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Monday, September 02, 2013

Comic book hero of the 1930s: Abdul the Arab (Collaborator)

I just saw a series of comics from the late 1930s called Abdul the Arab. As described in a comics wiki:
Abdul the Arab was a young Arabic warrior and son of a chieftain named Ali Bey. Eventually, Abdul became an ally of British Intelligence solving crimes and freeing captives such as Englishmen and even a captured Chinese princess named Mulan. His enemies include villains such as Sunyan Tse, the Masked One, and the Worshipers of the Sun God. He was assisted by his close friend Hassan.
In his adventures, Abdul works with the British to stop other Arabs who are scheming against them. Here is where he saved a scientist whose invention would have forced the free world to bow to the Arabs:



Here's his trusty friend Hassan beheading an Arab about to kill Adbul:


The anti-Arab bigotry of the stories...



...is apparently offset with how wonderful (and Western-looking) Abdul is as he kills the "bad" Arabs.