What do George Washington and Abylai Khan have in common? More than you'd think, according to a new comic book pairing the first U.S. president with the 18th-century Kazakh ruler — two leaders born in the same era who ended up steering their peoples through upheaval on opposite sides of the world.
"When Eagles Soar" is a bilingual English-Kazakh comic unveiled on September 29 at the American Centers in Astana and Shymkent. It was written by Shymkent-based author Bek-Ata Daniyal and scripted by Ali Lejlic, a former press and public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, with artwork by Astana-based illustrator Abylay Karin — the creator of "Alterno," a comic sold in stores across Kazakhstan.
The book is the second in a series marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, following the debut e-comic "The Long Journey to Liberty" by the same Daniyal-Karin duo. Its premise is simple but clever: both Washington and Abylai Khan started as young soldiers, became military commanders, and finished as political unifiers leading their people toward independence. Drawing those parallels is meant to show Kazakh readers that figures from very different worlds wrestled with strikingly similar dilemmas.
Daniyal says comics were a deliberate choice. A film and television graduate who grew up on Marvel and DC and developed a feel for American culture during visits to his brother in the U.S., he argues that pictures carry history to younger readers in a way plain text doesn't — and that plenty of adults enjoy the format too. He handled the scripts and scene ideas, while Karin translated them into what Daniyal describes as colorful visual solutions.
For travellers, the interesting bit is what this says about Kazakhstan's cultural scene: local creators are producing original graphic fiction in both Kazakh and English, and institutions like the American Centers in Astana and Shymkent host public events around them. If you're spending a few days in either city, checking what's on at an American Center or a local bookshop is an easy way to tap into the country's younger creative crowd.
And you don't need to be in Kazakhstan to read it — a free digital edition is available through the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan's Instagram account. Handy pre-trip reading if you want a quick, accessible primer on Abylai Khan before wandering past the monuments and museums in Astana that carry his name and era.
Story via The Astana Times.
