Sci-Fi & Squeam

3 Jul 2016

The Power of Comics : Full Interview with Safdar Ahmed

Comics, Horror Films, Music, Society & Culture, TV & Film

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The Power of Comics : Full Interview with Safdar Ahmed

Sonja Hammer’s full interview with artist and academic and Walkley Award winner Safdar Ahmed is here as a podcast. In this interview comics and zine creator and writer Safdar talks about his experience in making comics art to confront Islamophobia in society. Safdar uses the metaphor and tropes of the Horror creature the Zombie in his art work and music to highlight the intense bigotry that has arisen rapidly since September 11 2001 against Muslims.

Below: Safdar Ahmed speaking at TEDx Parramatta in 2012

Safdar and Sonja also talked about the change happening in comics today, including a move towards better representation and talk of Ms Marvel Kamala Khan by G.Willow Wilson as an example of the new inclusion in the Superhero genre.

They talk about their love of horror films like the groundbreaking George Romero films and much more.

‘The zombie has played a pivotal role in the Western imagination of Islam and Muslim culture since the so-called ‘war against terrorism’ inaugurated by the American administration under George W Bush in 2001. Yet this zombie-Muslim connection is rooted in a perception of Islam that reaches back further, to the birth of the European Enlightenment. It can be traced through scholarship, literature and art, to hoary stereotypes of Muslim irrationality and fanaticism. A figment of paranoia and revulsion, the zombie is about more than our current fear of terrorism. It is a looking glass for all the weird dreams and vivid hallucinations of modern Islamophobia.’ excerpt by Safdar Ahmed.

Below: cartoon poster by Safdar Ahmed.