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qisas musawwara

18 artists 11 comics

Iraq.

World
Comics

قصص مصورة

Iraq

1969

قصص مصورةqisas musawwara

In short

Iraqi comics grew out of press caricature and, from 1969, out of the state children's magazines Majallati and al-Mizmar, published in Baghdad by the House of Children's Culture.

There artists such as Taleb Makki, Bassam Farag and Faisal Laibi Sahi drew serial picture stories made by Iraqis, often in colloquial Iraqi Arabic, while cartoonists such as Mu'ayyad Nima and Khudair al-Hamiri kept satirical drawing alive in the press. Since 2003 cartoonists have worked more openly in Arabic and Kurdish papers, but under threat, as the killing of Hussein Adel Madani in 2019 showed.

Iraq in numbers

01 • 04

Iraq in numbers · 01 • 04

1969

1960s

Artists

Artists from Iraq in the archive.

Comics from Iraq in the archive.

Majallati, the earliest comic from Iraq in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Iraq began.

Artists from Iraq in the archive.

Comics from Iraq in the archive.

Majallati, the earliest comic from Iraq in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Iraq began.

قصص مصورة

qisas musawwara · Comics from Iraq

History

Iraq in 4 chapters

A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.

World Comics Heritage

Iraq.

قصص مصورة

4 chapters

Turn the page

Chapter 1

1964

to 1968

Caricature in the press

Before the children's magazines, Iraqi drawn humour lived in newspapers. Su'ad Salim, born in 1918, drew cartoons for several papers and magazines and brought colour into some of his caricatures. In the 1960s the satirical magazine al-Mutafarrij trained a new generation: Bassam Farag joined the press in 1964 and Mu'ayyad Nima began there in 1967.

1964 to 1968

Chapter 2

1969

to 1978

Majallati and al-Mizmar

In 1969 the state House of Children's Culture launched Majallati, with Hadi Nu'man al-Hiti as founding editor and the writer Abdul-Ilah Rauf among its founders, together with the youth magazine al-Mizmar. Majallati was built around comics by Iraqi writers and artists: Taleb Makki led the artists and drew Ahmad and the Time Machine, Bassam Farag drew Shabboub and Faisal Laibi Sahi drew al-Haris Nabhan. The first exhibition of Iraqi cartoonists was held in Baghdad in 1974, but several artists soon left, Laibi for France in 1974, Salah Jiyad for Paris in 1976 and Farag for Hungary in 1977.

1969 to 1978

Chapter 3

1979

to 2002

Alif Baa and censorship

Khudair al-Hamiri drew for the weekly Alif Baa from 1979 to 2003, and Mu'ayyad Nima, winner of an international cartoon prize in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1979, drew for Majallati and al-Mizmar in the 1980s. Ahmed al-Rubaie exhibited with the cartoonists' league of the journalists' syndicate, then headed by Nima, before Uday Saddam Hussein barred him from drawing. In 1998 the House of Children's Culture and the Red Cross started the quarterly Sindbad Baghdad, with cartoon stories in Arabic and also in Kurdish.

1979 to 2002

Chapter 4

2003

to today

After 2003

After the 2003 invasion al-Rubaie returned to print in al-Sabah al-Jadeed until threats drove him to Egypt, Ali al-Mandalawi came back to Baghdad from the Netherlands, and Nizar Fawzi became head artist of al-Sabah's weekly children's supplement Shams al-Sabah in 2005. In Iraqi Kurdistan Pasar Sherko drew Khat u Khal for the paper Hawlati, the first caricature corner in Kurdish media. Cartooning stayed dangerous: Hussein Adel Madani and his wife were killed by gunmen at their home in October 2019, during the protests.

2003 to today

Keep reading

The comics to know Comics from Iraq

World Comics Heritage

Cover

1964
to 1968
Chapter 01
Caricature in the press
Before the children's magazines, Iraqi drawn humour lived in newspapers. Su'ad Salim, born in 1918, drew cartoons for several papers and magazines and brought colour into some of his caricatures. In the 1960s the satirical magazine al-Mutafarrij trained a new generation: Bassam Farag joined the press in 1964 and Mu'ayyad Nima began there in 1967.
1969
to 1978
Chapter 02
Majallati and al-Mizmar
In 1969 the state House of Children's Culture launched Majallati, with Hadi Nu'man al-Hiti as founding editor and the writer Abdul-Ilah Rauf among its founders, together with the youth magazine al-Mizmar. Majallati was built around comics by Iraqi writers and artists: Taleb Makki led the artists and drew Ahmad and the Time Machine, Bassam Farag drew Shabboub and Faisal Laibi Sahi drew al-Haris Nabhan. The first exhibition of Iraqi cartoonists was held in Baghdad in 1974, but several artists soon left, Laibi for France in 1974, Salah Jiyad for Paris in 1976 and Farag for Hungary in 1977.
1979
to 2002
Chapter 03
Alif Baa and censorship
Khudair al-Hamiri drew for the weekly Alif Baa from 1979 to 2003, and Mu'ayyad Nima, winner of an international cartoon prize in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1979, drew for Majallati and al-Mizmar in the 1980s. Ahmed al-Rubaie exhibited with the cartoonists' league of the journalists' syndicate, then headed by Nima, before Uday Saddam Hussein barred him from drawing. In 1998 the House of Children's Culture and the Red Cross started the quarterly Sindbad Baghdad, with cartoon stories in Arabic and also in Kurdish.
2003
to today
Chapter 04
After 2003
After the 2003 invasion al-Rubaie returned to print in al-Sabah al-Jadeed until threats drove him to Egypt, Ali al-Mandalawi came back to Baghdad from the Netherlands, and Nizar Fawzi became head artist of al-Sabah's weekly children's supplement Shams al-Sabah in 2005. In Iraqi Kurdistan Pasar Sherko drew Khat u Khal for the paper Hawlati, the first caricature corner in Kurdish media. Cartooning stayed dangerous: Hussein Adel Madani and his wife were killed by gunmen at their home in October 2019, during the protests.

Essentials

The comics to know

Essentials

The people to know

Artists

More artists from Iraq

Comics