When I picked this up back in late 2007, I wasn’t even looking for it. I was browsing the graphic novel aisle at Barnes and Nobles, when the purple hardcover caught my eye. I picked it up, checked out the back cover, skimmed the first page, and bought it on an impulse buy. I was not disappointed; plus it introduced to me to the poetic spiritual poetic writings of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī–yes I do read other things besides comic books and graphic novels. Since then it has been listed as a top graphic novel for teens by both the American Library Association and the School Library Journal.
Now about eight years later I am reading it again on a rainy Saturday afternoon, waiting for Hurricane Joaquin to blow ever. I couldn’t remember much about it, not even who wrote it. It wasn’t until I picked it up off my bookshelf that I realized that it was written by G. Willow Wilson, the current writer of Ms. Marvel and the voice behind Kamalah Khan–which happens to be in my pull list since issue #1 (yet another entry to my little black book of future blogs).
Once again it did not disappoint. Great art, stoned camels, hashish smugglers, genies, a female special forces Isreali soldier, and the undernile. I’m surprised this one has not yet been made into a movie or something. It deserves a wider audience in film.
Here are some quotes:
“So today I hit one of those STONED camels with my truck.”
“We don’t pull things out of thin air, we manipulate probability. The ability to create belongs to someone else.”
“The unexpected keeps us humble.”
“Fear is never a noble weapon. EVER.”
“Due respect to the tribe of Adam, but my kind was created first, it’s hard to keep us down.”
“Even when you’ve been hurt, living is braver than dying.”
Informative Links:
Great Comic Book Quotes 