Habibi

Habibi is rooted in the genre of magical realism, and takes place an almost dream-like setting intertwining the arab world of the past with a dark, modern industrial future. The story draws many similarities between the Muslim and Christian religions through it's use of biblical tales from the Quran, developing correlations for the reader through morality lessons that both cultures share. These stories help to root an entirely fictional place in a realistic and relatable way. And they are a pleasant departure from a book that deals heavily in unpleasant subject matter. Both characters are profoundly affected by life defining sexual abuse. Habibi is a story of survival, the main characters Dodola and Zam must sustain themselves physically while coping with the torment of their own personal demons.

Artistically Habibi is a visual masterpiece. Thompson's use of caligraphy and exquisite detail in his illustrations is unparalleled in modern comics. Stylistically this one is all Thompson, immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with his work, and he is at his best. This 600 page plus tome is a testament to what comics can achieve when they are executed correctly. Every aspect is visually perfect, from the weight to the inlayed cover, this is a must own book for collectors. Words do not do the pictures justice in this one, and that is not a condemnation because Habibi's economic use of dialogue manages to tell a surreal and interesting tale extremely well.


Dodola is a young child, sold into marriage by her father who was not a man of means. She is subjected to a forced sexual encounter with her new husband, and deprived of a normal healthy childhood. Her new husband is a scholar who teaches her to read and write, and also tells her many stories learned from his work as a scribe. These stories help her to cope with a very bleak existence in the best way possible. She learns to harness her sexuality to her advantage, and her new skill becomes very useful when she is captured and sold into a harem at any early age. She manages to escape with a young orphan boy Zam and raises them in an abandoned ship found in an isolated desert. He learns and develops through her stories, and becomes sexually fixated with her as he reaches adolescence. This fixation turns to his own personal trauma when Zam learns how Dodola is able to provide for them in one of his first encounters in the outside world. They are separated by forces beyond their control and both reach adulthood by taking very different paths.

Despite how the last paragraph reads, Habibi is a very heartwarming and rich work in every aspect, at least in spirit. Critically, I'm not sure if it will ever match Blankets in the eyes of most readers, but creatively it is a vastly superior offering. Habibi takes many risks that were well worth the taking, and in my opinion this is Thompson's best work to date. Six years after it's initial conception, there is no doubt that Habibi is not only a labor of love, but the product of thorough and painstaking research. Learning to write Arabic must have been no easy task, and whether or not Thompson speaks the language, his calligraphy made me look at Arabic text in a completely different light. Great artists are able to do this through their art, and through Habibi Craig Thompson has permanently cemented his place among the comic literati. Any fan of entertainment would love this book, and I have no doubt that Habibi will do as much to bring new comic fans into the fray today, as Blankets has done in the past.


By: William R. Davis Jr.