Friends of Jalila - AK Comics - Middle East Heroes

New Statesman

2007-01-14T01:04:00.000-08:00

Great new article by Amil Khan on AK in this week's 'New Statesman' - the UK's leading political and cultural weekly.

You can catch up with it here:

http://www.newstatesman.com/200701150019

Jessica Blandy

2007-01-02T02:22:00.000-08:00

Jessica is one of my favourite of the new wave of French BD graphic novel series, started in 1987 by Belgian creators Renaud and Dufaux. She is published by Dupuis, one of the two biggest French-Belgian comic book empires.

Jessica is a novelist/journalist/adventurer who travels the length and breadth of the US moving through a demi-monde of gangsters, pimps, alien artefacts and the supernatural. The writing is sharp and clear and there is a gallic ennui about her life, her courage and bravery stemming from a tragic past.

There are already 24 episodes of Jessica - sold throughout France, Belgium and Quebec - and an English-language can't be far behind now that Dupuis has started translating its work in bulk and selling it through the Humanoids imprint in the US.

You can find out more and order copies of Jessica here:

http://www.amazon.ca/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A1080014&page=1

And Jessica has her own fan page here:

http://www.leroi.org/BD/jessica.html

You can see more of the artist Jean Dufaux here:

http://lambiek.net/artists/d/dufaux_jean.htm

and the writer Renaud Denauuw here:

http://lambiek.net/artists/r/renaud.htm

New Team for AK

2006-12-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

AK Comics has appointed a new team of superstars to guide the company through its first wave of graphic novels in the spring and to build on the excellent work of the monthly squad.

So stand up and applaud:

Kathy Yom - Director of Business Affairs
Tanious Matta - Creative Director
Colin Barton - Creative Development
Lydie Lyons - Administration Overlord

Kathy is just beginning to make her way in the business and was recently involved in the Disney animated movie, 'Home on the Range'.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Savannah college graduate, Tanious Matta has been linked to AK for a couple of years having worked on the excellent Rakan adventure - the Sword of Majido.

Graphic novels are clearly the best way forward for AK and it looks like the right team has been chosen to make this a reality in 2007.

Good luck guys!

German Comic Books

2006-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

It's tough being a German comic book writer!

For one thing, the market has been traditionally very small - only 4% of all printed matter in Germany is in comic book form. On top of this, 70% of this miniscule market share is dominated by Japanese manga and nearly all the rest by American reprints of Spiderman or by the iconoclastic Dutch series, 'Storm'.

But there have been some great successes - I remember reading an excellent graphic novel a few years ago called 'Vampire' for example.

Looking on the bright side, however, it does mean that there are great opportunities for developing the market and increasing market share. Carlsen comics are doing great work in this area. You can find out more here:

http://www.carlsen.de/rights.comics/

I think you'll agree reading through this list that there is some fascinating stuff here - some very mature reading. I've ordered a batch and will be reporting back to you on it soon.

In particular, I've heard good things about Isabel Kreitz and her book, 'The Discovery of the Curried Sausage'. I'm particularly looking forward to that as I am a great fan of the curried sausage and I've often eaten them on my visits to Hamburg - the culinary capital of the north in my opinion.

Another that comes with rave reviews is Nam and Tram Nguyen's 'Delilah' a translation from the Daisuko studios. This Vietnamese written manga is said to have a delicate touch which still manages to be funny and bittersweet at the same time in the best Asian tradition.

Oh - and they also have a character called Aya!!

This Aya is a 19-year-old who lives in Africa in the late 1970s and faces a whole series of teenage-angst problems with her friends and family. It's another bittersweet French-written romantic comedy which premiered at the Angouleme festival last year. How does the Carlsen Aya compare to AK's Aya? - why not buy both and decide for yourself !!!

You can read more about Carlsen's Aya here:

http://www.carlsencomics.de/cc/cc_artikel/show.php3?id=804&nodeid=1

AK Comics - Graphic Novels!

2006-11-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

At last, AK Comics have taken the very positive decision of shifting to graphic novel format. There are several problems with producing the characters in monthly comic book form:

Firstly, communications and distribution become strained when the artists are in Brazil, production is in Egypt and distribution is throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the USA and Europe - you try juggling with six balls and you'll get the message.

Secondly, the comic book market is so, so crowded. It is - as we know - essentially a duopoly so this is where most people spend their money. But then, we have a whole gaggle of smaller publishers fighting for the final few pence. There's no way that the consumer has the time or energy to explore this fully - to separate the quality stuff from the dross.

Thirdly, there's the declining distribution outlet - fewer and fewer comic book stores, offering less and less space to comic books - and who are only able to operate on a paid-order basis - thereby ensuring they won't take any risks.

Finally, there's the extremely short shelf-life - one month to sell all your product or die in the attempt - and then you have to do it all over again the next month!

The graphic novel format on the other hand offers a shelf-life of up to TEN YEARS for a book. Also, there are many more outlets - bookshops, airports and so on. The profit margins are higher, people will look for back titles of characters they enjoyed, deadlines are less crucial. This is why the Japanese keep all the issues of their titles on sale all the time - and even the Italians are moving in that direction - what possible reason could you have for taking a title off th shelf after a month - isn't that crazy?

And then of course, with over 100 pages, you can develop richer plots, characterisation, artwork and so on - you end up with a much better product all round.

So this is the start of a new era for AK Comics - the first graphic novels should start appearing in the spring of 2007. I can't wait!

Download AK

2006-10-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

You can now download AK Comics to your desktop at a 33% discount - what could be a better bargain than that?

This innovative new approach to comic book sales is available from Drive-Thru Comics, one of the leaders in this new field. You can find them here:

http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=691

Happy Reading Guys!

Bloomberg

2006-09-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

There's an excellent Bloomberg business article on AK Comics here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aZ.VkHgVyWrA&refer=culture

It raises an interesting question that the AK staff are struggling with at the moment:

On the one hand, the aim of AK Comics is to show that the Middle East can accommodate modern, US-style superheroes as part of its cultural mix and as positive role models for its children.

On the other hand, if they are simply clones of American superheroes, why not just buy Spiderman instead? How can AK appeal to a western audience if the heroes lack any Middle Eastern identifiers?

It's a difficult puzzle and I would personally welcome your comments on it. Perhaps the solution would be to have two different strains of MEH - one published for the Middle East and leaning towards western imagery; and one published for the west and leaning towards Middle Eastern imagery?

It's just a thought

Great New Koor Video

2006-09-06T01:37:00.000-07:00

AK Comics of Egypt continues to go from strength-to-strength with sales of its 'Middle East Heroes' range of comic books increasing each month. Recently launched in the US and UK as a monthly, distributed to all comic book stores through Diamond, future plans include an animated TV series.

Check out this great new music video by Koor inspired by the four Middle East Heroes - it'll knock you out:

http://www.akcomics.com/AbtalAl3arab.wmv

Sequential Tart

2006-08-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

A great interview with Michael Gross on the always wonderful Sequential Tart website - in my opinion the best comics-related website on the net.

You can see it here:

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=005459

AK's very successful visit to Comicon this year has provoked a lot of responses. You might like to check out these:

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=005363
http://www.thecomicsreview.com/temper.php?id=116

Tony Matta - Comicon

2006-07-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

It was great to see the AK panel receiving so much publicity from Comicon. Daerick Gross, Marwan el-Nasher and new boy Tony Matta (of Violent Messiahs fame), amongst others, apparently gave an excellent run-down of the priorities for the company as it moves into full-frontal marketing in the US.

All four comics are now being published and distributed simultaneously in the US - we're up to issue 2 already.

The company is picking up on fan comments that the characters may be too americanised and this autumn the characters will set off in a new direction with stronger characterisation and with greater emphasis on Arabic culture.

Trade paperbacks may come later.

