Manga World Report continues to Jordan! Courtesy of dee juusan, who of course won The Winner Runner-Up award in the first year with “a Pure Love”, a silent manga about her pet rabbit. She writes from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan…

Hello~ I’m Diana, mostly known as dee, from Jordan. I’m 27 years old with an Architecture degree graduating in 2009. I’ve been working as a manga artist since 2010 with some freelance work as a character designer and illustrator on the side. I have several one shots and an ongoing published series; Grey is… I’ve been blessed enough to be one of the Winner Runner in the first Silent Manga Audition and it’s the kind of “pat in the back” I needed after working for 3 years in this fresh and unknown medium to some in Jordan. Jordan is a small country in the Middle East that’s constantly developing and changing at a very fast pace, given that it’s one of those countries with high population of young aged and spirited people. It’s most known for Petra, one of the new seven wonders of the world and the Dead Sea; Earth’s lowest Elevation on land. As I mentioned, Manga/Comics is a fresh medium here. It has its audience and readership but it’s still mostly unknown for many people, and when known, many consider it a medium aimed at children. But things have been changed for the past 3-5 years and the Comics community is getting bigger and bigger. Anime/Cartoons/Movies are still much known and watched than Manga/Comics but we’re getting there. A lot of people used to buy Manga online, and an international store; Virgin Mega Store was the only place to provide some Manga titles. A store opened in 2010; 16:9 WIDE:SCREEN, and it gives a wide selection of Manga and Comics titles, and it provides a service that you can order any Manga through them and get it at the retail price without shipping charges. Also, the owner, Sami Al Nazer, is really supportive and loves to help us local talents in displaying out works and self-published books in the store.This pushed the medium greatly for the past 2 years. The Manga/Comic community is mostly young adults of 20-30 years old, although a most people, if not everyone, watched Arabic dubbed anime, growing up without knowing the terms; Manga and Anime. Main stream shounen titles are most known, like Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, Full Metal Alchemist, Slam Dunk, but at the same time there is a wide appreciation with the gems like Mushishi, VegaBond and others Internet is a great thing! It allowed us to connect and learn a lot of faster and more conveniently that it was before. For the past 2 years, The Middle East Comic Con in Dubai, was a big help for us indie manga/comic creators to get together and share experiences and dreams. And thanks for people like you in the Silent Manga Audition Committee, it’s been easier to get our works out there for the whole world to see. I think this is one of the best contests/ideas and I see a big future for it because it’s purely universal with strong humane sweet themes. Thank you so much for reading~ Peace be upon you all!

As the media central of Arabic speaking world, Jordan produces 75% of all Arabic content on the internet. Through dee’s article I can feel how vibrant the country must be. Thanks dee! We will be asking more people around the world, to send in reports… Stay tuned 😉