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Graphic Literature

From “Metro”

By Magdy El Shafee
Translated from Arabic by Humphrey Davies
THE DAY I DECIDED TO ROB A BANK

I don't know how all this anger built up in me

All I know

Tone is everyone was always some place and I was some place else

That left me with just one thing : my brain

Now at last

I'm going to do what my brain's been telling me
{WWW}

[Frame]

The little shit's always late

[Frame]
{TERRINN}

[Frame]
{CLICK, ZEEK , ZUCK}
Note on the top: Please read from right to left
The platform phones never ring !!
{TRRN}

[Frame]

We're the ones who set up this network and only Shihab knows how to make it take calls ..

[Frame]


Mustafa: Morning , Prince. I was just saying Mr. Shihab's the only one who can make the phones ring .. ...... Sure , Sure . I'm on my way up .

[Frame]

Mustafa: I really don't feel good about this operation .. Come on , let's drop it Mr. Shihab Kay That's exactly the sort of wavering that'll do us in

[Frame]


Mr. Shihab: I can't tell you everything'll be alright but the police don't have time for us ..... They're too busy looking after the security of just one person . Anything unexpected gets past them .

Mustafa: But this time it could be prison , Mr. Shihab

Mr. Shihab: In this country prison's for the poor , Mustafa ... and you're going to be rich Shall we go ?
Note on the top: Please read from right to left ←


Shihab remembers how his former partner and creditor accosted him two weeks previously

{AEEEE}

Man in Car (Hagg Gharib): Hey ! Shihab Got the money ?

Mr. Shihab: We're working on it ...

Hagg Gharib: Whaddya mean , you're working on it

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: But Hagg Gharib , you were our partner and with us all the way

Hagg Gharib: And thank God I made sure I was OK .. Listen..You got the money in one shot and I want it back the same way ... If not , I'll hunt you down

[Frame]
{VREERROOOOOOOMMM}


Mr. Shihab: Mustafa , take all the bank papers . I can't show my face there any more . The only guarantee we can use is the program I designed .

Mustafa: That could be sold any where in the world
But the banks only lend to Gharib and others like him

[Frame]


Mr. Shihab: The last loan we took was against the office I built with my sweat and tears and we still couldn't pay it back , I'll wait for you at Wannas's
Note on the top: Please read from right to left ←


Mustafa: Know what , Mr. Shihab ? We live in a God - forsaken place behind Izbit el Nakhl . Trash ... goats ... flying animals we call mosquitoes
not to mention sewers open to the sky ..
Anyway , they decided it didn't look nice and wouldn't do
Know what they did ?

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: What ?

Mustafa: They built a wall around us

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: All of us are in this very big trap And we'll stay in there , waiting . Maybe somebody'll throw us a bit of cheese


Mustafa: Take Wannas . His bit of cheese is a pound note . And you , your bit of cheese is a new cell phone . The rich man's bit of cheese is a hot chick and the chick is chasing after a new BMW . The biggest bit of cheese is a palace in Sharm El Sheikh , or a yacht at Marina . The main thing is , everyone's kept too busy going around in circles to think about anything else .
Sign: ALFA MARKI

[Frame]
Mustafa: I have to find a way out of the whole trap
OK . Aren't the big officials outside the trap ? We ought to get into the government ... and steal and live
Mustafa: Then Gharib'd kiss our feet , swear to God !

Mr. Shihab: I've got a helluva idea

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Know what's right on in what you said ? The solution's in front of us . The trap is open only nobody leaves , exactly like you guys when they built a wall around you -you just stood there and watched .

Mustafa: Give over ! The rusty nail gets hammered down

Mr. Shihab: That's the problem . We have to get out of the trap together..Hey , It's almost eight .


[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Let's go back to the office . They'll have buzzed off by now
Return to the present . Shihab and Mustafa set off to rob a bank ....

List of locations on a map: Bohooth - Dokki - Gezira - Mubarak ( Ramses ) - Orabi - Nasser- Sadat ( Tahrir )- Saad Zaghloul- Mohammed Naguib - Ataba - Emad-Eldin - Naguib El-Rihani - Port - Saic


Mr. Shihab: The trap's open .. Mustafa
Just two steps and we're out

Mustafa:Yeah , but is it safe ?
Note on the top: Please read from right to left ←


But before Shihab can carry out his plan ....

Inside the bank . The director's office

Bank director: What collateral , sir ? The bank is honored to make Your Excellency the loan

His Excellency: Have you finished ? !!

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab(to himself): Hey , what's going on ? Five million dollars have been issued and who to!

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Looks like I'll have to finish off the work on my own inside . I'll be back in five

[Frame]
His Excellency: You don't say so. We go to all this trouble and I swear people don't give a damn . Listen , friend . I'm a straight shooter praise God ! You'll get your commission .

Bank director: Here's the money

[Frame]
His Excellency: Who's that ?
Bank director: What's that ?


[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Clean up time

Voice: Call security !

Mr. Shihab: Ever since I was little , I've loved Bruce Lee ..
When we were in Upper Egypt with Dad
Mr. Shihab: We used to copy the men playing at stick fighting

[Frame]
Sticks
{Crash}
Bones
{Smash}

[Frame]
Today...

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Today , let bones be smashed , like the dreams of our youth

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: You . Hand over the money

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Don't move an inch ! Every thing ' ll be over in couple a minutes
His Excellency: Wait . I beg you , don't hurt me . I'm ... I'm . ... ready to let you make more than that . And without breaking the law..hhmmmfff

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: The alarm . It's off , right ?

