Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kickstarter, middle east

Supporting New Comics from New Creators in the Middle East

Published Mon, 17 Aug 2020 14:30:43 -0500

Mira Farhat of Rusumat, a digital comic, and graphic-novel app, writes for Bleeding Cool about their mission;

We have one mission to bringing together comic communities across the Middle East and the world together onto one platform that provides opportunities for local independent artists to grow and develop, to tell their own stories, and showcase their talents.

Supporting New Comics from New Creators in the Middle East

This is why we are hitting it big time on Kickstarter now, with two epic comics by amazing artists from the distant lands of Libya. We think they are great, but don't take our word for it, have a look and judge for yourself!

'Where is my Son' – Abdullah Hadi

Artists and writer Abdullah Hadia, from Ajdabiya in Libya, despite being a civil engineering graduate he could not ignore his artistic passion and, in 2015, established 'Habka Magazine' one of the first Arabic manga comics' magazines.

Abdullah has also worked as an animation director for the BBC in 2017 and has continued to work as a comic artist, animation director, and concept artist.

His next project is our next project, and it is awesome.

'Where is my Son?'

Support New Comics from Rising Artists in the Middle East — Supporting New Comics from New Creators in the Middle East

Our world is being attacked by ancient creatures from a time long ago, long before humans ever inhabited this world, and now they have returned to take back what was theirs and enslave mankind.

Secret governments from across the world, who have prepared for this day, initiated project Super Human Heroes, SHH.

Every country from all across the four hemispheres launched their defensive SHH project in time for doomsday.

But war does not care for who is left behind, and even heroes of the SHH project cannot protect their loved ones.

When her son is lost in the devastations of the war, she has only one mission now. A mother with no superpowers is unstoppable can you imagine what hell a mother with superpowers can unleash in search of her son.

No one can stop her………. and we mean no one!!!!

'Selling Dreams'

He was moving on to comic number two just as kicking 'Selling Dreams', by writer Mohammed Al-Nass and artists Aymen Swissy. Mohammed is a novelist and writer of short stories; he co-wrote "Sun over closed windows," a series of short stories and poems from 25 young Libyan writers. His interest in writing short comic stories began in 2018. The idea of "Berry merchant" is inspired by his novel "Berry Leaves."

Aymen is a Libyan artist who describes himself as a guy with the wrong haircut and a bad sense of fashion and humour. As a self-taught comic book artist, Aymen has already established an animated series on Libyan TV Hakatha Koona ("This is how we were") and gained acclaim for his unique and diverse style.

Mohammed and Ayman are the ultimate comic book duo, and together they have worked on a brilliant Arabian tale set in the heart of Libya, 'Selling Dreams.'

In a popular neighborhood in Tripoli, Libya – A struggling author, crippled by writer's block, and looking for fame, encounters a man who claims to be a seller of dreams.

As he falls under the sway of this mysterious merchant's incredible stories, he finds himself drawn into a mind-bending underworld of crime, psychosis, and murder.

But the merchant does not sell stories for money, but something precious to them. What does the merchant want from the writer? Will the writer uncover the merchants' tricks? Who is the merchant?

So here's what are we raising funds for

We began the Rusumat app as a way to promote independent comics from across the Middle East and North Africa and connect them with readers across the world, and we want to continue with this mission by allowing independent artists the chance to tell their own stories.

With that in mind, we want to raise $40,000 to commission Mohammed Al-Nass, Aymen Swissy, and Abdullah Hadia to create comics that tell the stories they want to tell and showcase their underappreciated talents.

Our Kickstarter campaign will commission 'Selling Dreams' and 'Where is my Son' in a continuous project that spans 12 months.

The funds raised will allow us to produce the two comic books, encompassing six chapters each, where each chapter will be released every two months, and the end of the 12 months each completed webcomic book will be between 120-150 pages.

The webcomics will be accessible through the main Rusumat digital comic app for free and will be accessible to all registered users, old and new.

Now to really butter you up, we have a wealth of rewards to hand out—even the smallest pledge will be rewarded. Plus, you'll have the knowledge that you helped make something awesome happen. Below is a breakdown of our costs.

Our rewards range from $5 to $200 and include a wide range of incentives and returns on your pledges. From a simple thank you for your support to an overload of digital comics to the mother of all bundles that include original art, personalised comic portraits, and specially printed issues of the webcomics.

If we reach our intended target, we would be able to put the money towards developing the main elements of the project. If we reach our stretch goals, we would be able to work on commissioning even more comics, new stories by brilliant artists from the Middle East.

Who are we?

Rusumat is the brainchild of me, Ismail Farhat, and my sister Mira Farhat, British-Lebanese comic book geeks living in London.

"My frustration at the lack of access to comics from the Middle East turned into a light bulb moment and pushed me to create an app that would bring comics from different regions of the Middle East together. Together we have worked to push harder and further to make Rusumat a leading app within the e-comic and e-book industry that can showcase the unrecognized talents from across the Middle East on a global scale."

We would love your support and pledges to get new stories told and give independent artists from the Middle East a platform to showcase their talent. So whatever you can do to support our campaign, either pledging or sharing, verbally or electronically, or all we thank you for making something awesome happen.

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