Legendary Arab poet Antara rises as comic book superhero
[ad_1] SHARJAH (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES): In a red cape, dark hair blowing in the wind, he crosses the dunes under a blazing sun: Antara , the famed 6th century Arab poet born a slave, is now a superhero. A pre-Islamic poet , Antara is celebrated in the collective memory of Arabs as well as in pop culture — a child born to a tribal leader and his Abyssinian slave who rose as a warrior-poet to free himself and demand his father recognise him as his son, and a free man. Now, he stars in his own comic strip, reimagined as a shield-wielding, cape-wearing superhero by Egyptian writer Mumen Hilmi and renowned Indian illustrator Ashraf Ghuri . The story of Antara breaks across the class and race lines that frequently dominate society, the "perfect example of what it means to be a superhero," writer Hilmi says. "Arabs like the exaggerated personality traits of heroes, and we thought why not transform Antara into a superhero like those you see in the US, Europe, Japan." "...