Sherif Tarek talks Exclusively to Jorzine about the facebook set back to his comic " An Egyptian Dream :Yawmeyat metalhead esmo FIFI " the 1st and only heavy metal comic in middle east. - 1/31/2010

About a year ago the 1^st heavy metal comic in the Middle East was set into action.

The comic comes from Egypt under the Title An Egyptian Dream :Yawmeyat metalhead esmo FIFI  the  comic is in the middle of the 2^nd Season now  but a couple of Months ago Sherif Tarek the man behind the comic stopped releasing Episodes due a few misunderstanding and problems  with Facebook admins.

Sherif Tarek Abdel-salam  studies Architectural Engineering aside a self-education of interior design and graphic design.

Sherif  listens to metal,  " the most dazzling type of music ever " as he comments , bit of jazz, bit of blues, and bit of other.

When sherif has been asked about the disappearance of fifi he answered:

 "  haha he is ok...I missed him too,...but as you already know and as well as i've updated all members ,I have been facing some problems with admins of Facebook in Egypt ,and I was not allowed to be in control on any options in the group, the problem had to do with some conflicts in what they call common social views, as far as I understood it is something religious + political + social related......and do not ask me how did they even knew about the group in the first place because I do not have an answer.
I just hope both more success and continuity of the comic...these are my wishes to the Egyptian dream . "

An Egyptian Dream :Yawmeyat metalhead esmo FIFI is the 1^st and the only Metal comic in the middle east which is a prove that  the metal scene in middle east is improving and spreading " The idea did not come to me by coincidence, but you know when these images of a very corrupted
metal scene accumulate in your head?
That actually drove me to hold my 3B pencil and draw a sequence of silly characters with a dialogue of a sarcastic joke about metal posers, and tagged friends on Facebook...people started commenting which encouraged me to create a comic through simple tools and through a website that is used in excess by metalheads,…and Facebook seemed to be perfect :) "sharif Said

Although the sound of an Egyptian metal comic sounds like fun but sherif got bigger reason for making this comic "The comic is made as mirror to poser metalheads….where it reflects their silly behaviors leading them to reconsideration of their acts, looks, and general characteristics.
the metal scene is down ! And as an Egyptian who is involved in that scene, I dedicated this comic to poser metalheads in Egypt , because no doubt image creates a scene " Sharif said

Egypt as many other middle eastern countries Metal face a lot of problems there when Sharif was asked about the biggest problem for the Egyptian metal scene in his point of view he answered " I will tell you the problem from my point of view, …the problem is exactly what comes into your mind when I ask you to compare between west countries and middle eastern countries,
different cultures with different policies and different varied religions .
Plus I can say that posers themselves are a huge problem, in other countries posers represent no threats … the day we decide going to metal concerts to listen wisely, there will be no excuses or chances for metal to not be respected. "

    Comics is one of the many arts that got lost because of the digital world we live in yet Sharif have decided to use this type of Art to express his thoughts and ideas " I have always been into marvel comics and walt Disney, Dream Works productions, till the day.
I even created my first character when I was 3!
After being obsessed with Aladdin :P
so the hobby of drawing cartoon characters ran through out my blood since childhood, and it is now my most powerful talent.

I used that type of art because it was so indirect;   I see the word indirect compatible with sarcasm actually.
And I will not use music as a method for delivering my message to poser metalheads , they will receive my message on one hand ,and head bang on another , so what’s the point ? "

Although sherif is behind the Comic but he is not only expressing his own thoughts and ideas he also keep his door open for Everyone to share their ideas and thoughts about it as well  " Yup, many things are discussed in the comic,…and as a sort of participation, I try to involve fans and invite them to tell me their own ideas through topics and the comic’s e-mail address.
And I would tell you the weirdest thing,
every single idea comes to me the day I release the episode, in a way it is unprepared but still has a purpose. "

The comic successfully finished the 1^st season and started the 2^nd Season later in      2009  " the theme of season 1 supported 3afifi reflecting his heroic side, the last connected series of episodes was making fun of metalheads who take leadership among others and people start giving them credit for nothing,…just because of how much spikes they wear or because of how long the hair is, and that is adopted from our very true Egyptian scene.
The other purpose of the episodes was grabbing people’s attention to what all Egyptian metalheads say: “el balad de hatefdal dayman keda” , …before saying that, we should start thinking why this ‘balad’ is ‘keda’.
We should think how we act in public to expect respect in return.

And that will affect the music scene for sure. "

As for Season 2 shrif commented  when he was asked what to Expect in it  "  Expect more digging into the core of the scene, new guest characters and much more different topics related to an everyday’s metalhead events and lifestyle.
The next season will include bit more direct alerts and messages"

The comic got many characters other than fifi " Haha, … I love the other characters, they add a concept to the Egyptian dream, …my most favorite one is fifi’s pet (a cockroach), he is speechless, tiny and full of rage!

And to introduce the characters for ones who are not familiar with the comic …

3afifi, the most posing living thing on earth soso(saneya), 3afifi’s gothic friend
7elmy,3afifi’s emo brother
sob7y,3afifi’s best friend, a rich afro-ed metalhead "

When Sharif was asked for the future plans of the comic he answered " You know what, no future plans at all,…
but I visualize the Egyptian dream as a fox cartoon series on tv even more popular than Simpsons and futurama! Why not,..it’s a dream after all :)
concerning to what helps in fixing the scene,…
I don’t think so,…not because I have no other options,…but I watched all other ways drifting to failure.

And I still welcome fans to discuss whatever they like and dislike. "

 Shrif ended his talk with Jorzine with the following words "I’d like to thank Jorzine and all the Egyptian dream fans because they are a reason of the comic staying alive.
And I hope wider spreads of metal music all over the Middle East"