Daerick also apparently spoke about some of the difficulties of launching an overseas comic book company in the US, the problems of using a standardised Arabic in order to maximise coverage in the Middle East, and the tentative steps being taken in the Greek and Chinese markets by the company.

Sounds like a really interesting panel.

Libraries

2006-07-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Regular readers of this blog will be interested to know that ALL UK libraries have now signed up to a scheme where they will stock graphic novels. Hopefully, one day it will stock the planned Middle East Heroes trade paperback - that will help to promote the brand.

This is an incredible step forward for all comic book fans in the UK. UK libraries are completely free and you can borrow up to 20 books at a time.

My own local library has been stocking graphic novels for two years and currently has a stock of over 500 - so I can keep up to date with every new publication without having to shell out a single penny. Marvellous!

My own local library which is a good one also has just about every new movie DVD too and until recently stocked CDs - but has just decided to discontinue this as very few people have borrowed CDs in the last year. However, it has extended the DVD collection to include old TV series - everything from 77 sunset strip up to Veronica Mars - which I think is a great idea.

Personally, I've always felt we should extend the library concept even further - and as a member of my local library committee, I would welcome suggestions. Some people have already suggested bridal wear, party dresses and fashion accessories (necklaces, wristbands etc).

Legs Weaver

2006-07-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

Yatta!

Legs Weaver is an Italian descendent of Honey West - also heavily influenced by space opera - but that's simplifying things! The series is produced by Bonelli Editore, the greatest Italian publishing company, and has 119 issues which can be read as stand-alone adventures, although there are interesting plotlines that run through them.

What makes Legs, the tough and sexy special agent for Agenzia Alfa, a little bit different is that she is gay and her stunningly beautiful lipstick-model sidekick, May is bisexual.

But May is also more than just a sidekick - she also has a very strong backstory too - including once having been an art-thief.

The series is at its best in the first 70 issues with wide-ranging iconoclastic plots, action, genuine suspense (will Legs and May hold together?) and more than a little humour. The authors were given free range to place Legs in settings of their choice and to create atmospheres of their own choosing - the full naked creativity of Italian fumetti was released onto this one character- the outcome was a phenomenon. Travelling through those first 50 or so issues was a remarkable, life-changing experience. Four years of heaven. There is a tremendous brio about the whole thing. Issue 50 is one of the great classics of comic book literature.

Sadly, towards the end of its run, major changes in plot structure and the loss of May from the series, signalled the end and it eventually petered out a couple of years later. Bonelli Editore made some big mistakes around 2002-03. They developed a long-running and quite frankly boring plot involving a war between Earth and its colonies which lasted three years and stumbled across several different characters and eventually left them in a changed world which the new authors on the team struggled with. Legs ambience was completely changed and it failed dismally. Many readers of all Bonelli products were lost during those three years.

Sad - but luckily Bonelli is now recovering as a business and is moving neatly into animation with series like Martin Mystery.

You can find out more about Legs here:

http://www.geocities.com/area51/chamber/5834/
http://www.ubcfumetti.com/legsweaver/

Modesty Blaise

2006-07-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

One of the characters that may have been influenced by Honey West was Modesty Blaise. Created by Peter O'Donnell in 1962, Modesty Blaise was a comic strip rather than a comic book and was essential reading first thing in the morning for every spotty teenage boy like myself in the 1960s!

You can find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesty_Blaise

As well as the comic strips, there have been novels and movies. The first starred the beautiful Monica Vitti but was a little too European for most British tastes. Too later movies were both poorly constructed and she deserves better. Quentin Tarantino has expressed an interest in the character and so has Nicole Kidman, so provided Quentin moves quickly (Nicole is now 40+), this could be something special.

Honey West

2006-07-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

One friend of Jalila would almost certainly be Honey West - the fast-talking, leather-clad private eye invented by GG Fickling - husband-and-wife team - in the 1950s. Honey spawned a first-class TV series starrting Anne Francis in the early 1960s and it is almost certainly time for a Honey movie surely.

Honey was the inspiration for later characters suchg as Emma Peel of the Avengers and Modesty Blaise of the Daily Mail - perhaps even Legs Weaver, the long-running Italian comic book series.

You can find out more about Honey here:

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/honey.html

The Honey West novels have just started being reissues - the first two on sale are 'This Girl For Hire' and 'Kiss for a Killer'. They both have great plots, full of intriguing twists and turns and capture the optimistic world of the early 60s with great style and bite. You can order them from your local bookstore or through Amazon.

Summer Competition Winner - Ahriman

2006-07-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the summer competition - the quality of all the entries was absolutely fantastic - every single one was amazing!! The strength of the imaginations of children never ceases to amaze me - so in a way it is with some sadness that we have to choose a winner, because everyone deserves a prize on this one.

But the winner we've chosen was applauded not just by me and the teacher who helped lead this particular workshop - but also by all the other kids in the class, so in some ways, I think this is probably a fair result.

So, stand forward Charity Love (yes, that's her real name!) who gave us: The Legion!

The Legion protect the Black Stone of Obsidian, a rectangular marble-like stone. A source of energy that emits the power of love, peace and happiness thoughout the world. The Legion are the result of a genetic experiment. There are 10,000 of them. They are all identical. Half of them are men and half of them are women. They have enhanced abilities - partly-psychic and partly-physical. They have been scattered throughout space and time, so adventures can take place anywhere at any time (great for an ongoing series!). They believe the purpose of life is to create harmony from chaos.

The Black Stone is always under attack from The Snake. The Snake is evil, hate and chaos. It is partly-physical, exploding into the physical world in the shape of a thin 500-mile long underground snake that lives beneath the surface of the earth and burrows through the mud and rock often popping up in the middle of the night in teenage girls' bedrooms(!); partly temporal - it can weave through the folds of time and appear in different times at the same time, so to speak - and partly psychic, it can burrow into the minds of men leaving behind eggs that grow into psychic worms, creating temptation and sick and evil thoughts - or sometimes just discord and depression, unhappiness, fear and anger.

The Snake is trying to capture the Stone for Ahriman, a great sorceror who lived at the dawn of time. He has progressed beyond the human frame into a world of ideas, archetypes and thoughts. He wishes to consume the Black Stone psychically, draining it of its energy - in a way that you might drain a peach of its juice. Ahriman is pure evil and he wishes to consume all the good in the world. But what is evil? With Ahriman, it is simply a belief. He believes harmony is unnatural and that chaos is what entropy teaches us is the natural order of things. When entropy is complete, only then will the universe find true peace. To Ahriman, it is the Stone that is corrupt.

And then there is the mysterious Zurvan - a Being so abstract that he is as far removed from Ahriman, the Snake, or the Legion and the Stone - as these creatures are from us. Zurvan is amoral and his purpose is unknown. Is it possible that he has created the universe and everything in it simply to experiment with his ideas of Platonic concepts such as Love, Evil, Chaos and Order? Or does he have another purpose that the series will slowly unveil?

Isn't that amazing? Charity is just fourteen years old! Isn't that just a bit scary? And she looks such a normal, sweet and innocent little thing - with all these thoughts floating around in her head!! Well done, Charity - you have some truly amazing concepts here!

Stand by for an announcement for a great new autumn competition coming soon from AK Comics UK!

Aya - Great Holiday

2006-07-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yes thanks to all of you who asked, I had a great holiday.

But now, it's also great to be back manning the UK office of the world's no.1 comic book company - AK Comics.

When I arrived back, I found the latest issue of Aya waiting for me - and what a knock-out issue it is too - you cannot afford to miss this one - it's the origins issue for Aya and it's written by the ace creative talent at AK - Ayman Kandeel, Marwan el-Nasher and Sara Kareem - and it has absolutely everything!

