Frezno's Comics Challenge: August 2024 (Shubeik Lubeik)

But first, a good comic. Hello, and welcome back once again to the Comics Challenge. It was around this time in the Criterion Challenge when I started losing steam because all the interesting movies I wanted to see had been seen, and I was winding down to the ones that felt like work. There was also the fact that I got what I needed out of that challenge at this point. That's not true here. I still have lots to learn about comics criticism, but I am enjoying learning it. I am also enjoying broadening my horizons and learning more things about more storytellers on this weird and wild Earth of ours. To wit then, we're off to Egypt this month for Deena Mohamed's Shubeik Lubeik. That's enough preamble, so let's get on with it.

Shubeik Lubiek (which, according to the book, translates out to "your wish is my command") takes a premise that's simple on the surface and fully delves into it with all the ramifications for society and humanity it can possibly imply. Said simple premise is that magical wishes are a commodity, a good that can be used and sold with power levels and grades and all of that. From black market third-rate wishes (colloquially called Delesseps after the actual French diplomat) to high-class wishes only the rich can hope to afford, there's a clear parallel with wealth and capitalism happening here. From there, Shubeik Lubiek becomes a sort of anthology tale. There's a shopkeeper who's been holding on to three first-class wishes, and we get to follow three people as they each struggle with where their lives have led them to, what they might wish for, and the hurdles they face in trying to make that wish come true. While the wraparound segments with the shopkeep are bright and vibrant, the actual stories are told in black and white, sharp inks and strong lining making everything stand out. It's somewhat of a manga approach (and indeed, like a manga, Shubeik Lubiek is read right to left) but with a totally different style that stands out.

Artwise, the design of the first segment's protagonist Aziza really stands out. With her curly hair, half-lidded eyes and full lips she made an immediate impression on me visually. Her story is twofold, not just about her losing her husband to a car crash (shades of Dark Water) but of her immediately being detained by the fucking wish system after trying to register her first-class wish because how could someone who's not rich have such a potent wish, she clearly stole it. It's not just a story about loss and love and remaining steadfast in adversity, but of how the entire wish system is rotten to the core. Aziza has to rot in detainment, the clear goal of the state being to have her relinquish her wish voluntarily. To sign over the old magic via contract and line their gilded pockets. Robbing from the people. She refuses. She is free eventually, thanks to public defenders, but even through the allegory and the loneliness of her imprisonment on the page there's a powerful message at play about those at the top of society. Her final wish, as it is, is heartbreaking and tragic, but oh so human.

We get to see the top of society in the second segment, which was the most interesting to me. Focusing on Nour, an affluent college student, we see his life in direct contrast to Aziza. Living in a literal gated community (as in, it is invisible out in the desert sands to the non-worthy) and wanting little for comfort, what would he want in a wish? The answer is that Nour is an anxious and depressed wreck, and over his entire story he struggles and grapples with the ramifications of using a wish to fix his problems. What if it doesn't work? What if it doesn't fix anything because the problem is him? What if being happy only makes him more miserable? All of this is expertly conveyed without needing any exposition, as Nour's analytical mind (and by extension the comic) is always making graphs and charts to measure and quantify his anxiety, self-worth, and any other relevant factors at any time. This spoke to me. Here is a comic about how anxiety and depression are eating this poor kid alive, and here are some graphs to express that in ways words could not quite manage. Pictures and words moving together. Unflattening. Nour's mental health struggles and anxiety over what to wish for are quite gripping and resonant to me, and his struggles to be better along with the presentation of the graphs made this a highlight segment.

This book speaks to me.

The last segment actually focuses on the shopkeeper himself, Shokry. There's just a lot of interesting things going on under the hood here, as Shokry struggles with the ramifications of making a wish to save an old woman he knows from her cancer diagnosis. In the first place is his religious objection to using wishes (which his kids attempt to help debunk by sitting him down with, no shit, a video essay on the subject) which is well thought out and grappled with. For another thing, the old woman doesn't want a wish used on her to save her life. All of this culminates in telling her story, a story of her youth and life which is tragic and heartbreaking, all of it focused on that constant bugbear of wondering what to do with a wish for anything. I dare not spoil it here, but Jesus Christ it's a lot and explains a lot about why this woman is at peace with her diagnosis. This was a really great book, and again one that uses its medium to its advantage. I mean, I can see the Nour graph thing working in film or TV, but let's give comics this W. They do it, and they do it well. From such a simple little premise comes a story brimming with so much potential. Broadened horizon comics kind of fucking rule, y'all. Much like getting out of watching Marvel movies or reading nothing but YA novels, it's great to just flap your wings and fly to somewhere new. An Egyptian comic about wishes and their ramifications gave me so much more humanist themes and glories than any superhero book ever could.

Next time, of course, is a superhero book.