Category Archives: Comics/graphic novels

How to win the coming culture war in 2017

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Samira Ahmed

A version of this article first appeared in The Big Issue magazine in January 2017. Journalism worth paying for. Available weekly from street vendors or subscriptions here. History rarely falls into neat numerical decades. I would assert the 1980s (yuppies, … Continue reading →

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Bryan Singer on: Chariots of the Gods, Valkyrie, Star Trek & the mythology of X-Men Apocalypse

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Samira Ahmed

Here’s my full interview with the very well-read Bryan Singer on X-Men Apocalypse. We talked the Bible, classic Star Trek, the 60s vogue for theories on space seeding aliens, and why the Holocaust is a presence in so many of … Continue reading →

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The trouble with superheroes taking on terrorism..

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Samira Ahmed

I love superhero comics and they’ve never been handled with more love than by writers and filmmakers who grew up on them too. And yet.. And yet.. In the latest Captain America Civil War film, when a terrorist bomb goes … Continue reading →

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Why doesn’t Wonder Woman wear a mask?

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Samira Ahmed

Originally written for a recent Radio 4 programme pilot about “masked men”.  In bicentennial year 1976 on first trip to the USA, I first confronted the conundrum of Wonder Woman and masks in three comics I bought. While most of … Continue reading →

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Plotting the arc of darkness with Joss Whedon

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Samira Ahmed

Here’s a link to my interview with Joss Whedon for Radio 3’s Night Waves on June 12th. We covered his writing for Roseanne, Shakespearean superheroes, his love of musicals — especially Brigadoon —  the way studios treat writers, (take Firefly … Continue reading →

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Murder, Mirth and Care Bears: The uses of an Oxford English degree

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Samira Ahmed

Photo copyright and courtesy of: Ian Fraser at Virtual Archive Writing for news bulletins, writing for standup comedy, writing murders for tv drama, writing for comics and fantasy gaming novels. These were some of the uses to which a group … Continue reading →

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Something Warhammer This Way Comes

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

 I discovered the world of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K through my son. Warhammer 40K was launched just over 25 years ago. To mark the anniversary I have written a feature about its world of table top fantasy wargaming for the BBC … Continue reading →

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Noooooo Uderzo Nooooo: Asterix and the afterlife

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Samira Ahmed

This article originally appeared in The Guardian online on September 29th and in the print edition on October 1st. In Obelix and Co, a devious young Roman general, Caius Preposterus (a thinly veiled Jacques Chirac) tries to corrupt Asterix’s proud … Continue reading →

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1951 then and now: Britain Mended, Britain on the Make

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Samira Ahmed

If you want to know what Britain was like before The Festival of Britain you should watch the masterful 1950 film noir, Night And The City. It features a chase around the industrial chimneys and postwar rubble of what was … Continue reading →

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Eet is, ‘ow you say, uncanny, no?

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Samira Ahmed

Fans of Asterix will need no reminding that the comic featured a youthful Jacques Chirac as a thrusting young politician in Obelix and Co (1976). But this morning provided a particularly delightful example of the potential of looking at politics … Continue reading →

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