I won't issue a spoiler by telling you too much about the plot - but suffice it to say that we don't only have the origin of Aya but also a very interesting new character. Also, we get to see the evil Axes at work infiltrating and silently corrupting society in order to maximise its own power. And if all that wasn't enough, we also meet their very interesting henchmen - Donga, One-Bullet and the very sexy Kamikaze - I want to read her backstory too sometime - I think we have another Catwoman in the making here.

The artwork by Jheremy Raapack is fantastic - the detail extraordinary - and he is ably assisted by Rafael Kras.

You can order Aya through comic book stores in the UK and USA or by subscription from www.akcomics.com

Legion of Super Heroes

2006-06-18T00:53:00.000-07:00

One of the great superhero teams of the sixties which I loved as a kid was the Legion of Superheroes. What was so different about them was that the stories were set a thousand years in the future, taking them out of the tired run-0f-the-mill DC format. In fact, I always thought it was a mistake having Superboy as a member but I guess that was a marketing decision.

In recent years, attempts have been made to revive the Legion, but in my opinion none of them have really worked and I would like to see a return to the classic legion of the sixties - there is still plenty of work to be done in providing adventures for the likes of Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass and my favourite of them all - Phantom Girl:

Oh - and couldn't we have a movie or better still a TV series? The rotating leads would make an excellent TV series.

You can find out more here:

http://members.shaw.ca/legion_of_super-heroes/mainpage.htm

More Competition Entries

2006-06-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Another batch of entries arrived today from a school where I gave my 'How to Make a Comic Book' masterclass. This lasts all morning - so any teachers out there who are interested - it's a nice thing to do near the end of term - Years 7 & 8 are probably the best ages (10-13) but older students may also benefit. It's very hands-on with a short introduction on world comics; followed by a brainstorming section for the characters and plot outline; the group then breaks down into script writers, artists and 'editor' (progress chaser) before coming together with a four-page finished product at the end of the morning which is then copied and distributed. This is also good for marketing (always an issue in modern schools) with the opportunity for lots of newspaper-friendly photos.

Please contact me if you are interested.

Meanwhile, here are some of the latest entries:

Jason Fleming's characters are The Caliph, The Emir, The Sultan and the Shah. They command the four 'fundamental' forces of nature. The Caliph can produce lightning from his fingertips but also can control all electrical machinery such as computers. The Emir controls magnetism and through that has power over metallic objects - he can twist the barrel of a gun for example. The Sultan controls gravity and can levitate but also make other objects so heavy that they fall helplessly to the ground. The Shah commands light and can make himself invisible by bending the light. But each of these characters has a different but equally strange weakness. You will need to read Jason's stories to find out what they are.....

Jason has slightly broken the rules of the competition by having all-male characters (but we don't care!) but this is balanced by Sheila Ahmad's entry which are all female characters! There's Princess Amina, who is from West Africa, and can duplicate herself to form an army of dozens - but each time one of her 'army' gets killed, it takes one day off her life - how long does she have left? Princess Amina lives in the 16th century. There's Tanya, a Scythian warrior from the mountains of Kazakhstan. Tanya comes from a tribe that has isolated itself for centuries and which follows the 'old' religion of paganism. Tanya lives at the time of Ancient Greece. Tanya is seven-feet tall and carries a broadsword equal to her height! The third member of the team is Siti Sati, who comes from Zanzibar. Siti Sati has the most beautiful voice in the world and is able to bend others to her will when she sings to them. Siti Sati lives at the time of the German occupation of Zanzibar in 1900. And finally, there's Jasmine, a fashion model in LA today. Jasmine has the ability to walk through time with the same ease that others walk through space. These four characters have their own individual stories but Sheila has this amazing idea that all four of them are connected telepathically, that there is something drawing them altogether to a place in Egypt in 2006 and Jasmine has been somehow given the task of making this happen. Wow! What an imagination this girl's got!! She's also written a great story that goes with her descriptions - if I have time, I'll stick that on the web as well.

Another entry comes from Salman Singh and is based on Arabic mythology, in which he has a deep interest. His characters are: Belit, who likes to be known as Belle Star. She is an extremely beautiful goddess. When other women look upon her, they cry in shame at their inadequacy. Belle is able to control the power of the Sun, but she can be a bit vain and is not terribly bright - a tarnished angel perhaps. Bes, who likes to be called Beast, is a happy, cheeful, short, fat ugly God who likes to get drunk and have a good time - which usually includes having a good fight with the bad guys. Nergal, who likes to be called Nerd (which tells you a lot), commands the Code of Life - the program or the DNA, if you like, that is the operating system for all living things. With this talent, he is able to create new forms of life when he needs to in order to help the Gods to combat the bad guys. Astarte, who likes to be called Bad Ass, is a tough, militaristic woman, who (from the look of Salman's drawing) likes to wear a lot of leather and rubber! She is beautiful in a cold, clinical kind of way and is a master of all forms of weaponry. Salman's Gods have lived on the Earth for thousands of years, ever since their spaceship crashed here. They are not immortal but have an average life span of 100,000 years. Originally, there were twenty of them, but slowly over the centuries, this has been eroded down to four who remain very close to each other - but also they have become very protective of the humans amongst which they live. They call themselves the Annurabi.

Remember, the UK competition ends on June 30th but is also open to people outside the UK - in fact one entry has already arrived from France and another from the US.

Meanwhile in Cincinatti

2006-06-16T01:05:00.000-07:00

And here is the AP article again - this time in the Cincinatti Enquirer:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20060613/ENT/606130311/

And the Delaware News Journal:

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060613/LIFE/606130311/1005/

MacLean's news feed in California:

http://www.macleans.ca/shared/print.jsp?content=e061023A

It can also be found in the Kuwait Crime News:

http://www.einnews.com/kuwait/newsfeed-KuwaitCrime

but you need to be a member to access the full article.

I think that's probably enough now to demonstrate just how successful this interview has been. Well done to all concerned!

More AP

2006-06-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Still tracking that AP article across the world's press. Here it is again on the Redding website:

http://www.redding.com/redd/fe_books/article/0,2232,REDD_17500_4762918,00.html

I'm finding it very interesting how sub-editors use AP articles - a new title, a slight twist of the text - and there we have another page of the newspaper or website completed. The power of agencies like AP, Reuters, Itar-Press and so on to plant news in this way is fascinating.

Here it is again on PE.Com

http://www.pe.com/entertainment/stories/PE_Fea_Ent_D_comics.new.258b545.html

And also in Santa Cruz, New Mexico:

http://www.santacruzlive.com/ex/content/view/5204/126/

Fascinating

Yet More Publicity !!

2006-06-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

A great photo of Ayman from Jam! the showbiz website - another follow-up from the Associated Press interview. It looks like the Diamond distribution has gotten off to a great start in the USA - well done to all involved!

http://jam.canoe.ca/Books/2006/06/10/1624702-ap.html

And here it is again in the York Dispatch:

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/entertainment/ci_3927835

On the Yahoo Canada website:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/10062006/2/entertainment-batman-meets-aladdin-form-21st-century-comic-book-heroes.html

From LJ World in Kansas:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/jun/11/batman_meets_aladdin/?arts

And the Herald Net in Washington State:

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/06/11/100tra_tl10mideast001.cfm

So all in all, a pretty successful interview!

More Publicity & Jheremy Rhaapak

2006-06-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

The AP article has begun to spread out worldwide. Here's a version appearing in the Hindustan Times in India:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1716490,00110004.htm

This is good news for AK as it demonstrates there is a potential market for the comic book in South Asia.

Maenwhile, let me introduce you to Jheremy Rhapaak, one of those great Brazilian artists who has been working on Aya and Zein. You can find out more about him here

http://www.lynx-studio.com/samples.php3?id_rubrique=90

and here:

http://raapack.multiply.com/

You should certainly check out his final-inked image of Batman for deviant art which is very, very good. I wish I had his talent.

