Author ‘The Arab of the Future’ comics commented on Assad’s fall in Syria

Syrian-born French comic author, illustrator, and director, Riad Sattouf, voiced his support for Syrians who struggled to victory over  the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Specifically, Sattouf remarked during an interview on Radio France. 

“It’s a great relief to say that the time has come for Syrians to seize this absolutely historic opportunity. It’s the end of Assad’s dictatorship, which we once believed to be eternal.”  He also shared that the village of Ter Maaleh in Syria, the setting of his comic “Me, Fadi, the stolen brother” (“Moi, Fadi, le frère volé”), was bombed by regime forces shortly before Assad’s fall. 

Sattouf added that he has always remained in contact with his relatives and friends still in Syria. He observed that Syrians never anticipated the regime’s collapse, given its brutal control over society through fear and terror. However, he also highlighted that many Syrians continue to worry that they might be replacing one dictator with another. 

Still, most are euphoric.

“It’s hard to contain any joy, even though it’s clear the biggest challenges lie ahead. For now, we can truly be happy,” the author said. 

“The Arab of the Future” is one of the world’s most renowned contemporary Syrian comics, originally published in French in 2015 by Metropolitan Books, and now translated into 22 languages. “An autobiographical and political graphic novel that depicts Riad Sattouf’s childhood. With humor and great sensitivity, the author recounts his upbringing and the fate of his family in Libya under Muammar Gaddafi and in Syria during the rule of Hafez al-Assad,” the description read. 

On Dec. 8, 2024, the opposition announced the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian regime, which \ruled Syria for over half a century. The opposition’s military campaign began on Nov. 27. Assad’s totalitarian regime was marked by imprisonment, torture, and executions. Since the start of the civil war in 2011, around 96,000 people have been “forcibly disappeared” in regime prisons, according to the monitoring group Syrian Network for Human Rights.

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Main image: Marie Rouge/Allary Editions

Copy editing: Ben Angel