Thursday March 28th, 2024
Download SceneNow app

Farcical Fables and Social Justice Tales: 8 Egyptian Comicbook Artists to Follow

Egyptian comic book artists have sought to create original, unique and captivating stories on the page. We’ve curated a list of some of the most interesting artists reinventing the wheel with their creations.

Staff Writer

From the plucky adventures in Samir or Sindbad, to the poignant, often political, comic strips in newspapers, comics are omnipresent in Egyptian culture as early as the 1920s. Here are 8 contemporary Egyptian comic book artists perfecting the format (and where you can find them on Instagram!)...


Ahmed Raafat // @theahmedraafat

Raafat made a name for himself with a variety of exciting projects, most notably for co-creating the popular Egyptian superhero comic ‘El 3osba’. Raafat’s also dabbled in noir comics, indie stories and has even created posters for Netflix films.


Deena Mohamed // @itsdeenasaur

Deena Mohamed rose to the comic scene with her debut comic ‘Al Qahera’ that caught many a curious eye with its story of a Muslim-Egyptian superhero that battles the hypocrisies of patriarchal morals. Mohamed followed with ‘Shubeik Lubeik’, a beautiful fictional story that explores wishful thinking and how it could be commoditized.


Sherif Adel // @barbatoze

Who doesn’t love a comic strip? Tokyo-based Sherif Adel finds great levity in some of the darker side of life, with absurd twists and over-the-top character art, particularly through his most known 2011 series, ‘Barbatoze’.


Tarek El Shahin 

El Shahin’s career kicked off with a comic strip run in The Daily News Egypt in 2008 titled ‘Al Khan’, which reflected on major cultural events in Egypt and the Arab world with satirical storylines that are equal parts adorable and thought-provoking.


Mohamed Anwar 

One of the harbingers of Egyptian indie comics, Anwar paved the way by helping create Toktok, Egypt’s first adult contemporary comic series. The stories are always full of nuanced stories of Egyptian experiences, charged with snappy and relevant dialogue.


Doaa El Adl // @doaa.eladl.cartoon

Considered a champion of the Egyptian comic sphere, and for good reason. Al Adl is a regular comic contributor to Al Masry Al Youm, and had made headlines in 2012 after being arrested when her caricature was deemed a “defamation of religion”.


Mohamed Salah // @_abusalah_

We won’t make a joke, because we’re sure he’s heard them all. Salah’s works are as visually brooding and gritty as his stories.


Farida Khalil // @dar_khalil

Farida Khalil, Swiss-born and Egypt-based, studied animation at the Fine Arts Faculty in Cairo, and then went onto explore a career with her first series ‘Some1’ in 2011, and then launched her own book room where she sells comics and graphic novels from the US and UK.