Summer Competition

2006-06-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

Our fun UK summer competition finishes on June 30th. Many thanks to all those UK fans of AK Comics who have entered so far. All the entries have been excellent. Here are just three of them to keep you excited:

Tom Watson's team is called Arabian Knights and is based on well-known figures. There's Ali Baba - he controls an army of 40 robots, each of whom has a different skill. There's Djinn - a sorceror's apprentice; a comic character whose sorcery sometimes goes wrong! The third member of the team is Scheherazade who is able to tell stories that become true as she is telling them (!) and finally there's Cleopatra, who is able to leave men breathless and weak with her beauty and who commands the snakes and all the other creatures that live in the desert.

That's a great effort Tom - well done! Tom is only 11 years old, folks!

Then there's Leila Kadir who has based her team on Arabian heroes from the Middle Ages. There's Prince Sandokan, a swashbuckling character who sails a ship through the skies; Then there's Prince Antara - a combination of Robin Hood and King Arthur. Antara becomes stronger and more powerful when the beautiful lady Ablah is close to him, but as she moves further away........ . The third of Leila's team - which she calls the League of Arab Heroes - is Meera, who wanders Panarabia bringing love to those who deserve it and who has the power to turn evil back upon itself. Then, finally, from an earlier period - there's the Queen of Sheba who is the leader of the team, of immense intelligence and a wide range of psychic powers that she is still exploring. WOW!!! Can't wait to read more from Leila - well done!

Chris Robinson has opted for a team of super-villains!! His ideas have grown from a project he is doing at school on mythology. Most of his fellow students have chosen Greece and Rome - but Chris is interested in Egyptian mythology. His super-villains called The Pantheon include: Anubis - a villain who controls a pack of jackals that swarm through a small town terrorising the inhabitants at night; Horus - a villain who controls a flock of hawks and can command them to attack the police or army units; Tefnut - a female villain who can control water, making torrential rain fall on her pursuers for example; and Sekhmet who has the strength of a lioness and can control cat-like animals of all types. Some great ideas there, Chris.

What a great bunch of kids - with wonderful imaginations. There's still time to enter this competition which finishes on June 30th. Good luck everyone!! Remember everyone who reads AK Comics is a winner.

AK Meets AP

2006-06-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

There's a great new article written by Associated Press on AK Comics this month as we build up towards Comicon in July.

AP articles are widely circulated which is great news for AK and you can find a copy of the article on a legal website - of all places - here:

http://news.findlaw.com/ap/e/53/06-09-2006/c9d4003dffd09cca.html

Daerick Gross is the managing editor of AK Comics and is featured in the article. You can find some of Daerick's own exceptional artwork here:

http://www.studiogpub.com/artwork/print/dsr/SciFi.htm

Another article as part of the build-up, with some good analysis, appears in one of my favourite comic websites Silver Bullet. You can read that here:

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/soapbox/114895569441667.htm

There have also been some very positive reviews of AK Comics following its launch in the US and UK through Diamond. Here are a couple from The Comics Review:

http://www.thecomicsreview.com/temper.php?id=116
http://www.thecomicsreview.com/temper.php?id=127

Amazons

2006-06-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Robert E Howard probably based Red Sonya on the Scythian warrior women of ancient Greece. This territory was also part of the vast sprawling ancient loosely-governed empire sometimes known as Cimmeria in about 1200BC.

The Wikipedia entry on Amazons is excellent and can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons

I'm hurrying this blog entry a little because I keep getting cut off.

A more fun site is this one with lots of terrific links:

http://folk.uio.no/thomas/lists/amazon-connection.html

Red Sonja

2006-06-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

I've just recently been enjoying the new Red Sonja graphic novel. Of course, we all remember the surprisingly good 1985 film with Brigitte Nielsen and Sandahl Bergman (if you ignore the annoying cute little kid) but isn't it time now for another one? Yes, it is! And a new one is already in production - but currently locked in development hell. We'll see what happens.

You can find out more about the original movie here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089893/

And there's an excellent - really excellent - background article on Red Sonja from Wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sonja

There were also some excellent paperbacks in the 1980s and it would be nice if these were reprinted - 20 years is after all a big enough gap for a new market to grow through and become interested.

For such an exciting character with a long pedigree stretching back to Robert E Howard, there are surprisingly few fan groupings for Red Sonja - hopefully this will change in the future.

Vampirella

2006-06-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

One of Jalila's biggest friends and fans must be Vampirella - the exotic vampire-siren from the planet Drakulon.

Originally developed by the legendary Forrest J Ackermann of 'Famous Monsters of Filmland' fame, she really came to life through the work of sf satirist, Ron Goulart in the eponymous Warren publication of the 1970s. Ron also wrote some excellent Vampirella novels around that time which really deserve to be reissued.

You can find out more about Vampi here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampirella

And she has her own website here:

http://www.vampirella.com/

There was a 1996 Vampirella film which had a disappointingly small budget but was in fact quite a decent film, acted with great gusto by all those involved. Talisa Soto made quite an excellent Vampirella and the details of the film can be found here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118063/

There should of course be a new big-budget Vampirella movie and it's extrordinary that this hasn't been picked up yet - there are rumours of course, as always, but nothing concrete.

For many people, Julie Strain was the ultimate Vampirella pin-up model and her website can be found here:

http://www.juliestrain.com/

Although the newest Vampirella also looks pretty much the part - enter the stage Maria deAngelis:

http://vampimodel.tripod.com/maria.html

Meanwhile, you can find out more about the excellent books of Ron Goulart - including his Groucho Marx, PI books, the funniest detective books ever written - here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/ron-goulart/

And of course, we finish where we started with the legendary Forrest J Ackermann:

http://4forry.best.vwh.net/

Femforce

2006-06-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

After a hard day at work defying and defeating evil, most of Jalila's friends like to retire to the Femforce headquarters for a sauna and massage and a very dry martini.

Femforce is the wonderful creation of our near-namesakes AC Comics - in particular Bill Black and Stephanie Sanderson. This is one you really can't miss. Don't worry too much about continuity. The creators worry about this but actually you can pick up the running commentary after just a couple of issues - meanwhile you can certainly enjoy the art! You can find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femforce

With its sardonic humour, breath-taking array of characters, first-class artwork and nostalgic yearning, femforce have developed a huge cult following over the last 15 years.

Femforce also have just about the best fan website that you could ever hope for. You can find it here:

http://www.femforce-femfans.com/

And AC Comics themselves do a pretty mean blog which can be found here:

http://www.accomics.com/accomicsfemforce/femfhq.htm

And finally, another fan site can be found here:

http://rkscroy.tripod.com/accomics.htm

British Romance Comics!

2006-06-06T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday's post seems to have stirred up a hornet's nest - with many people asking about British Romance Comics to which, I confess, I don't really have much in the way of an answer.

But in response to requests, I have decided to try and build a collection of such comics and this may eventually lead to an exhibition somewhere - so if anyone has or knows where I can get copies of Valentine, Mirabelle, Bunty, Judy and all the rest - I would be pleased to hear from you - especially the annuals. I think I'm looking for anything that's pre-Jackie which was really the first of the pop/teenage culture magazines rather than a comic book.

Meanwhile, here's a great link to Misty - perhaps the last of those great girls' comic books. There's a tale here of just how stupid a comic book company can be - it has succeeded in alienating it's biggest fan and all her supporters. Shame on you Egmont!

http://www.mistycomic.co.uk/

Here's a good introduction from Gateway:

http://www.gatewaymonthly.com/girlcomics.html

Romance Comics

2006-06-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

I must confess to a soft spot for those wonderful romance comics that existed from the 1940s to the early 1960s. I don't understand why no one has taken the initiative to put a batch of them together and reissue them as an economy edition.

