by Anthony Del Col
Batman now fights crimes in the Middle East. Well, he shows up at comic conventions here, at least.
This past weekend (April 20-21) I took part in the first-ever Middle East Film and Comic-Con (MEFCC), held in Dubai. I attended mainly to promote my IDW Publishing series Kill Shakespeare (along with my co-creator Conor McCreery) but I also went in a quest to answer a question I’ve been wondering: how big is the comic book culture in the Middle East?
The answer is: quite big. And it’s growing.
The event was organized by Ben Caddy and Arafaat Ali Khan of ExtraCake, a Dubai-based PR and events planning organization, who knew that there was a demand for something like this. Plus, they’re also huge comic geeks and gamers that really wanted an event like this to be held in Dubai that they themselves – and other geeks – could attend.
And attend they did. The show was packed on both the Friday and the Saturday (the two weekend days in the Middle East). The final attendance figure hasn’t been confirmed but Khan guessed that roughly 15,000 people attended. The Dubai International Marine Club (by the beautiful waterfront, of course) was packed with a great combination of people dressed in traditional Middle East garb, Western wear – and cosplayers (the highlight was the woman dressed up as Batwoman that combined the outfit with her traditional Iranian burqua).
It was a very diverse group of attendees. There were a lot of “ex-pats” at the show – people originally from the U.S. and Britain (which is on par for the general Dubai population). But a large contingent were from the Middle East area. I spoke to a lot of people who came from Saudi Arabia, unable to purchase any comics or graphic novels in their country (I hope that they didn’t have problems bringing the books back through their border people…). There were attendees from Kuwait, Bahrain, and other Emirates such as Abu Dhabi. I spoke from one woman who travelled all the way from Belgium to attend – she had been looking for an excuse to come to Dubai anyone and this provided the perfect opportunity.
I – along with all of the other North American creators – felt incredibly welcomed by everyone that attended. I was thanked by so many for coming all the way to their country. I was asked by many locals what I thought of Dubai. And Conor and I talked to a number of people who said that the show inspired them to pursue creating their own comic books, or even start their own comic book stores.
There are no comic book stores in Dubai and the Middle East but the bookstores do quite brisk comic and graphic novel business. One of our first stops upon arrival in Dubai was to check out Book World by Kinokuniya, at the Dubai Mall. This is the mall that is attached to the Burj Khalifa, the w
Great to see a Comic Con in the Middle East! Just don’t tell Frank Miller…
saad said: great to see a comic con in the middle east! just don’t tell frank miller….
unless you want to see his face contort until it’s unrecognizable and watch smoke fly out of his ears, then by all means, tell him. :)
You didn’t answer the question; Does Batman Wear a DishDasha? Well does he?
The other thing that blew my mind was an Arabic woman with an Abaya wearing a V for Vendetta mask.
You forgot to mention me the guy who searched for KS vol. 1!
But seriously, Overall the show was amazing and to meet actual comic industry pros was enlightening and inspiring.
Hi Anthony,
I wanted to point out that where you’ve mentioned Shamsheer (thanks for that, btw) you’ve actually overlooked the most important person in the team: Salman Nasir, the artist and original creator. Would be great if you could add his name with mine and Danish’s.
Thanks.