AUB Designers Promote Comics with Birth of Samandal

Samandal book cover

Joining the rare publication of serialized Arab adult comics in the Arab world is Samandal, a comic strip that was launched on March 28 at Express Cafe in Hamra, Beirut. Partly founded by three AUB graduates, the comics collection features stories in English, Arabic, and French by international and Lebanese artists.

Fadi Baqi (BA '00) and Hatem Imam (BA '00), who are currently instructors at AUB's Department of Graphic Design, and Lena Merhej (BA '99), helped found Samandal and contributed much to its distinctive content.

In describing the nature of the book, Imam said: "Samandal is an amphibian, who blends land and aquatic traits in the same way the image and word are blended. The concept is malleable enough to incorporate a mishmash of different influences." According to Baqi, Samandal is essentially about establishing comics as a popular reading material as opposed to a kiddie-oriented medium.

"The material in Samandal covers different genres of comics, but we hope to expand to photo comics and journalistic comics," said Baqi. "We also hope the book will determine a new direction for comics indigenous to the region." Already the book is being sold in Dubai, Egypt, and England.

Learning at AUB nurtured the artists' interests and skills. "My years in the Graphic Design Department laid the visual foundations that gave me an understanding of comics. We learned to perceive art with a keen and critical eye and I subsequently gained insight into the medium of comics," added Baqi.

Hatem said his AUB experience gave him the means of visual communication. "The drawing classes I attended gave me the tools I need to pursue my lifelong hobby of drawing comics." Lena Merhej's minimalistic style, which stands out in her art work, also marked her contribution to Samandal.

In line with its mission of supporting new artists, Xanadu, which is "an un-gallery and an artist-run space," produced Samandal. According to the cofounder of Xanadu, Zena el-Khalil, "We are very happy to be publishing Samandal again [they had published the first issue last year]. Our goal is to support young artists and writers in launching their careers."

Writing in An-Nahar, Laure Ghorayyeb described Samandal as a worthy adventure. Henry Matthews, a historian of Lebanese comics, said there had been many comic books before, but none showcased such a wide variety of talent. "Samandal is finally taking the next step in the comics evolution in Lebanon, namely taking the art from a juvenile readership to an adult audience," said Matthews.

To contact the Samandal team, email info@samandal.org. The website is:
www.samandal.org