Meanwhile, we have Jeanne Martinet's wonderful 'Truer Than True Romance', probably the funniest graphic novel I've read in a very long time - but be a little careful - it's not for children.

You can find out more here:

http://www.dccomics.com/features/romance/index.html

And you can get reprints of some of the comics here:

http://www.jennymiller.com/romancecomics/girls_romances2/index.html

A more serious analysis can be found here:

http://www.matt-thorn.com/comicology/romance/index.html

Comic Box

2006-06-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Some more great news for all the friends of Jalila.

AK Comics will be featured in the June edition of 'Comic Box' - the leading comic book review magazine in France. This is a tremendous honour for us and we are already licking our lips at the thought of this high quality production giving AK the prominence it deserves in France. France is very much a key to our development strategy - more comic books (BD) are bought in France than any other European country and it's the country where our subscription base is even higher than the UK.

You can check out the current issue of 'Comic Box' and maybe take out a subscription here:

www.comicbox.com

Another Great AK Victory!!

2006-06-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

I know some of you will have seen the announcement in the UK press a couple of days ago and my follow-up letter to the 'Independent' newspaper yesterday - we have won our battle against the absurd distribution arrangements for magazines in the UK!

For those of you from overseas, let me explain the background:

In the UK, there are just a handful of big magazine publishers (four). There are three distributors to newsagents (WH Smith, John Menzies, Dawson News) but these distributors have divided the country up into three sections - so there is a monopoly in each section. There's a very cosy, unhealthy relationship between the distributor and the publishers.

The customer loses out because magazine prices are high - so high in fact, that I subscribe to the magazines I want to buy from Spain and it's still cheaper than buying them in the UK!!

The customer also loses out because the distributors are LAZY - they will only distribute to a fixed number of retailers.

The retailer loses out because he has to agree to the terms offered to him by the local monopoly distributor. He has no choice.

Small publishers lose out because the distribution costs are ridiculous (68% of the cover price!) and also because you have to provide tens of thousands of copies to the distributor - two-thirds of which are trashed at YOUR expense as the publisher. This is because the distributor floods the retailers with extra copies to ensure they maximise sales, rather than optimising sales to production. This is terribly inefficient - a crazy system.

About a year ago, I approached one of the distributors, asking to be distributed in areas with high Arab or Muslim populations - East London, Edinburgh, East Midlands etc. I provided maps, a business plan and so on. They agreed AK Comics was an excellent publication, that the target market had been correctly identified - but they still turned me down. I was left with the impression that they just couldn't be bothered to work on the idea.

OK - fair enough - but the problem is that in the UK if the monopoly distributor turns you down, that's it - you have nowhere else to go!

I complained to the Office of Fair Trading who confirmed that they were already feeling uneasy about distribution in the UK.

And now, one year later, they have ruled that the system operated by the distributors is illegal!!

We can now look forward to an explosion of local distributors, especially in the cities, and they will be prepared to sell magazines in a great many new ways - through street sellers, pubs, schools, office buildings, specialist shops and who knows what else. Within a couple of years, I expect to be able to approach several new independent distributors - very often just one man and his dog prepared to walk the streets offering magazines to passers-by for a third of the cover price.

Small publishers like AK will be able to start with small distribution, carrying little financial risk, and then build upwards. Customers will have a much greater variety of magazines available in the street at any time.

This is the market economy the way it was meant to work - thanks to AK!

Indian Comic Books

2006-05-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Indian comic book market is finally opening up. Compared to other big Asian nations, India has always been under-represented in the field of comic books.

ACK comics has dominated the scene with its excellent retelling of Indian mythology - the Mahabharata and Ramayana especially - here's a useful link to that:

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/Comics/

However, Virgin comics are about to launch inside India with some more contemporary offerings. Here's their website with some people who are definitely going to be friends of Jalila:

http://www.virgincomics.com/

In particular, there's the extraordinary Snakewoman, created by HK film maestro John Woo. You can find out more here:

http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=5425

The idea of linking comic books to movie creators is so obvious in a way, bearing in mind the symbiotic relationship between the two, that it's a wonder the arrangement has not been made more explicit and promoted as such before - 'Director's Cut' is a perfect name for the line. Well done all at Virgin! I hate you!

Once again, Wikipedia has come up trumps and you can find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Comics

On a more serious note, India has honoured its first female astronaut with her own comic book. Find out more here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4215974.stm

I've tried to get hold of this but haven't been able to - if someone can help, that would be great.

DC and Marvel have both tested the Indian market. There have been Indian Spidermen and Supermen for example - but neither really made the grade:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_India

It's possible that any chance they had was permanently destroyed by just about the worst movie of all time:

http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/s/superman-indian.html

If only I could get hold of a copy for my collection! It would be up there with my 1929 Indian version of Tarzan (it's true!)

But wait - Indian superhero movies are just about to get a whole lot better with Krrish! starring matinee hearthrob Hrithik Roshan. Find out more here:

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/movies/krrish-hritik-roshan-movie-preview.asp

Batwoman

2006-05-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Exciting news today of the new Batwoman. She's going to be a lesbian socialite!!

This is not the first time that DC have toyed with a lesbian lead character - Alan Moore already had that pretty well covered with Cobweb within DC's ABC comic line - and in a very creative and humorous way too.

Nevertheless, we should support diversity in comic books as much as possible - maybe one day we will see more non-superhero comic books from DC and Marvel. A couple of years ago I pitched to them an idea for a soap opera comic book called Celebration, based loosely on the Disney-created perfect community in Florida. I now offer this to the public domain because DC just laughed at me - and yet I promise I had good plots, mystery, suspense, cliffhangers, female characters to die for (think Desperate Housewives) and so on - but not a superhero in sight. I felt their rejection lacked imagination, so now the idea is yours - go to it.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the new Batwoman - I always did have a soft spot for Kathy Kane, even though I'm not quite sure why.

Not many people know this department. In 1966, on the back of the Batman TV series, there was a totally illegal Mexican spin-off movie called 'The Wild World of Batwoman'. You can find out more here:

http://www.agonybooth.com/batwoman/
http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/wbatwoman/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/evilskip42/batwoman.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061191/

More Russian Friends

2006-05-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, the Octobriana article was a big hit - thanks for all the emails and the requests for more Russian friends of Jalila.

Well, there's the Black Widow of course and her team-mate, Darkstar - but they are Marvel characters so don't really count. Much more interesting is the Xena-lookalike from the Tom Strong series whose name escapes me for the moment but who keeps saying Bozemoi!

And well, that's all I can find in my files - if anyone else has any ideas, I'd be pleased to hear from them....

Octobriana

2006-05-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting friends of Jalila must be Octobriana.

She was allegedly created by Peter Sadecky but there's enough doubt about this to make it unlikely. She's also proposed to be a genuine underground Russian comic book character from the 1960s. This is also extremely unlikely as I have worked in Russia on many occasions and I can confirm first-hand that there is no real comic book history in the country - and certainly Octobriana has too many western traits to gel with even the most radical of Russian students......but of course I can't guarantee this. It's the mystery that makes Octobriana so much fun.

You can find out more here:

http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/web?query=octobriana&search=+&location=wholeweb&isinit=true&invocationType=wsgold_uk

And there's a great online trip here:

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~rad/Octobri.html

But wait - there's more - a 30-minute Finnish film from 2003 - 'Octobriana & the Order of Lenin'. It starred the beautiful Noora Piili. You can find it here:

http://www.octobriana.net/

Wonder Woman

2006-05-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

One of the most important friends of Jalila must of course be William Moulton Marston's Wonder Woman. To be honest, the Wikipedia entry on Wonder Woman is first-class and it doesn't make sense for me to try to add anything to it except to say that the influence of Wonder Woman on Jalila is clear enough. Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman

Wonder Women has many fan sites devoted to her - as I'm sure Jalila will soon have.

