Lebanon Is Burning and Other Dispatches

Syrian Canadian journalist al-Saadi debuts with a passionate if uneven collection of comics essays about cyclical violence in the Middle East. The title entry, which covers the 2019 demonstrations in Lebanon against corruption, is among the volume’s most potent, partly due to the immediacy of Omar Khouri’s scratchy black and red art. Other standout chapters delve into the brutal civilian tolls exacted by Yemen’s civil war and Bahrain’s oppressive monarchy. “Eppur Si Muove,” which portrays the dank misery of Egypt’s gulags for political prisoners, is a particular highlight due to the swirling verve of Ghadi Ghosn’s Picasso-esque art. Elsewhere, however, al-Saadi’s scripts veer into buzzword sloganeering. A takedown of what he calls Doctors Without Borders’ two-tiered system for employees (valued Westerners and disposable local staff) loses its sting because, though al-Saadi once worked there, his critique is vague on details. Meanwhile, “From Palestine to Turtle Island” decries Canadian complicity in Israeli war crimes with manically heightened conspiratorial rhetoric (“The powers that be are planning wicked designs”). The result is a jarring mix of moving political journalism and agitprop. (Nov.)