CAIRO: During the Egyptian revolution last year, an American comic book, translated into Arabic, was said to have circulated between the protesters in Tahrir Square. Called "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story" it depicted, graphically and in text, an example of peaceful civil disobedience. It was distributed to encourage the protesters with an illustrated example of democratic change. One year later among the revolutionaries celebrating the January 25th anniversary in Cairo, some were wearing V for Vendetta masks. The masks are inspired by the film based on the Alan Moore graphic novel of the same name. Set in the future, the population of present-day England rises up against their autocratic government, wearing the masks. Generally thought to imply civil opposition to authority, the masks were also used by the Occupy movement in several cities around world. The Egyptian comic “Metro” was banned by the courts in 2009, after just a few months on the shelves. It seems that in Egypt, a large segment of comics have come to be inextricably tied to politics. Generally, the community surrounding comics and their production is small and many titles are imported. In Heliopolis, however, it is possible to find what its owners call both Cairo's first and only comic bookshop, Kryptonite. "We mainly sell superhero books, like the classic American stuff. That is what we like ourselves, and also non-superhero comics are tougher to sell in Egypt," says Ahmed, who with his partner Kareem opened the shop in Heliopolis two years ago. The partners say they know 90 percent of the customers by name. "We buy what we like and each have a different taste, so that means we get a variety for the customers," Kareem adds. There is only one Egyptian comic in the shop, a skinny book about the revolution, available both in English and Arabic editions. "When the revolution happened, everyone was making comics about that," Kareem continues. "If there was one Egyptian who made a successful comic, others would follow," he says. "Captain America – Captain Egypt," he laughs. Most of their stock is imported from the United States, and so it all has to be cleared by customs upon arrival Egypt. The comics are censored for political overtones, violence, profanites and sexually explicit content. "When Batman ‘Knightfall' came out, customs were scared of its cover. But then they checked through it, and it was fine," Ahmad says. "There are a lot of restrictions on the content. But also for them, it's a cartoon. They used to sometimes just rip out the page if it was too graphic or violent, and they still might do that." Ahmed is working on his own comic, both as an animated TV series and in book form. The story is set in Egypt and while not apolitical, it does not carry an overtly political message either. The story centers around three groups of Egyptian superheros, "but not like the Marvel stuff." It offers a parable of the revolution, with the heroes fighting off an alien invasion. Its message is of cooperation – political fractionalization "just doesn't work." "They all have to unite to go somewhere, we have to unite too to go somewhere. In Egypt as well, in politics, we have to unite and work together," Ahmed says. "I try to gather all my friends and we meet and work on this project," he says. They're a mixed group of both self-trained comic artists and those with a more classical fine-arts background. Having been an art student in Malaysia, Ahmed says there is more of an established culture surrounding comics and graphic arts compared to Egypt. "In Malaysia, often comic shops don't open until three o'clock in the afternoon, but then they stay open until midnight,” he says. "It's more of a place to come and hang out, really." "Maybe in two years we'll have a Comic Con in Cairo too," Ahmed says to Kareem. "Yeah. Hopefully." "Maybe it'll take a bit longer." Last year they both visited the Dubai Comic Convention, the first in the Middle East. Next year plan they hope to get sponsored go to the main convention in San Diego, the biggest of its kind in the world. "Americans are crazy about comics," Kareem says, with Ahmed adding, "It's the community, there they have a community." "Yeah, there you're surrounded by the hype – we need to create that hype," Kareem agrees. He continues, "But if you invent a really good, Egyptian character I think people will like it. I think it might make more Egyptians interested in comics.”