Here's one of my favourites because it has all the book covers:

http://www.sufferingsappho.com/wrap/wrapHOME.html

There are some great WW covers here without the text:

http://abcovers.free.fr/index.php?option=com_ponygallery&Itemid=26&func=viewcategory&catid=37

And here's one of the best fanboy sites:

http://www.wonderwoman-online.com/index.html

And then finally of course there's the much awaited Joss Whedon Wonder Woman movie - the latest news on this can be found here:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/wonder-woman.asp

I promise that one day there will be a Jalila movie!

Inkers

2006-05-26T01:18:00.000-07:00

Let's not forget the importance of the colourist in the production of comic books. They are often overlooked. In an odd way, if you don't notice the colourist, he's doing a good job. The worst thing is when the colour is so glaring or so dysfunctional to the plot that it ruins the message coming through the medium.

Michael Kelleher has none of these problems. The brooding images he has produced for Aya are magnificant and his ability to use colour to create mood and tone - and to change this as the story progresses are legendary.

Have a look at some of his work here:

http://www.glasshousegraphics.com/creators/colorists/mikekelleher/index.htm

Trina Robbins

2006-05-25T01:14:00.000-07:00

One of the most important writers in the history of female characters in comic books is Trina Robbins. She wrote 'The Great Women Superheroes' and the even better 'From Girls to Grrrlz' about the change over 50 years from Romance style comics to kick-ass women superheroes.

I'm hoping that when she updates both of these, she will of course include Jalila and Aya in her lists - and the remarkable growth and influence of AK Comics - including the positive role models of women that AK is trying to develop in the Middle East.

You can check out Trina's website here:

http://www.trinarobbins.com/

Her old website is here:

http://www.popimage.com/gogirl/index.htm

And an interview with Trina can be found here:

http://www.nyccomicbookmuseum.org/exhibits/women_Trina.htm

Heroic Trio

2006-05-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite all-time movies stars three friends of Jalila - Heroic Trio.

Made in 1992 in Honk Kong, it starred the three leading actresses of the day - the late Anita Mui, who was loved by all and was revered as a singer throughout Asia: the best actress of her generation, Maggie Cheung - try and catch her also in the marvellous French film, 'Irma Vep' and also Wong Kar-Wai's masterpiece '2046'; and the one who knows how to fight - Michelle Yeoh, who also starred in Jackie Chan's best-ever film, 'Police Story 3'.

You can find out more here:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/h/heroictr.htm

The film even has its own dedicated tribute site which can be found here:

http://www.heroictrio.com/main.html

Forget all those shallow Hollywood blockbuster interpretations. This film is the real thing - heroic women in extreme settings, collaborating simply to stay alive - and yes, it has relationships too - real human relationships born of tragic suffering.

Get your hankies ready but also be prepared to be blown away by the fight scenes in one of Johnnie To's best-ever movies

More Philippines

2006-05-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

OK - so the mention of Darna seems to have been well-received - in fact some people have said they didn't even know there WAS a comic book industry in the Philippines - how wrong can you be. So okay, let's spend one more day looking at what's available.

One of my favourites is Rene Manaquis, who produces a Diabolik-type character called Masquaredo - here's his website:

http://www.geocities.com/capsulezone/main.html

His best work, however, is Manila 1913 - part of a series of stories on the Philippines quest for independence.

And then there's Bobby Villagazia's Merza, who could easily be a friend of Jalila. An article on her can be found here:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/merza.htm

They even have a comics art museum (yay!) in San Pablo. It has some amazing artwork. Look at this:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/

Look at the detail and vitality in Nestor Redondo's work:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/diwani.html and here:
http://www.komikero.com/museum/quovadis.html

And from the same golden age period of the early 1950s, Tony deZuniga:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

And the beautiful women of Fred Alcantara from the same age:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

And the crisp styling of Jesse Santos

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

Wow! Such talent - and it lends further strength, I believe, to my campaign for a comic art museum in the UK too.

Darna

2006-05-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting comic book creations in the world is Darna from the Phillippines. She's pretty much like Jalila crossed with Wonder Woman and immensely popular in her home country where there have been many Darna movies and a recent top-rated TV series.

It's strange that Darna has not travelled to the US and the UK when both comic book markets have been so open in the past to overseas influences, such as Manga - and of course, more recently, Middle East Heroes.

Darna was developed by genius Mars Ravelo and you can find out more about her here:

http://www.marsravelodarna.com/
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/darna.htm

Hot Summer Competition !!

2006-05-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Mind-blowing news for AK Comics fans today.

We launch our Hot Summer Competition here at AK Comics UK !!

AK Comics of Egypt which has recently launched its 'Middle East Heroes' range of comic books in the USA and UK are pleased to announce some major new developments in preparation with their appearance at Comicon 2006.

Enter the great new hot summer competition - open to everyone, everywhere - you can win a year's subscription to the comic by designing a completely NEW team of Middle East Heroes!!! Descriptions or images will be fine. Send your entries to akcomicsuk@aol.com or by post to: AK Comics UK, 9 Southdown Rd, Newhaven, East Sussex BN9 9JH, UK.

Checkout the AK website at www.akomics.com. Order 'Middle East Heroes' through the website or buy them in your local comic book store.

Closing Date: June 30th

Good luck!!

China Bound

2006-05-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

I think we can now say for sure that AK Comics is a worldwide phenomenon.

Following recent articles in the Australian and NZ press, this one has reached us from China - with famous media commentator Marwan el-Nasher of AK Comics commenting on the Simpsons of all things - where next, the Moon?

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=7&art_id=7958&sid=5910705&con_type=1&d_str=20051216

Felipe Ferreira

2006-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Felipe Ferreira is one of the great writers of Rakan and other Middle East Heroes from Brazil. He works for the same PopArt studio that we've talked about before on these pages.

Felipe recently gave an excellent interview to Italian national newspaper 'La Stampa' where he talked about the joys of working for Middle East Heroes and how happy he was to see strong female leads.

You can see the interview here:

http://www.lastampa.it/cmstp/rubriche/girata.asp?ID_blog=47&ID_articolo=18&ID_sezione=70

This may be of particular interest to our Egyptian readers as AK Comics has close links to the Italian Language Institute in Cairo

Felipe and Rafael Albuquerque also launch their own comic book through Image this month - the amazing 'Rumble in La Rambla' which is already being compared to 'Love and Rockets'. Please support the guys in this new venture!!

2006-05-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Francois Riviere - Slightly off-centre today but I thought you'd be interested to know that I met Francois Riviere, French BD-writer at a book signing in the French quarter of South Kensington in London on Saturday - seemed like a nice guy - and it's always good to chew the fat with someone else in the industry.

Samples of Francois's work can be found here:

http://www.bdparadisio.com/scripts/detail.cfm?Id=317

Francois has been in the industry many years and has produced beautiful adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, and stories for ace British spy Victor Sackville - and also some very atmospheric stories set in the second world war in his Blitz series - he's a true craftsman and a genius.

Naturally, I told him all about AK Comics. He seemed very interested and promised to spread the word when he returned to France.

2006-05-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Al Jazeera - The recent news of the upcoming Al Jazeera documentary on AK Comics brings to mind the recent interview from the TV station that can be found here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B66A298A-D802-43B1-A336-3BEEDEC42B8C.htm

In many ways, it's not surprising that AJ want to cover AK because their philosophies are very similar - both seeking to project a realistic view of the Arab world through positive role models and professional production standards.

Most intelligent people in the UK are looking forward to seeing Al Jazeera's new English-language channel helping to produce a more balanced range of news sources worldwide - in the same way that CCTV-9 has done from China and SAB has done from India.

