Created by Rakan Sindi and Kali Baker-Johnson, ZAHRA THE SHADOW FLAME is about a young woman named Zahra Darwesh, growing up in the fictional country of United Arabia, who is the last in a long line of mystically powered women known as the Birth Weepers. It’s kind of a superhero story, kind of a coming-of-age story, and kind of an allegory about the plight of women in the Middle East and the world over. Enjoy the excerpt below, and check out The Metaworker‘s exclusive interview with the creators, then head over to their website ADAM COMICS or Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @zahracomics for more!
RAKAN SINDI and KALI BAKER-JOHNSON met in the fall of 2012 as graduate film directing students at Chapman University. Rakan got Kali into video games, Kali got Rakan into comics, and before they knew it, they were collaborating on a short film about a young Saudi Arabian girl with otherworldly powers that was still struggling with the problems of the real world. The ideas behind that film morphed and grew into ZAHRA THE SHADOW FLAME, a story they realized needed to be told outside of film. In 2018 the duo established ADAM COMICS to follow the adventures of Zahra and feature other fantastical stories exploring how true heroism comes from unexpected people in unexpected places.
Pages 1-5 from Issue #1 of ZAHRA THE SHADOW FLAME
Pencils only of Page 4, Kali’s favorite page:
Pencils and colors with no lettering of Pages 10-11, Rakan’s favorite pages:
