Arab Superwomen Triumph as Comics Depict New Middle East
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It wasn’t Egypt’s police force that saved Layla from sexual assault, it was Qahera, a sword-wielding, female superhero in a long black hijab.
Groped by the comic strip’s villains, Layla’s hopes of police assistance are dashed when an officer castigates her for wearing inappropriate clothing -- trousers and a sweater. Back on the street, she’s confronted by another gang of tormentors and is saved only when Qahera appears, beating them with a stick and then stringing them by the scruff of their necks from the police station railings.