As youth began to organize the revolution that would topple Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian comic Shennawi was attending the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France in late 2010 and he was surprised to discover many comic magazines produced by young people like himself. Shortly thereafter, Shennawi and a group of visual artists and caricaturists created Tuk Tuk in 2011, the first politically and socially driven comic magazine.
As youth began to organize the revolution that would topple Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian comic Shennawi was attending the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France in late 2010 and he was surprised to discover many comic magazines produced by young people like himself. Shortly thereafter, Shennawi and a group of visual artists and caricaturists created Tuk Tuk in 2011, the first politically and socially driven comic magazine.
“Preparations took a long time,” remembered caricaturist Makhlouf about the magazine’s beginnings. “The first five issues only included our contributions. We printed a limited number of copies as we were afraid that no one would buy them.” Giving themselves a small role, the founders encouraged young and new artists to contribute. Tuk Tuk garnered so much attention they eventually received financial support from the European Union and now print 1000 copies. Last month Tuk Tuk celebrated the release of its 13th issue.
Establishing a comic culture
In 2012, Shennawi went on to establish the Ninth Art Foundation (NAF) and released the first comic in Egypt under the same name, which included news and features about comics. Other non-periodicals also appeared over the last four years: Dushma by Hisham Mubarak Law Center which only released two issues in 2011; Shakmajiya by Nazra for Feminist Studies which released its first issue in 2014; Express magazine – also released in 2014 – by Mazg for Culture and Arts (MCA) and the Danish Cultural Center; and Visit us Tomorrow magazine by artist Sharif Adel – sponsored by the Italian Jarad Foundation.
Thus, the landscape of Egyptian comics is expanding to include non-periodicals and monthlies, such as Adel magazine which focuses on an intelligence team that solves scientific riddles in the future. All of these magazines were financially supported because Egyptian publishers are afraid of the cost of publishing comics on a regular basis.
Continued support
During the making of his 40-minute documentary Egyptian Comics – a production of MCA and Arab Digital Expression Foundation – Mohamed Ismail Amin interviewed artists from different generations. They all emphasized the need to support comics. “No one can afford sponsoring artists since producing a drawn visual work takes a long time,” argued Amin.
“That is why Tuk Tuk magazine was an important and bold step in light of very few comic publications and the selectiveness in adapting the international ones. The magazine was successful and managed to attract an audience for this kind of art. Being a periodical distinguishes it from other publications.”
Amin believes that support is particularly important when it comes to children’s publications. Tin Tin magazine, for example, was sponsored by the Vatican although that did not affect its content. “Children do not buy these magazines but rather are raised on this visual culture, whereas the older audience prefers independent magazines, especially since they are rebellious by nature and do not tolerate a product sponsored by official institutions which usually impose their own rules on magazines,” says Amin.
Winning space
Sinbad magazine (El-Marf Publishing House, 1952) for boys and girls supported this visual culture as it presented the trips of painter Hussein Bikar and his drawings (1913-2002). Samir magazine (Al-Hilal Publishing House, 1956) played a more prominent role by presenting translated international comics and publishing the adventures of certain Egyptian artists. Yet this children’s magazine was influenced by the political atmosphere imposed by its governmental publisher. Samir, the magazine’s protagonist, joined the people’s resistance and President Gamal Abdel Nasser appeared on its cover.
Although comics depend on caricaturists’ efforts and attempts to win space in newspapers, space is shrinking. Makhlouf said the return of comics to newspapers was a dream for his generation: “I recall a sport strip by Samir Abdulazim published in Algomhuria newspaper in the early 1990s. It was the only space available for this art, and the space was only expanded when the works of artist Abdullah Ahmed and writer Ahmad Aidi appeared in Dostor newspaper.”
Problems of book industry
While attending the 42nd Session of Angoulême Festival early last month, Mohamed Ba’li, owner of Safsafa Publishing House, noticed how popular comics appeared to be. However, he said Egyptian publishers consider these publications a venture for reasons related to the Egyptian book industry in general, in addition to difficulties related to printing and its quality.
Ba’li believes that this visual culture is still obscure: “Although there were pioneering attempts and recent efforts, such as Tuk Tuk, to present this culture in printed form, they largely targeted the middle class. Some were keen to attract certain age groups of this class, such as children and recently adults. However, teenagers, for example, were ignored.”
He suggests fierce competition between creative works published on social media and those published in Tuk Tuk: “Tuk Tuk’s producers only wanted to present comics. But, since the eruption of the Arab Spring, many sarcastic creative works emerged, especially since what internet activists publish is more visually developed because it combines elements of comics and collage, making visual expression more diverse and complex, not to mention the wider interaction with social media publications.”
