Is Ancient Egypt Underrepresented in the World of Comics?

The history of ancient Egypt is hugely popular with people around the world. That’s why, according to The National, Egypt saw almost 9 million tourists in 2018 and why the number of tourists visiting the historic country in 2019 is expected to reach 6 million in the first half of 2019.

People have a big interest in the ways of the ancient Egyptians, such as the gods they worshipped, the pyramids, their daily lives and their rulers. A lot of this information has been seen in pop culture, with movies, video games and television shows representing ancient Egypt. However, one type of media where this theme occurs far less is the comic book and graphic novel industry. But why? And is that about to change?

How Egypt Has Been Represented in Other Pop Culture:

The gorgeous landscapes and political intrigue of ancient Egypt make for brilliant video games and several franchises have found success within that setting. VentureBeat reports that Assassin’s Creed Origin sales led publisher Ubisoft to record figures of $889.4 million for the holiday quarter of the 2017 financial year.

Online gaming sites also draw on this mysterious era with Betway online slots, like the game Cleopatra, also using ancient Egypt as a setting. This particular game features symbols such as hieroglyphs, pyramids and pharaohs. Popular casino game developer IGT has also included an artistic representation of Cleopatra, one of ancient Egypt’s most famous rulers, plus a heavy dose of sphinxes and scarabs, using every popular part of ancient Egyptian history to decorate its reels.

Blizzard multiplayer shooter is another. The game features two playable Egyptian characters, Ana and Fareeha (Pharah) Amari. Although two very modern characters, Pharah’s character design includes the eye of Horus, her skins have names that mention ancient Egyptian gods and their hometown map of Anubis is decorated with ancient Egyptian gods and symbols. PC Gamer says that Overwatch has made more than $1 billion, suggesting its historic theme has helped it gain similar levels of popularity as hit titles such as Call of Duty.

Clearly, the universal appeal of ancient Egypt – probably due to having such iconic imagery – means it can be applied to games across many different genres and allowed each game to reap the benefits of that appeal through its success.

Why Have Comics Failed to Represent Ancient Egypt, then?

Unfortunately, comics have failed to take advantage of this to the extent that other media has. You could easily find a blockbuster movie based on ancient Egypt (such as The Mummy franchise) or take your pick of video game releases. However, if you want a comic based on ancient Egypt, you may be stuck. One of the biggest examples is Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians, but even that got mixed reviews for its use of color and particularly gruesome depictions.

A big reason comics have failed at this is that it would be a risk. According to Diamond Comic Distributors’ list of the best-selling comics in 2018, the top 10 best-selling titles are all comics featuring established superheroes and big-name IPs like Batman, The Avengers and The Walking Dead. These series have been around for decades.

If a comic book company wants to release a new comic that’s set in ancient Egypt, with an Egyptian character, it would likely have to release a brand new IP. This IP may not be a big seller and therefore equals wasted resources. It would also be difficult to link the new comic to established series that take place in modern times and so the new IP would have to start building a fanbase from scratch.

Is the Representation of Ancient Egypt in Comics Changing?

There haven’t been any major examples of ancient Egypt in mainstream comics (original IP from Marvel, DC or other big comics companies) in the last few years. However, there have been tie-ins of the other media properties that have used the ancient Egypt setting. In 2018, Ubisoft began to publish its Assassin’s Creed Origins comics series. The four-part mini-series followed Aya, a playable character in the game and wife of male protagonist Bayek as it looked at the first years of the Assassin’s Order.

Blizzard has a line of physical and digital comic books and graphic novels (The Art of Overwatch is one of these). In early 2019, the company added to this list with Bastet, which was a short story with a comic-book art style. The story features Ana and Soldier: 76 (another character in the game) as they discuss their pasts. It combines Blizzard’s idea of a modern Egypt (with robot camels) with the themes and art style of ancient Egypt.

The Bastet short story didn’t go on sale and the Assassin’s Creed Origins mini-series had such a short run that it’s difficult to properly analyze its sales and how interested people were in it. However, both releases were praised by fans and critics. This confirms that there is at least some interest in comic books and graphic novels based on historical Egypt.

The setting of ancient Egypt could be a good area to expand into for the major comics publishers. There are lots of potential stories there, but it will require some time and resources to ensure that the quality of the stories and that they are created right for the audience, deciding whether to appeal to those who like historical accuracy or casual fans of the time period.

Main photo sourced from http://www.comicbookreligion.com