- Action, colorful details, and powerful imagery immediately throws readers into the middle of a post-apocalyptic war. Like the art, nothing is just black and white as vengeance, and hate seems to coincide with the fight against all threats in Latifa: I am not Latifa by Fahad Al Saud and Stan Berkowitz.
The cover, created by Oscar A. Romer, depicts the strong solitary heroine. Her stance radiates defiance. Sebastian Navas and Gat Melvyn also illustrate her stance-against-the-world persona on the first page as she is shown alone in the vast desert.
No mercy is the concept throughout the story. Kindness seems to be a foreign concept usually met with confusion and dismissal. Latifa and Al Faisal may kill murderous mutants, but saving people isn’t their intention. Latifa, who is filled with hatred, only seeks revenge while her sword, Al Faisal, seeks those who do evil and judges them. Their targets only happen to be the same.
Every shadow, curve, and cut is expressed in great detail from a woman who held her children as she wept at the grotesque and bloody fight scenes. In this story, there’s no prince or magic, instead there’s Latifa and Al Faisal, her sword with artificial intelligence. The two refuse to stop as they work towards the same goal.
Latifa’s dismissal of her fellow humans defines her as an anti-hero. Her likable aspects rely mainly on her fierce demeanor. She displays her strength in her muscles and skills as a fighter, while she draws the reader into the action packed mysterious adventure.
Saudi Prince, Fahad Al Saud, began with an idea that included the first Middle-Eastern heroine. He then brought in writers such as Stan Berkowitz.
“We have had that great amount of freedom to create whatever we wanted. I really enjoyed having that freedom.” Berkowitz said.
The story brought up terms that allow the reader to look into the culture, such as, “Bedouin.” According to Britannica.com, Bedouin are Arabic-speaking nomadic people of the Middle Eastern deserts. This includes North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. The writers received much of their insight from Al Saud.
“I’d never been to the Middle-East but Fahad, of course, was raised there. So, he had a lot of information, a lot of thoughts about the culture that he transmitted to his writers.”
Women’s strength is clearly depicted in this piece. No one will save anyone and therefore you must stand and protect yourself. That is life in a nut shell making her character relatable. The in-depth back story with bloody action and its intriguing mystery truly makes the piece an enjoyable read.