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Zeynel and Ayşe are a pair of happily-married carpet merchants in 17th century Ottoman Istanbul. While on a business trip, Zeynel comes to the aid of a mysterious lost traveller in red. He wakes up the next day discovering, to his horror, that he is the victim of a blood-sucking djinni. Now having become a djinni himself, he returns home desperate to salvage what remains of his humanity, terrified to leave behind the woman he loves.
A modern Gothic tale spanning two centuries and two metropoles, The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya is a deconstruction of the literary vampire’s origins in Orientalist fiction, and a dramatic romantic narrative of faith, love, redemption and the healing power of stories.
By Reimena Yee. Written and illustrated when she was 21.
In 2018, the original webcomic was nominated for an Eisner Award and was a finalist for the McDuffie Award. In 2020, the first English publication was part of the American Library Associations List of Best Graphic Novels for Adults. In 2024, the French publication was honoured as an Angoulême Sélection Jeunesse.
Announcement | 9th February 2026
Heylo!!
From February 18 (Malaysia time) / February 17 (US time), I will be rerunning all 640 pages of TCM with updates every Saturday and Wednesday. The rerun comes with a transcript as well as a retrospective author commentary detailing background research and my thoughts of the art-making process. Warning: It’s been a long time since I last wrote this story, so my memory is fuzzy!
For the 10th anniversary edition, I’ve cleaned up and remastered everything. I’ve mostly kept the original rendering, artifacts and wonkiness of my 21-to-23 years old’s style, save any anatomical weirdness, real errors regarding readability (colouring and lettering!), and special artifacts. The dialogue still tells the same story, only tightened, hopefully better in its prosody and more authentic to the characters’ voices. In short, this 10th anniversary edition is me returning with more experience to honour and enrich the vision of TCM I had in my early twenties.
Everyone knows this because I never shut up about it, but TCM is deeply important to me personally. I owe my entire career in publishing to this project, and I am grateful for the opportunities, places and people that TCM has blessed me with throughout my twenties. As I enter the next decade of my life, I’m now ready to give TCM closure. This edition will be its celebratory final hurrah.
Getting the Print Edition & Other Works
The first English publication of The Carpet Merchant is no longer in print. (fingers crossed something works out) However, you can still get both volumes of Le Marchand de Tapis de Constantinople by my French publisher Editions Kinaye wherever you get French books.
The complete digital edition is available in my shop, if you can’t stand to wait for all my updates.
If you like TCM, please read my newest ongoing historical fiction webcomic, Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life. Alexander Comic is the artistic heir to the vision and rigour I first developed in TCM – and it’s my best and most ambitious work so far.
Younger readers will appreciate my other graphic novels Seance Tea Party, My Aunt is a Monster, and The Makers’ Club.
(though I am not saying you can’t get it if you’re “older” lol)
Support
You may subscribe to my artist newsletter where I yak about my life and other projects. One day I will do a paid membership hub aka a Patreon that is NOT on Patreon. We will see.
Update Schedule: Volume 1, Book 2, Ongoing
Starts: – ~ February 18, 2026
Ends: – ?
Book 1 is complete!
