# Arab Children's Comic Magazines (Samir to Majid)

> Arabic children's comics weeklies, from Dar al-Hilal's Samir in Cairo (1956) to Abu Dhabi's Majid (1979), mixing translated Western strips with house characters by Egyptian, Lebanese, Armenian and European artists. Pages read right to left: flat bright full-colour panels, rounded cartoon children in local dress, hand-lettered Arabic balloons and drawn sound effects, shared with quizzes, puzzles, contests, letters and lessons, under a boy mascot who names the magazine. The look is that of the colour weeklies of the 1950s to 1990s; Majid went monthly in 2020, redesigned by Studio Safar.

- Period: 1956–present
- Where: Middle East & North Africa
- Origin: Cairo, where Dar al-Hilal, then still the Zaidan family's publishing house (nationalised in 1960–61), launched Samir on 15 April 1956 on the model of the Belgian Tintin and Spirou weeklies; then Beirut, with Bisat al-Rih (1962), and Abu Dhabi, where Majid first appeared on Wednesday 28 February 1979 as a supplement to the newspaper Al-Ittihad
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Samir magazine, Majid magazine, Majallat Majid, Arab children's magazines
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-childrens-comic-magazines/

## Use it with care

Samir, Majid, Kaslan Jiddan, Fudooli, Ammouna and the magazines' mastheads belong to their publishers (Dar al-Hilal, Abu Dhabi Media) and artists, and the Arabic Disney and Tintin pages to Disney and Hergé's estate: draw your own mascot, characters and masthead, never ask an image model for these characters or a named artist's hand, and never present a generated page as a vintage issue. The tradition's artists also drew caricature, such as 'Ib Goha and Sambo' by Samir co-founder Haroon, about an Arab boy and his Black Nubian sidekick Sambo: give every character, Black, Nubian, foreign or villain, the same drawing care, and never make skin colour or features the joke. Draw everyday Egyptian, Levantine and Gulf children in the dress they actually wear (gallabiya, kandura and ghutra, shayla, school uniforms), not Orientalist shorthand (camels, harem veils, oil-sheikh caricatures, pseudo-Arabic squiggles), and do not copy Hergé's stereotyped Arabs of the invented Khemed, who are 'always the punchline' (Nadim Damluji). Leave religious pages to writers and readers of the faith, and have all Arabic lettering written or checked by a fluent reader, joined and running right to left.

## How it works

- Run pages, panels and balloons from right to left, and letter the Arabic by hand, in colloquial speech where the story allows.
- Draw rounded, readable cartoon children in local dress and local streets with a clean black keyline, and fill them with flat, bright full colour.
- Print translated foreign strips beside house characters by local artists, and give the imports Arabic names and a local accent.
- Make the issue a magazine, not an album: interleave gag strips and serials with quizzes, puzzles, hidden-character contests, readers' letters and educational pages.
- Give the magazine a face: a named boy mascot on the masthead and cover who stars in its strips and speaks to the readers.
- Teach while you entertain: carry national, moral and religious lessons inside gags and serials, and keep the satire gentle enough for an eight-year-old.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (defining)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (defining)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (occasional)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Primary triad](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/primary-triad/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (occasional)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)
- [Misregistration & overprint](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/misregistration-and-overprint/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (defining)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Diagram & data](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagram-and-data/) (occasional)
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (defining)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (characteristic)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (occasional)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)

Avoids: Rebellious & subversive, Romantic & sensual, Monochrome, Dark ground, Experimental & distorted, Photocopy & distress, Non-representational

Palette: #f6f0dc, #1d1a17, #e23b2e, #f6c928, #2f8fd0, #3f9b4a

Typefaces: Hand-lettered Arabic balloon text, read right to left (in colloquial Egyptian Arabic in most of Samir's stories, in literary Arabic in Bisat al-Rih), Drawn Arabic onomatopoeia and expressive balloon lettering (Samir introduced sound effects, sweat drops and stars, thought balloons and lettering games for soft or thundering voices), Hand-drawn Arabic magazine mastheads (the titles سمير and ماجد drawn as logos at the head of every cover), Typeset Arabic Naskh text for editorial pages, quizzes, puzzles and readers' letters

Known for: Samir (Dar al-Hilal, Cairo, first issue 15 April 1956): 16 large colour pages for two piasters, 'for ages 8 to 88', echoing the Tintin weekly's '7 to 77'; editors Nadia Nash'at (1956–1966), granddaughter of Dar al-Hilal's founder, and Notaila Rashed, 'Mama Lubna' (1966–2002); Bernie Aalmeon's mascot gag strip Samir (1956) and Haroon's (Herant) scouting serial Basel, whose adventures began on the front cover and continued inside; Kiko (Roger Camille), covers and adventure serials such as 'Isam' for Samir from the late 1950s, before he moved to Belgium and Spirou; Loutfi Wassfi's Antar and Ibn Jarjoun and Farid Heart of Steel, and his 'Lessons in popular resistance' in Samir in 1967; Nassim's (also spelled Wassim) Samir and Tahta, whose heroes became commandos after the June 1967 war (Samir no. 592 cover: 'All for popular resistance'); Ahmad Hegazi's Tanabilat al-Subyan (The Lazy Boys) in Samir in the mid-1960s, later Dar al-Fata al-Arabi's first children's comic book, Tambul the First (Beirut); Mickey, Dar al-Hilal's Arabised Disney magazine (from about 1959, edited and translated by Nadia Nash'at), with Goofy as Bunduq and Donald as Battout; Bisat al-Rih (Beirut, 1962, publisher Zouheir Baalbaki), in literary Arabic: Bahija's (Gigea Tomassian) Zouzou, Tarek Assli's Alaeddine and Mahmoud Kahil's gags beside Lucky Luke and Tintin

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Influenced by: [Ligne Claire (Franco-Belgian Clear Line)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ligne-claire.md) (1929–present)
- Influenced by: [American Four-Colour Comic Book (Golden to Bronze Age)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-comic-book.md) (1934–1993)
- Influenced by: [Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cairo-beirut-book-design.md) (1952–1990)
- Alike in its design choices: [Amar Chitra Katha Comics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/amar-chitra-katha.md) (1967–present), 81% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Push Pin Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/push-pin.md) (1954–1980), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Polish Information Picture Book (Dwie Siostry)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/polish-picture-book-renaissance.md) (2008–present), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Imagerie d'Épinal & European Bilderbogen](https://stylogeny.com/styles/imagerie-epinal.md) (1796–1939), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Turkish Weekly Humour Magazines (Gırgır to Uykusuz)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-humour-magazines.md) (1972–2025), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Lianhuanhua Picture-Story Books](https://stylogeny.com/styles/lianhuanhua.md) (1925–1990), 67% alike

## Sources

- Georges Khoury (Jad), 'La bande dessinée d'expression arabe de 1950 à nos jours', Takam Tikou (Bibliothèque nationale de France), 16 March 2011: https://takamtikou.bnf.fr/dossiers/dossier-2011-la-bande-dessinee/la-bande-dessinee-d-expression-arabe-de-1950-nos-jours
- AUB University Libraries, 'Comics: A Very Serious Matter!' online exhibit, Samir and Sindbad: https://online-exhibit.aub.edu.lb/exhibits/show/comics/introduction/samir and https://online-exhibit.aub.edu.lb/exhibits/show/comics/introduction/samir/samir
- AUB University Libraries, 'Mickey and Tintin': https://online-exhibit.aub.edu.lb/exhibits/show/comics/introduction/arab-comics-and-translation/mickey
- AUB University Libraries, 'Protest and Contention' (Hijazi's Tanabilat al-Subyan): https://online-exhibit.aub.edu.lb/exhibits/show/comics/comics-in-the-curriculum-/arab-identity/protest-and-contention
- Lambiek Comiclopedia: Bernie Aalmeon (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bernie.htm), Haroon (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/haroon.htm), Kiko (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kiko.htm), Mostafa Rahma (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/r/rahma_mostafa.htm), Amna Al Hamudi (https://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/al_hamudi_amna.htm)
- Asmaa Al Hameli, '35 years of Majid magic: reading becomes knowledge', The National, 11 May 2014: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/education/35-years-of-majid-magic-reading-becomes-knowledge-1.659949
- Lakbira Al Tounsi, 'ماجد 43 عاماً في حب الطفولة', Al Ittihad, 1 March 2021 (first appeared as a supplement to Al-Ittihad): https://www.aletihad.ae/news/دنيا/4168330/ماجد-43-عاما-في-حب-الطفولة
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samir_(magazine)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majid_(comics)
- https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ماجد_(مجلة)
- Allen Douglas and Fedwa Malti-Douglas, Arab Comic Strips: Politics of an Emerging Mass Culture (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994)
- Zaidan Foundation, 'Jurji Zaidan's Life Journey' (Emile and Shukri Zaidan's Dar al-Hilal, nationalised in 1961, launched several children's weeklies starting with Samir): https://zaidanfoundation.org/about-jurji-zaidan/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Musawar (the Dar al-Hilal weekly owned by the Egyptian government since 1960)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Kahil (Lebanese-born cartoonist, born in Tripoli in 1936)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_(magazine) (subtitle 'The Magazine for the Youth from 7 to 77')

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Arab Children's Comic Magazines (Samir to Majid)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-childrens-comic-magazines/