Evil Eyes Sea

This fictional graphic novel narrates a mystery story set in Istanbul before the 1995-96 elections. The story takes place against a background of political propaganda; a conservative party is rising to power using religion to appeal to voters cynically.

The main protagonists, Ece and Meltem, are engineering students at Bosphorus University and in financial distress. Ece and Meltem fantasize about having the powerful gaze of Medusa and amuse themselves with efforts to move objects with their eyes. They also share a passion for scuba diving as members of the Student Diving Club.

While on a diving expedition in the Bosphorus Strait, they witness a freak accident underwater. Did Ece and Meltem’s evil eye cause the accident? Their investigation leads them to a search for truth and a treasure hidden under the Bosphorus. But their hopes of solving their financial troubles become entangled with political corruption, and they must make grim decisions while navigating a climate of chauvinism, patriarchy, religious pressure, and economic instability. The evolving events threaten their friendship, ethical values, and even their lives--as well as the future of their country.

Ozge Samanci is a media artist, graphic novelist, and Associate Professor at Northwestern University. She received her Ph.D. in Digital Media from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2009. In 2017, Ozge received the Berlin Prize, and I was the Holtzbrinck Visual Arts Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. Her autobiographical graphic novel Dare to Disappoint (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2015) received international press attention and was reviewed in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, New Republic, Paste Magazine, and the Daily Beast, among others. Dare to Disappoint received the 2016 New York Book Show Award and the 2016 Middle East Book Award and has been translated into Korean, Dutch, Romanian, Italian, and Turkish. Ozge’s illustrations have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, The Huffington Post, and The Rumpus, among other publications.