November
19 Review: Cairo

Creators: G. Willow Wilson, writer; M.K. Perker, artist
DC/Vertigo, 160 pages, black and white, hardcover, $24.99.
So? Author and journalist G. Willow Wilson tries to bridge the fantasy and mythology of ancient Middle Eastern cultures with the reality of today in Cairo, a new hardcover GN from Vertigo. There’s a lot going on this tale, which features characters both likeable and not from the many sides of life in the ancient city, where Wilson has lived and worked for four years: There’s a good-hearted and street savvy hash dealer, a journalist struggling to air his grievances against the government, a lost female Israeli soldier, a Lebanese-American who had been thinking about committing terrorist acts, and a young American girl looking to find the meaning to life she can’t find in Orange County. Then, there is Shams, a jinn — better known in America as a genie — and all manner of unusual, mystical events. While this set up seems to have all the clever ingredients that would make a welcome addition to the line that published Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, it never quite jells, at least partly because the fantasy stands in such stark contrast with the more realistic elements. The characters are well defined and interesting, though the events they encounter become increasingly fantastic and removed from the more compelling realities of life in the Middle East. Part of the problem is that, despite all the fantasy, there is surprisingly little sense of place and the setting seems largely unimportant to a tale that seems like it could take place in any number of Middle Eastern cities. The art by Perker, who lives in Turkey, falls short in this one area of setting, even as it brings out the personalities of the characters quite well. Color might have helped in this regard, as well as taking some of the bite out of the $24.99 price tag. But color can’t change the strange mix of the story, or give it the weight it needs to satisfy readers. Grade: C+