Two years ago I attended Ottawa Comic Con, it was the first comic con I had ever attended. I never felt the urge to go to such a convention, because I never thought I would fit in. As a hijabi (a Muslim woman who wears a headdress) I felt out of place. However, something compelled me to go that year, and I am glad I did. I walked around the convention hall, and something caught my eye. My heart honestly skipped a beat because I couldn’t believe what I saw. A hijabi woman sitting at a table with some art and comics on display. I went up to her table and saw that it was all hers. She was displaying her comic 1001, which she created. Every image, every word was hers. It truly amazed me and made me feel more comfortable at the convention, and in the geek community.

Anwar is a Toronto based comic book writer and artist. She is also a freelancer. When she is not focused on her ongoing comic she is working on concept art, illustrations and commissions. Links to check out her work will be below.

1001 is a reimagining of the life Scherezade, the cunning heroine of the original tale One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Caught between political intrigue by day and a mad, murderous king by night, Scherezade must use her wit and wild imagination to survive.

Anwar’s main character, Scherezade, is based on the narrator of One Thousand and One Nights. She is the cunning wife of King Shahrya. The King marries a new bride everyday, and executes the wife from the previous day. After 1000 wives he meets Scherezade. She is not eager to die so she uses storytelling as a way to postpone her execution. Every night she would begin a story, but end it with a cliffhanger at dawn, forcing the King to postpone the execution so that he may here the end of the story. She does this 1001 times, he falls in love with her, and makes her his new queen.

1001 is a retelling of Scherezade’s story, and Anwar is creating a story that is as compelling, and intriguing as the stories Scherezade’s tells in Arabian Nights. Anwar’s comic is free, issues 1-3 are available here. The series is ongoing and when future issues are available GOC will update our readers. A review of the comic will posted in a week.

Links

• Tumblr: http://sanya-anwar.tumblr.com/
• Instagram: sanya_anwar
• Website: http://www.artbysanya.com/
• Twitter: @sanya01

Check out Sanya Anwar’s work, follow her on Insta & Twitter. Recommend the comic to your friends, spread the word. Have fun reading!