A charity comics anthology for a Free Palestine

Samidoon (صامدون ). Arabic for steadfast, brave, surviving, persevering. 


THE COMICS

Al’ Aqwaa by Jameeleh Shelo, Johanna Taylor, and Jodie Troutman

A comics page of Palestinian children realizing they have amazing super powers like speed, strength, levitation, fire, ice, and force fields. Comic by Jameeleh Shelo, Johanna Taylor, and Jodie Troutman.

First Time for Everything by Dania Omari

A text heavy comic featuring a person peeking around the edge of a large dividing wall in a stark black and white landscape.

The Men I’ve Known by Jordan Alsaqa, Jacoby Salcedo, and Fortune Wesson

An autobio comic about the memories of the Palestinian men in Jordan's family.

The Nameless by Marguerite Dabaie

An autobio comic in which young Marguerite learns from an early age that as a Palestinan, they're treated differently.

Together We Rise by Omar Abed and Salam Zahr

A comic page depicting a young Palestinian-American boy feeling the contrast between the Palestine of his family's history, the destruction he's witnessing, and the swiftness with which it feels his peers have lost interest.

The Falcon by Megan Huang

A metaphorical comic about a falcon who has a darkness stealing its eggs.

Here and Now by Lorenzo Hall, James Marsh, and Cris Jackson

A comic of a young woman in Palestine visiting places in her memory and in the reality of how they are now.

Past, Present, Future by Iasmin Omar Ata

A comic drawn from a real family photo of Iasmin's family leaving Palestine 50 years ago.

Untitled by Fuad Alymani

A comic about a house, now occupied by a Jewish settler, interrogating who the house used to belong to.

Call to Action by Anonymous, Rebecca Michaud, Duck Drew, and Matthew Palacios

A comic page about being stirred to taking action in seeing journalists, protestors, and people trying to survive against evil.

On This Land by Anas Abdulhak and Alina Wahab, adapted from the poem by Mamoud Darwish

Comics by Mohammad Sabaaneh

A political cartoon of two people holding containers in front of them. The larger figure catches missles and bombs in a helmet like rain. A smaller child in the corner's pot remains empty.

Plus stories by Reem Alnatsheh and Danny Lore; and David Mariotte and Rebecca Ann.

Samidoon: Comics for a Free Palestine is an anthology of new short comics from a mix of Palestinian creators and their allies that speak to the Palestinian ability to remain steadfast and survive after the events of the past year, and the past 75 years. 

The stories within speak to Palestinian existence and resistance: from sharing family histories to reflections on being of Palestinian descent in diaspora to translations of poetry and folklore to real and fictionalized accounts of standing up for what is right and the future of a Palestine that is free from the river to the sea! 

This 64-page collection features contributions from over 25 comic writers, artists, cartoonists, colorists, and letterers including Ignatz award-winner Iasmin Omar Ata (Nayra and the Djinn), Jordan Alsaqa (Cooking with Monsters), Omar Abed (The Book that Almost Rhymed), Marguerite Dabie (The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories), Jameeleh Shelo (Laith the Lion goes to Palestine),Palestine Book Award winner Mohammad Sabaaneh (Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine), Fuad Alymani, Reem Alnatsheh, Dania Omari, Salam Zahr, GLADD award-winner Jacoby Salcedo (This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story), Fortune Wesson, Johanna Taylor (The Ghostkeeper), Jodie Troutman (Star Trek: Celebrations), Megan Huang (The Scale Trade), Ringo-nominated Anas Abdulhak (Etheres), Lambda Literary Award-nominated Alina Wahab (Nectar), Rebecca Michaud (Potions 101), Duck Drew, Matthew Palacios (Darklighter), Lorenzo Hall (TMNT: Black, White, and Green), James Marsh (Transformers: Beast Wars), Cris Jackson (The Rose Prince), Danny Lore (Bloodline: Daughter of Blade), Rebecca Ann (The Press Guardian), and David Mariotte (Transformers vs. the Terminator).

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

First and foremost, the goal of this campaign is to raise money to cover the costs of Samidoon's print run and any additional production costs associated with the campaign. It’s set for an estimated 500 copy initial print run to cover backers, contributors, and have some excess stock–but of course, the more people who pledge, the more copies we need, and it can raise the printing costs. 

All contributors have donated their time and efforts on this project and after release will continue to own their work. After the print costs have been deducted, any remaining funding from this project will be donated by the team to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, an organization help those on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank, and across Palestine. Additionally, any future sales of remaining stock will have their proceeds donated as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

I put my email in for the digital edition or physical/digital combo edition pre-order, but didn’t put in any payment information. Is there an additional step?

Yes! While we make sure to collect your email for fulfilment of digital editions early, it does add the preorder to your cart, and you must complete filling out the info via the cart button in the top right to ensure it goes through.

I’m interested in picking this up for my children/students. Is there a recommended age range?

The anthology has a broad range of stories, given it’s nature as a mix of fiction, biography and autobiography, poetic adaptation, and more. There are stories that include adult language and mature themes including depictions of and conversations around police brutality, occupation and colonialism, racism, the Nakba, living in diaspora, and genocide. We recommend discretion and parential conversation for younger readers, but also believe an inherent part of the work as a whole is it’s ability to grow with the reader.

I am interested in supporting this project, but I don’t live in the U.S. What can I do?

We are working on international shipping. It is important to the team to be able to have the book available to those who want it. However, given recent fluctuations of rates and service for U.S. shipping, we are working to make sure any shipping quotes are both accurate and will be able to be fulfilled. Please bear with us as we work on this and in the meantime, we do recommend the digital edition. Additionally, please see our first blog post for additional ways you can help out Palestine. UPDATE: Some international shipping options are now available! Please check out the third blog post for more information!

Why is there a Pre-Order goal? Does the project not happen if the goal isn’t reached?

The pre-order goal is about making sure we’ve got the proper expectations on print run and is an estimate for a real safety net on potential costs. If we don’t meet the goal by the May deadline, we’ll print fewer copies of the initial run, but all fulfillment will be met and as planned, any money made from copies beyond the cost of that first print run will go to the PRCS.

Can I donate directly to the PRCS?

Absolutely! You can do that here!

I’d like to learn more about the creators! How can I do that?

Please check out our About page!

What’s the latest?

Updates are shared on our Blog/Updates page. A great way of keeping track of what’s going on!

Buy the Book

Digital PDF (Pre-Order)

$10

Get a digital copy of the book, plus selected digital comics from our contributors and printable wheatpaste posters!

Print Copy (Pre-Order)

$20

Get a print copy of the book, plus bookmarks and stickers designed by our contributors!

$80

Get 5 print copies for the cost of 4! Perfect for sharing with friends or bringing into your local shop!

Sharable Bundle (Pre-Order)

Print & Digital Bundle (Pre-Order)

$28

Get both a digital copy and a print copy, plus the selected digital comics from our contributors, printable wheatpaste posters, bookmarks, and stickers!