This is not your typical comic book, where superhero swoops in, defeats the bad guy and, once again, saves the day. Cairo: A Graphic Novel is much more than that: the storyboard images intertwine a fantastical plot with compelling social, political and religious issues that are unique to Cairo’s cultural quirks.

“I was inspired to write a comic book about Cairo less than 24 hours after I arrived in the city. It captured my imagination right away,” said the American-born author and journalist G. Willow Wilson. When Wilson, who had studied Arabic at Boston University, found out that her former Arabic professor was moving to Egypt to help run a language school, she seized the opportunity and joined her. Wilson spent four years in Egypt, moving back to the US in 2005. “I knew I wanted to spend some time in a Muslim country to see what life was like there,” said Wilson, who converted to Islam while she was still in university.

With Americans as her target audience, Wilson, with illustrator MK Perker, felt the need to depict a different kind of Middle East, one that is perhaps alien to the average American. “I thought it was important for comic book readers to see the Middle East in a new light — no bombs, no fanatics, no propaganda,” says Wilson. “I think Westerners have trouble seeing the human impact of conflict in the Middle East because they’re so far away; it’s very abstract to them. I wanted to help humanize these conflicts and make them personal.”

Beyond the politics, Wilson treasures Cairo and sees it unlike any other city she has visited: unique, complicated and wonderful. “I wanted to use art to help other people — especially Westerners — see Al-Qahira.”

“So today I hit one of those stoned camels with my truck,” says Ashraf, the first character introduced in Wilson’s book. As Ashraf narrates the story to his mother, we soon discover he possesses a magical shisha pipe, a key element that mysteriously unites all the characters in the novel in their search for the ‘treasure.’

Meanwhile, on a flight to Cairo, Kate, an American tourist and aspiring journalist, turns to the Lebanese-American boy sitting behind her, hoping he’ll help translate customs forms. “Do I need to declare medication? My travel clinic gave me all this Cipro,” she holds the paper up to his face. “No, I think that’s OK,” Shaheed answers, cutting her off. He later hints at his plans to become a martyr.

Other characters include Tova, an Israeli Defense Force soldier who finds herself in a Bedouin caravan on her way to Cairo, and Jibreel, a dissident journalist who is pulled into the search for the treasure as a result of his Egyptian hospitality. Later in the story, Kate and Jibreel, who meet in a café, are kidnapped and held for ransom in exchange for the shisha, which was stolen. During their escape, the two get sucked into an underworld and are subsequently thrown into a symbolic duel versus demons and monsters.

A significant portion of the book deals with supernatural characters drawn straight from the Qur’an including Iblis (the Arabic name for Satan), his progeny and a jinn. “The religious themes of this book have real significance to me. They’re not just interesting ideas, they’re part of who I am,” reveals Wilson, adding that her fascination with the jinn motivated her to create the character of Shams, a centuries-old jinn.

Wilson knew this was going to be a challenging book to write. While some characters were clear in her mind, others needed more work. “I wanted the multiple storylines to function like Alf Leila wa Leila (A Thousand and One Nights), connecting and interweaving the lives of many characters, []” she says, “but I knew what message I wanted to send, and it was very important to me to stay true to that.”

Wilson says she is influenced by Palestinian intellectual Edward Said and uses one of his concepts to portray the treasure sought after by the characters in the book. She explains that although the treasure carries significance to many people, “in the end it is only a word, and it should rightfully belong to the people who live with it and in it. That is the point of the [concept of the treasure].”

The author relates to several of the characters in her story but feels she shares a lot in common with the aspiring journalist Kate. “When I first arrived here, I thought I knew more than I actually knew,” Wilson says. “A little education is often more dangerous than no education at all, it makes you over confident.”

The very patriotic character Shaheed, is more a foil to Wilson’s own feelings; she says her loyalties are divided between two different civilizations — America and Egypt. “I’m not sure I have the right to identify myself as Egyptian, however much I would like to.” Despite this, Wilson feels like she has two homes; one in the US and one in Egypt, and can’t deny that Egypt has shaped who she is today.

Even though the story line and the subject matter belong to this part of the world, the tone and style of the book are considered very Western. Illustrator Perker was welcomed aboard shortly after Wilson established the beginning of her story. “We spent a long time talking about the various characters and how they should look and behave,” she says. “In fact, seeing [Perker’s] character sketches for the first time was one of the happiest moments in my career. I knew we had the same vision for this book.”

Almost all stories include a love story, and this graphic novel is no different. Even though it is subtle and perhaps disturbing for many Arab readers, Ashraf falls in love with Tova, the Israeli soldier. Their relationship evolves toward the end of the book and even though they have to part ways, Tova comes back for him.

Asked about her stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the meaning of the characters’ relationship, Wilson says, “It’s wishful thinking, really. I want to believe such reconciliation is possible. Since the massacres in Gaza, I have come to wish I portrayed that relationship a little differently. My main goal was not to portray the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the Israeli-Egyptian conflict. That is something almost no one here in the US understands.”

To her surprise, Wilson discovered that the book did not spark any controversy, but instead received acclaim in the form of fan letters from Egyptians and Muslims around the world. The reaction has led Wilson to believe that literature can be universal and enjoyed regardless of cultural differences.

Wilson is currently finishing her latest book, a memoir about her time in Egypt called The Butterfly Mosque. She is also writing a surreal comic book series called AIR, about an airline stewardess with a fear of heights. She is not finished with the Arab world, though. “A lot of what I write will probably involve the Middle East in some way, either directly or indirectly. There is still a lot that needs to be said.” et