[Frame]
His Excellency: Li ... Li ... Listen . Don't think ...


Mr. Shihab: Cut the ' listen ' crap This time , you get to do the listening . Move Keep your mouth shut . and walk ahead of me

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: You have to make even an honest robbery dirty
Anyway if that finger presses the alarm it'll be the last thing it does for a month

Mr. Shihab: Hallo ? I'm coming out

His Excellency: Ah ! Don't think

Mr. Shihab: Shut it , asshole
No , no . Not you , Mustafa Be ready in 20 seconds

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Now you're the government and here are the guys who've been robbing you , taking your money , and making you go hungry . Here he is , trussed like chicken

Mustafa: Anyone want to have a go ... ?
The politician , fearing scandal , tells the bank manager to hush the whole affair up and Shihab hides the money . Mustafa returns to his home in a slum ....
Next day . Shihab's house , Shihab and Mustafa search the papers for mention of the bank robbery . There is none . Dina turns up with stuff from Shihab's office .
Note on the top: Please read from right to left ←

Mustafa: She isn't a stranger , Hagga . This is Dina
Dina's a journalist , and she's interested in Mr. Shihab's .. system , y'know

Hagga: Nice to meet you , dearie

Dina: And nice to meet you , Tante. That friend of yours is amazingly rude . I mean like how can you be friends with a guy like that?



Mr. Shihab: I've known him for ages . He stayed with me after all the rest of the company's employees had left me I've known him since Elementary , when we used to jump over the turnstiles in the metro

Dina: OK , so he'd jump over . I can see it . But why you?


Mr. Shihab: Because I like to cheat the system . In fact , it's not a system , it's a long line of prisoners who don't know how to get out or where to go . Anyway , Mustafa's a decent guy . And he always thinks whatever I do is great .
Mr. Shihab: People are numb . Nothing has any effect on them . They've put up with so much they just say , ' That's the way things are here .

Dina: So what then ? Can this really be the end ?

Dina: Isn't there any solution ? What about all those computers and that software of yours , genius ?

Mr. Shihab: Dina , we have a well known rule . When a program you're designing gets messy , throw it out , and start over . And our programs aren't just messy , they've got a virus

Dina: What's That ?
{TRRN}
{TRRN}
Mr. Shihab: What's that ? The plat form phones never ring

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Wait , Dina ....
{TRRN}
Mr. Shihab: We're the only ones who know how to pull that trick ...
{TRRN}

[Frame]

Mustafa:it wouldn't be right to go abroad without speaking to you

Mr. Shihab: You ?!

Mustafa: That's right . Mustafa . I knew you'd figure out it was me

Mustafa: I'm one of the many people who are worth nothing

Mustafa: and there's no way I'm going to be worth anything not in a hundred years

Mustafa: I couldn't pass up the money . I'll never get a chance like this again

Mr. Shihab: You've robbed me !
Mr. Shihab: Don't get too upset , brother . This country gets ripped off every day . This time it's my turn . It's true I won't be coming back here , but I'll never forget my friends . As soon as I've got myself set up , I'll send you an invitation to come and visit

Mustafa: you could have been worth something Now you've cost yourself that chance

[Frame]
Mustafa: All the same , wasn't it you who said we had to find a way out of the trap ?

Mr. Shihab: I said ' we , not ' you . ' Do you know what I found outside the trap ?
I found people even more scared than we are

Mustafa: Excuse me , Mr. Shihab . I've got to throw the cell phone away now . Like you told us , the mobile is the most dangerous tracking device

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: I just hope I never hear your voice again , you whore

Dina: Watch your language , Shihab . Who was that ?

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: He used to Be my friend , but to be honest ...

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab:..no one ever gave a damn about him

[Frame]
Mr. Shihab: Not even me !
Shihab reflects that , despite his qualifications and effort , it has been easier for him in this society where everything is upside down , to make money robbing a bank . The bank manager has found a way to hide the robbery and nothing will ever be heard of it . He and Dina are alone on the metro platform ...

[Frame]

Mr. Shihab: Now the train has left

Mr. Shihab: Dina ..

Magdy El Shafee’s Metro, the first adult Arabic graphic novel, is set in a chaotic modern Cairo pulsing with financial and social insecurity. Shihab, a young software designer who has been forced into debt by corrupt officials, decides to get out of his dilemma by taking “direct action”: robbing a bank, with the help of Mustafa, his loyal but reluctant sidekick. He finds himself caught in a vortex of financial and political corruption; the only relief comes from Dina, an idealistic journalist. In this extract Shihab plans and executes the robbery with surprising results. Note that panels should be read from right to left.

From Metro. Copyright Magdy El Shafee. Translation copyright 2008 by Humphrey Davies. All rights reserved.

English

Magdy El Shafee’s Metro, the first adult Arabic graphic novel, is set in a chaotic modern Cairo pulsing with financial and social insecurity. Shihab, a young software designer who has been forced into debt by corrupt officials, decides to get out of his dilemma by taking “direct action”: robbing a bank, with the help of Mustafa, his loyal but reluctant sidekick. He finds himself caught in a vortex of financial and political corruption; the only relief comes from Dina, an idealistic journalist. In this extract Shihab plans and executes the robbery with surprising results. Note that panels should be read from right to left.

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