Lo and behold the much anticipated return of Craig Thompson to the graphic novel world with this year’s publication of Habibi.
“Easily the best graphic novel of the year, and probably the decade…Thompson’s line work here is beyond brilliant, combining myriad styles and capturing the rich historical legacy of the cultural and religious volumes that inspired it. This is a work that truly changes the game and sets a new standard for all the graphic novels that follow it.” –GraphicNovelReporter.com
“Habibi lifts the bar of graphic storytelling to new heights, both by the intricate, dramatic density and breathtaking scholarship of Thompson’s panels and by the sheer scale and decorative beauty of his flowing, roiling, protean style. Thompson is the Charles Dickens of the genre, able to capture all the scary, heartbreaking, brave, uplifting details of his characters’ fates while orchestrating the big-picture machinations that connect them to the lives and times of his readers…Habibi is a masterpiece that surely is one of a kind.” –Elle Magazine
A captivating and deeply romantic story, Habibi explores the beauty and cruelty, the complexity and depths of the Islamic world, and the divide and link between Christianity and Islam through the haunting stories of its characters’ lives.
Dodola and Zam’s paths intersect in light of tragedy. Both the property of slave traders, they soon manage to escape. What ensues is a struggle to make a place for themselves in a world often met by hardships, suffering, and uncertainty.
Craig’s stunning artwork strikingly matches the puissance of his storytelling, and is sure to instantly establish itself as an epic modern parable; one that demonstrates how anguish and pain can be transformed into joy through the power of love and hope.
We feel your love for this book, too! Here’s one fan who showed up to one of Craig’s NYC events sporting some HABIBI inspired new ink. For more upcoming events click here.
“A lushly epic love story that’s both inspiring and heartbreaking…In addition to richly detailed story panels, the gorgeous Arabic ornamental calligraphy makes each page an individual work of art.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Exquisite… HABIBI is a remarkable feat of research, care, and black ink, and a reminder that all “People of the book,” despite the division of their individual traditions, share a mosaic of stories.” –Harper’s Magazine
Get your copy today!
My first in-sight into Craig Thompson’s work was by way of “Carnet De Voyage” which I thought was rather unbelievable, given that the inkings were “merely” everyday sketches, a sort of warmup to the creative spirituality the reader/viewer discovers in “Habibi.”
The graphic world in America is perhaps only catching onto the fact that Thompson is at the top of the pantheon along with Art Spiegelman and Neil Gaiman.
No arthritis can stop this remarkable talent which I feel is just heating up. Kudos to Pantheon for publishing this remarkable book.