Review in a nutshell: A Sexually Perverse Romp Through Orientalist Middle East 
 Review in a (proportionally much larger) coconut shell: 
 What is with the sex in this book? Seriously. I was intrigued by the concept of a graphic novel set in the past-meets-future Middle East. But beyond that I didn't know what to expect other than what the blurb promised, a rollicking ride and an epic love story. But what I found was not a love story, what i found was the enforcement of extreme Middle Eastern stereotypes and an almost ridiculous portrayal of the sufferings of one woman at the hands of male lust and evilness that implicitly seemed to suggest that this here was how all women are treated by the Saracens. 
 Yes, the Saracens. For Habibi is very much of the Orientalist persuasion. It is the viewpoint of the Colonialist looking in, trying to impose his Godless values on a civilization and religion that he can only pretend to understand. And the pretensions are everywhere. The story is laced with lore from the Bible and the Quran which, while I found to be somewhat refreshing in so far as they explored the similarities between the two faiths of Islam and Christianity, took subtle but blatant liberties and altered certain important facts and events to suit the author's narrative arc. These were so smartly done that i doubt anyone without a rather robust knowledge of the actual versions of these stories would know the difference, exposing the danger in literature such as this. 
 And let's not get into the farfetched scenes of Caliphal cruelty and emotional horrors of life in the harem, or of mass oppression of the people by the powerful, or the exaggerated cruelties of slavers and slavery. Or, on second thought, lets. I mean, no one is denying that there was corruption and oppression in the later Ottoman Empire, if it was solidly righteous then it wouldn't have crumbled, but that does not mean that it was all evil and certainly not in the almost cartoonishly exaggerated way Habibi would have you believe, far from it. I would say that the evil and oppression rampant in the world today easily exceeds that seen in the times of the Ottomans. 
 But Habibi staunchly delivers a starkly dystopian view of the socio political arena of the not-so-fictional 'Wanatolian Empire', on no occasion is this view balanced and it takes no great pains to explore possible reasons and justifications for this authoritarian violence, it simply takes it for granted and depicts it as such. 
 The whole past meets present thing is charming, but story is set in a weird rift in time and space that combines a past that is a little too far in the past and a present that is a little too far into the future. Which I found increasingly jarring towards the end of the book. Plastic bottled water wasn't around in the 1890s, which is where the characters and political setting seem to be from, and eunuchs, caliphs and camel caravans weren't around in the seventies, eighties and nineties, where a lot of the 'present' seems to be from. 
 There is however a more positive view to this book. Perhaps the author is using this 'fictional' take on what he sees as a crumbled regime to direct the attention of readers to the corruption, oppression and sexual perversion pervading society today. Perhaps to hint that Western civilization itself might be on the verge of collapse, just like 'Wanatolia' before, because of its wanton corruption and oppression. To me however, this possibility only presents itself as a hint of a shadow of a passing cloud. But if art is perceived by those who behold it, it certainly exists. 
 So read this book with a wary eye, for there are several messages written beneath its lilting passage and subtle text. 
 The quality of writing, if you ignore the absurdities in the plotline, isn't too far off from really good. That is if you also ignore the many instances it gets carried away, seemingly overestimating its talents at stretching metaphors and symbols. But I have to hand it to the artist. The artwork is simply superb. The scenes of the desert, villages, the lives of the elites and the masses are wonderfully depicted by the hand of a master artist. So lovingly done that it appears slap dash, so authentic that it transports you back in time (until you're jarred by the apparent discord in historical progression which i mentioned, tsk such a let down). 
 And naked flesh, lots and lots of it. And did I mention the needless sex, rape and molesting? Lots and lots. In fact, they should just go ahead and re-title this one 'Haboobie'. That would be far more apt.