Hishām Raḥmah, and ʾAndīl presented samples of their work, talked about their experience, and engaged with the questions from the crowd.

For the historical record: all three have a background in arts, and have 'real' jobs as illustrators/ caricaturists with Egyptian newspapers. The magazine began as an amateur (with a capital 'A', and a French accent) experiment before the 2011 revolution: the project of the magazine was first offered to two (unnamed) publishers, both of which refused, for various reasons, leading the group to publish themselves. Despite a lack of a formal distribution network (apparently, one has to publish an edition of at least 5000 copies to distribute via existing distributors; TokTok currently has an edition of 1000 copies), the magazine was a success, and has developed a relatively small, but faithful following -- students of the Fine Arts department, to begin with, but now it attracts readers from all walks of life.

TokTok #3 Page 1 and impressum

It helps that the content is humorous, that the stories are well scripted and visually appealing, and that the narratives often grow out of the illustrations -- indeed, there are several examples of narratives that rely on graphics alone, and do without text. Oh, and the text is mostly in colloquial Egyptian Arabic, so it has an 'authentic' flair about it, right down to the use of slang.

Here we come to the part that didn't appeal to the publishers: The magazine has warning on its cover: يحفظ بعيدا عن متناول الاطفال - Keep out of reach of children ... maybe because some of its content is graphic (as in 'explicit'), or because the texts contain sexual innuendo (or WORSE. Shush.). I read that the makers of Metro had themselves arrested and fined for infringing public decency, so this is not a trivial issue for publishers and artists alike.

It was interesting to hear ʾAndīl about the group's experience in offering the content to publishers. Because the concept is relatively new to the Egyptian market, publishers were reportedly not able to categorize the concept, or appreciate it fully. The artist also pointed out that the rough draft is less appealing that the finished product, and therefore tougher to sell. Responding to questions about alleged 'indecency' , the makers of TokTok pointed out that many recent novels contain language that is far more explicit than their magazine, and yet pass the censor without delay.

I am still trying to find out how one can buy an entire set of the magazine, and when I do, I'll add a note here that leads to the source. Enjoy.