Comics & Graphic Novel Reviews

A thoughtful adventure through Islamic tradition and folklore, Jinn: The Manga Series by Samay Saidi and Kamal Rahyab offers essential wisdom about family, purpose, and cultural roots.

While traveling home from class with friends and discussing the nuances of Orientalism, Tamina experiences what seems to be a seizure, but is actually something far stranger. As her body is rushed to a hospital, her mind enters a dream-like realm called the Berzakh, where she encounters a mythical Jinn who has been watching over her since birth.

After overcoming her disbelief, Tamina learns that one of her ancestors possessed a mighty gift […]

Attempting to achieve something profound through a graphic novel is a major challenge for many artists and writers, namely because so much has to be expressed in such a short and condensed amount of space. In Empty Quarter: The Heredity of the Sand, a new graphic short by Baltasar, there are plenty of ideas on display, but the book struggles at times to keep the flow of meaning clear.

Based on the Empty Quarter area of the Arabic Peninsula, this is a simply illustrated book, primarily visualized with stock-posed characters over photographic backgrounds and speech bubbles. The premise is […]