ABSTRACT
The global resurrection of the comics genre since the 1990s has also crucially impacted the Arab Middle East regional industry, influencing and establishing a certain dependency on funding from foreign institutions or international publishers already established in a big market. Like in other postcolonial regions, the regional comic scene of the last decade has still managed to develop its own specificity, employing a strong diversity of languages, genres, and forms. The best manifestation of this development is the simultaneous and transnational initiative of individuals and groups of multidisciplinary artists who, between 2007 and 2008, established an informal graphic movement, and who pushed for the establishment of the 9th art within the region. The internet, local magazines, and festivals organized within the region have revolutionized the reach of the medium and have decreased the importance of foreign influence, even though it still seems hard to find local publishers who venture into comic-book production.
