For the final project of my master's degree, I created a graphic novel. It is a sociopolitical piece that highlights
matters such as Baloch missing persons, Ethnic cleansing, and Hazara genocide.
Philosophy of the title
Before the first snow, before the white freezes over all. There is a certain desperation in the air just as the first flake touches the ground. To find those who are lost, and those who have lost. The mountains change colour. The streets become quiet, warm breath turns into mist. Life becomes unfriendly as many things happen before the first snow, a son loses his father, a wife becomes a widow.
For another, hope dissolves itself into bitter cold yet again, her husband still remains framed in the photo.
A stranger to his daughter. His shoes wait for him by his cold bed. Footprints fade, the trail is lost.
Lost? or Dead? Dead or Missing? Yet the doors remain unlocked for the lost strangers,as prayers are tied to coloured threads. The snow brings the antonyms of life. With it the people must survive, survive to mourn again, survive to have hope again.
Character Sheets
Hassan( Protagonist- He is a five-year-old boy belonging to a marginalised community)
Murad (Hassan's father who is killed in the beginning of the story)
Zainab ( Hassan's mother, after losing her husband she struggles to run the family shop and raise her son).
Jannat ( Protagonist - She is Hassan's friend, her father is a missing person who disappeared shortly before her birth)
The graphic novel is created entirely in black & white to add depth to the themes of the story.
During the artistic process, I Incorporated negative space. It is an element I love working with.
The following pages are the non-sequential excerpts from the project.