Meanwhile, you can check out Al Jazeera's excellent website here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

2006-05-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

Comicon - Good news for all US fans of AK is that the gang will be appearing at Comicon again this year in July - once again, the only Middle Eastern company to do so.

Comicon is at the very heart of the US Comic Book scene and more information about it can be found here:

http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

One of my favourite writers who will be attending Comicon as a special guest is John Wagner - the creator of Judge Dredd, Britain's best-known comic book hero.

You can find out more about John here:

http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=458

You need to READ Judge Dredd to enjoy the irony and the humanistic approach to life - not so far from that of AK. Unfortunately, the Sylvestor Stallone movie did not do the character justice almost glorifying the aggression and violence of the character - not recognising that the writer and the reader actually disapprove of the lawman's actions - but are nevertheless drawn to the flaws of the character by the humanity within.

The AK guys at Comicon are going to have a great time mixing with all the special guests at Comicon this year, including J Michael Staczynski, Forrest J Ackermann, Brian Bolland and others - hopefully, they will also have a productive time developing leads, working on co-projects and selling services and investment opportunities from within Egypt.

2006-05-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Academia

One of the most significant triumphs of AK Comics is the way in which it has penetrated the world of academia. Phil Taylor at the Institute of Communication Studies at Leeds University - one of the UK's most prestigious - has been including the work of AK within the final year of his Communication Studies course - within the module 'The Great War on Terror - Propoganda'. Here's a copy of that excellent Washington Post article that he includes as reference material:

http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp01.cfm?outfit=pmt&folder=2053&paper=2150

The Media Studies argument is that all information is a form of propaganda, shaping attitudes, focussing attention, creating stereotypes and so on. It's not only what is said, for example, but also what is left out. In many western media outlets, particularly in the US, the media image of the Middle East is one of noisy Arabs, behaving irrationally, undeveloped, buried and chained by religion and so on. This is of course nonsense but is a common perception.

The lack of any contact with daily Arab life - and most importantly pop culture - undermines any sense of common humanity. Without being pompous, that's one reason why AK Comics is so important - and Turkish/Egyptian/Lebanese pop music too - and movies!! We need to provide a diverse and balanced media in every field. By recognising that we all share common interests and entertainment values, that we share common desires for a better world, we can begin to undermine the divisions created between us by ignorant politicians and the greedier side of business.

2006-05-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Laurent Melikian

Many thanks are due to Laurent, one of France's premier writers on BD, for his superb article on AK Comics (and other lesser Middle Eastern brands!) in this month's 'L'Echo des Savanes'. This is France's best review magazine for comic books and animanga. It also has a pretty neat line in political satire too - George Bush is not a big favourite of the editors! The magazine - which has origins in the days of post-68 cool - scampers happily along a line of 'cold humour and hot love'.

Yes, some of the scripts are a little risque for the Anglo-Saxon market perhaps - but, hey, this is France, right?

Laurent's article is absolutely first-class and the page layout is exactly what you would expect from editors with 30 years experience in the field of graphic design. I'm going to cut it out and stick it on my wall!

You can order 'L'Echo des Savanes' here:

http://www.viapresse.com/via2005/pages-new/catalogue_detail.asp?context=abo&titre=1209

France is lucky of course to have one of the world's biggest comic book industries - they usually sell as softback albums and the market is huge. Japanese manga is also very popular.

You can find out more about Bande Desinee (BD) here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2004/08/16/expatliv.xml

2006-05-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

Great news today. Award-winning documentary makers, Amir and Taghi Amirani are planning to make a film on AK Comics - initially for UK television.

This offers tremendous potential for the AK message to travel worldwide once again. Taghi Amirani first sprang to fame covering the Afghan war in 2002, including a harrowing documentary on an Afghan refugee camp. The contrast in the film between the absolute poverty of the refugees and the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on the invasion leaves an indelible impression.

Amirani Films has won awards in countries as far apart as Georgia and the United States. More recently, they have turned their eyes towards covering events in Iran from the point of view of the humanist reform movement - and also looking at the UK from the point of view of an Iranian.

The interest of Amirani Films in investigating the AK Comics phenomenon - positive role models for Arab and Middle Eastern children - is much appreciated.

2006-05-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

Studio G

These are the guys who coordinate much of the artwork for AK Comics - and an excellent job they do to! They are based in southern California - as the rain falls on my window here in the UK, how I wish I was in southern California!

But Studio G don't just look after AK, the Gross family - father and son - also do a lot of other excellent stuff too. You can check out their work here:

http://www.studiogpub.com/artwork/index.html

As well as AK's work, they also produce the excellent 'Tales of the Moonlight Cutter'. Here's a sample:

http://www.studiogpub.com/mooncutter/index.html

And my own particular favourite - She-Bat/Murcielaga:

http://www.studiogpub.com/shebat/index.html

2006-05-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

Allan Goldman is the third of the great Brazilian artists that underpin AK Comics success - along with Rafael Albuquerque and Daniel Brandao. Between them, they have created a consistent and flowing style that is instantly recognisable and demands attention.

Allan in particular is the artistic creator of Aya - one of the most interesting of AK's characters.

Allan is also involved in developing other series such as 'Shaun C Bury's Nox', a mythical road tale.

You can find more of Allan's artwork on his own website which is here:

http://goldmanpenciler.blogger.com.br/

2006-05-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Kahina - Queen of the Berbers.

It's not often that I talk about a rival publication but I must just mention Queen Kahina produced by the Royal Institute of Berber Culture. You can find out more here:

http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=7957

She's a fascinating character - a real-life warrior queen, but like many Berbers with a strong influx of European genes - Celtic in her case - red hair, green eyes. She must have been a magnificent sight. She is a legendary character throughout the Middle East - a bit like Rakan - and it would be great if she were picked up in an AK story at some stage. It's true she fought the Arab/Muslim empire from the fringes but this was largely from a nationalistic viewpoint - not a religious or cultural one. She is credited with ordering the Berbers to execute a scorched earth policy rather than hand over anything of value to the Muslim invaders. It's tragic to think of how many treasures and items of historical interest may have been destroyed by this policy.

Meanwhile, you could read the Manly Wade Wellman novel - "Cahena" - which was published in 1986 - his last book - or check out the amazing Berber script in the Royal Institute's comic book.

2006-04-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

AK Comics has always tried to provide a positive sense of self-identity through its characters Aya and Jalila. Yes, of course, they are simply gorgeous, and it would be great to have a plain-looking middle-aged female hero - but, hey, it's only a comic book - let's take it one step at a time.

Meanwhile, if you want to discover some real modern Arab women heroes, check out the excellent work being carried out by the following blogs on the web. In what may be described as difficult times in the USA when civil liberties are going to the wall and the country is deeply divided between rich and poor, left and right, these women are holding their heads up high with tremendous dignity and optimism.

Get to know them:

http://bedouina.typepad.com/doves_eye/culture/index.html

http://www.moorishgirl.com/

2006-04-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Rafael Albuquerque is another of the excellent Brazilian artists working for AK Comics. With his partners Kris and Felipe, he runs Pop Art studios in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rafael is credited with helping to create Jalila, Aya, Rakan and Zein and brings to life the scripts of AK's Managing Director and Resident Genius, Marwan el-Nasher. Rafael developed his style by reading 'Wizard' and following closely the artwork of artists such as John Buscema. He is inspired by movies and special effects and his 'movie-led' style in AK has brought him great praise for the cinematic feel of continuous movement and dialogue - tremendous dynamism.

He founded PopArt Studios in 2004 and attended Comicon in 2005. He is working with Image in the US as a way of distributing his work. If you are holding your latest business convention in Porto Alegre, Brazil (and why not - it's one of the world's fastest growing cities with tremendous business opportunities for light industry and property) then you can hire Rafael and his team to give your delegates a truly exciting - 'Create your own comic book' session - a great uplifter for the delegates!

