Culture & Education | Sunday 8 April, 2018 3:00 pm |

COMICS, the graphic novels imprint of Kalimat Group, has organized a workshop sharing its experience in publishing Arabic comic books during its participation at the Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) which recently concluded in Dubai.

 

The workshop was conducted by writer Moemen Helmy and illustrator Ashraf Ghori, who worked on Antara – the first Arabic-origin graphic novel published by COMICS. Helmi and Ghouri demonstrated techniques used by writers and illustrators in the comic book industry, highlighting the role they play in producing works that enrich the children’s and YA literature landscape, encouraging young minds to take up reading.

 

The workshop provided an array of tips and instructions on how to approach the creative process in comic-book writing and development of digital illustrations, which take prominence in Kalimat’s graphic novel publications to make them more attractive to young readers. COMICS also organised a book signing ceremony for Antara, which was released at MEFCC.

 

Antara narrates the story of Antara Ibn Shaddad, commonly known as Antar, the cavalier of Bani Abs tribe. He was a pre-Islamic Arab knight and poet, famous for both his poetry and his adventurous life. His chief poem forms part of the ‘Mu’allaqat’, a collection of seven "hanging odes". The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance due to his love for his cousin, Ablah.

 

The novel sheds light on the personal merits of Antara who was known for his dignity, courage and heroism, and how his personal qualities, courage in battle, and poetic prowess earned him admiration and respect. The story takes a tumultuous turn when his love for Ablah is faced with severe obstacles, and forms one of the main highlights of the narrative.

 

Launched last year by Kalimat Group, one of the leading publishing houses in the region, COMICs aims to publish various kinds of comics in Arabic, introduce Arabic readers to the world of comics and to offer a wide range of options for the comic book lovers. COMICS also translates famous foreign language comics into Arabic to make them available for the regional language readers.