If you’re fluent in Arabic, have a penchant for psychological warfare, like getting your paycheck from the U.S. government, and have a knack for drawing, then there might be a job for you; the US Army is attempting to create a comic book that will, it hopes, have the youth of the Middle East and Islamic world embracing Americanism with open arms. The rationale is that “in order to achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, the youth need to be reached.” Thus, the American government’s Federal Business Opportunities website now posts an ad looking for a collaborator for “a series of comic books,” since the medium would provide “the opportunity for youth to learn lessons, develop role models and improve their education.” The comic book will be produced by a new player in the business: the U.S. Special Operations Command based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home to the Fourth Psychological Operations Group.

Applicants should note, however, that they need not be overly creative — the American Army has already concocted the basics of character and plot, which will be centered around “security forces, military and police,” and will take place “in the near future in the Middle East.” The ideal author and artist should not highly value artistic integrity, either, but he or she should be open to working in (or perhaps being trampled on) in a highly collaborative process, since the U.S. government hopes to tempt some Middle Eastern nations to participate in this comic book venture through their ministries of the interior.  

This new pawn in the escalating war of media propaganda between the U.S. and the Muslim and Middle Eastern world will be facing stiff competition. The tentacular reach and popularity of the graphic novel now extends to the Middle East with AK Comics’ Middle East Heroes line of comic books, which is the first comic book specifically targeted for the audience in the region. The graphic novel, which is published in both Arabic and English, pits forces of good and evil for control of the City of All Faiths. Al-Ahram Weekly recently ran an article about Middle East Heroes with the cheerful title “My Favorite Superhero,” which quoted a 27-year-old business analyst explaining the appeal of the comic: “The setting is familiar and most characters’ names are Arabic…it’s just easier to connect.”

Middle East Heroes comic books seem set to enjoy even wider distribution, if not popularity; the AK Comics website gleefully notes that EgyptAir has agreed to a first-of-its-kind deal to dole out 20,000 AK Comics magazines on their flights. In contrast, its naked propagandism and American authorship will likely make the American government’s nascent comic book a very tough sell.  

Mimi Hanaoka