You can find out more here:

http://www.anba.com.br/ingles/noticia.php?id=8939

The link between Brazil and Egypt over AK Comics is an important example of horizontal development. Increasingly, the developing countries are beginning to realise that their best opportunities for long-term growth comes from trading with each other and not just from acting as a cheap supplier to the developed countries - important, though this is - as the powerful developed countries are always likely to want to protect their own interests first.

Consequently, new economic formations have sprung up in the last ten years to further this horizontal development - the BRIC formation (Brazil, Russia, India, China), Mercosur in South America, ASEAN in the far east, the A7 group (BRIC + Malaysia, Korea, South Africa) and so on.

The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is just part of this wider process.

Rafael's PopArt Studio doesn't just do AK stuff, however. They are also responsible for the eagerly awaited 'Rumble in La Rambla' - think 'City of God' crossed with Spaghetti Western and Quentin Tarantino You can find out more here:

http://rumbleinlarambla.com/

There is a great printable gallery of their work, by the way, here:

http://popartcomics.com/galleries.htm

2006-04-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

2006-04-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

AK Comics is no more - say 'Hello' to AK Entertainment !!!

It's the natural next step following the success of the new Zein animated preview.

Meanwhile, 'Aya' has been successful in its launch in the US and UK - following the distribution deal with Diamond. You can order it from Mile High Comics if you like - here:

http://www.milehighcomics.com/comicindex/nice/March-2006/Title-AYA--2006---1-by-AK-ENTERTAINMENT.html

The artist, Allan Goldman, has been winning plaudits from many people in the know. Allan has also worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Here's an example of his work:

http://www.guybrush73.com/sequentialstudios_portfolio/samples/sequentialstudios.2006.allan.buffy.02.jpg

Allan's style is typical of the Brazilian style of fluid eyelines, good page composition and characterisation through features. It's extraordinary that he isn't even better known than he is - but his star is certainly rising now after many years in the business. Let's hope we see more of him in the pages of AK Comics.

2006-04-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

Ayman Kandeel - the great man himself!

Ayman grew up loving American comic books and wanting to do something similar himself. He worked as an Economics Professor at Cairo University before moving to the US and launching Zein in 2002.

The comic struggled a little in the US at first before Ayman found the natural market for 'Middle East Heroes' in......the Middle East.

Ayman has a modern, pluralistic view of life and believes in drawing a line over the past as much as possible and looking towards a future of peace, progress and security for the children of the Middle East.

One of the best of the most recent articles on AK appeared recently in a BMed flight magazine (that's a branch of British Airways) - here it is:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=ayman+kandeel&meta=

2006-04-26T00:44:00.000-07:00

Tim Rees is the great British artist who was the leading artist in AK Comics UK's recent art-and-script competition. He's looking forward to seeing this victory bolster his reputation worldwide.

You can find samples of his work here:

http://www.timreescomics.com/html/news.html

I was particularly impressed by his work for a Taekwondo club magazine which can be seen here:

http://www.timreescomics.com/html/blackbelt_college.html

It takes a little while to become established as a comic book artist - even for someone as talented as Tim - but the secret is to be patient and to keep following up every reasonable lead. Things do eventually happen.

Another alternative is to produce your own comic book and with printing costs in Egypt being so very low - often as little as £900 for 2500 copies, this has suddenly become a very viable route. For more information on this contact dahlia.sobhy@saharaprinting.com

2006-04-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

Daniel Brandao is the first-rate Brazilian artist who produced the wonderful art for the latest issue of Rakan.

Daniel is a well-known artist in Brazil who has recently been working on a government campaign against drugs by producing a comic book to illustrate the problem: Here's a useful link to that:

http://www.universohq.com/quadrinhos/2006/n13012006_06.cfm

More samples of his work can be found here:

http://www.guybrush73.com/sequentialstudios_portfolio/pdf/sequentialstudios.2006.01.daniel.spiderman.72dpi.pdf

And samples of the other AK artists artwork from Sequential Studios can be found here:

http://www.guybrush73.com/sequentialstudios_portfolio/

And Daniel displays his own artwork here:

http://fotolog.terra.com.br/danielbrandao:204

And finally, here's the great man in his own words:

http://www.nonaarte.com.br/autor.asp?aut=18

2006-04-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Rakan is now available in Greece, published on a monthly basis by Christos Koudakis and associates. This is a good choice by Christos as Rakan is a standalone hero in the MEH pantheon and being based in central Asia will be more instantly recognisable to Greek comic book readers.

2006-04-21T01:58:00.000-07:00

All fans of AK Comics might be interested to know there's a fan forum available at this address:

http://worldwidecomics.jconserv.net/viewtopic.php?p=16535#16535

2006-04-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Not only in Italy - but also in Brazil.

AK Comics is attracting a lot of interest - especially through blogs - because of the involvement of Brazilian artists such as Albuquerque and Goldman in the manufacture of the comic books.

2006-04-18T01:50:00.000-07:00

AK Comics has been making a bit of a splash in Italy just recently - the home of the world's third largest comic book industry - i fumetti.

Recent articles in La Stampa and Il Giornale have - in the Italian style - sought to deconstruct the messages behind the format of the 'fantastic four' but have in the end all ended on an upbeat positive note.

Let's hope this turns into more subscriptions from the northern Mediterranean rim in the near future.

2006-04-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

AK Comics have announced that the next issue will be the long awaited Origins issue for Aya - the Princess of Darkness. What is the background of this most mysterious of all the Middle East Heroes??

This is the one you've all been waiting for folks - and you can buy it from your local comic book store in the UK or USA or through the Internet on www.akcomics.com

2006-04-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

More news of AK's expansion comes from the Cairo International Animated Film Festival where AK won a first prize for their animated episode of Zein - "The Scarab". This is the preview episode of a planned series and AK are looking for potential scriptwriters for the full series.

If you are interested, try www.akcomics.com

AK also used the festival to pursue their outreach policy amongst the less wealthy children of the city giving away thousands of free tickets to schoolchildren for which they were commended by the Ministry of Education in Egypt.

2006-04-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

The new issue of Rakan is now available from www.akcomics.com and it is amazingly good! The upward trend of the storytelling in this comic book over the last few months is continued with a first-class plot that has Rakan continuing his quest to find Reem, the long-lost daughter of his mentor, stolen by bandits in an earlier issue. He thinks he's found her but in fact, the mirage he sees is a beautiful (and I mean beautiful - these Arab woman are wow!) witch with a tragic past.

He helps to release her from her island prison by slaying the mythical snake monster - the louckachas! But is she all that she seems? Time will tell.

Daniel Brandao's artwork is full of depth and vitality, especially in the flashback scenes and the cultural base of 3000 years of Middle Eastern history from which the Middle East Heroes stable grows adds a complexity, sensuality and richness to the ongoing plot that leaves American comic books looking shallow, vacuously violent and really rather conservative.

The character of Rakan is loosely based on a real-life Arab hero at the time of the Crusades who was involved in battles against the Mongols, Persians and Crusaders. In some ways, he is out of step with the other Middle East Heroes who all operate in the near future after the 55-years-war that ends with the creation of a new society tolerant of all religions and cultures in the Middle East. It will be interesting to see whether the writers will at some stage will want or be able to reconcile the two different plotlines.

2006-04-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is a bog dedicated to the amazing heroes of AK Comics - Zein, Rakan, Jalila and Aya - the best comic book heroes in the Middle East. We would be pleased to hear from you at akcomicsuk@aol.com

Watch out for the great new edition from Rakan - the story is based on a geniune hero from the Middle Ages in Central Asia - a bit of a Robin Hood character.

We are particularly interested in hearing from students and investors interested in the Muslim world, the modern Middle East, Middle Eastern philosophy and development, Ancient Egypt and so on.

www.akcomics.com