Tag Archives: the 99

articles and essays, controversy, cultural, interviews, reviews

The 99, Captain Israel, Habibi, Holy Terror, and More…

It has been a positively massive few weeks in the topic of Religion & Comics, particularly in terms of Islam and Western culture, and a bevvy of links and stories bear highlighting, even en mass. In no particular order:

articles and essays, controversy, interviews

Muslim Superheroes

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Recent weeks have produced a bevy of commotion regarding Muslim superheroes, to whit:

In May, A. David Lewis was interviewed by WBUR’s  “Here and Now” host Robin Young about the depiction of Muslim protagonists in superhero comics, particularly in the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s assassination. Lewis had recently given a talk on the subject at Harvard University as part of a one-day event about Muslim identities in comics. That, in turn, seems to have led to an article by BU Today report Rich Barlow focusing on Lewis and his interest in characters like Dust, Nightrunner, the Janissary, the Arabian Knight, and others.

What is clear is that Muslims on the comics pages confront the conundrum of their flesh-and-blood counterparts: their community views them with suspicion. Lewis says non-Muslim heroes wonder, “Can they truly represent the American way? Could they really be on our side? When Dust joins the X-Men, these persecuted American mutants don’t really know if they can trust her. The comic book creators can have it both ways. They can present an altruistic Muslim hero, but also reflect the Islamophobia.”

The BU Today article was accompanied by a slideshow of such characters set to music:

Barlow’s article was picked up by Madinat Al-Muslimeen, Professor Hussein Rashid’s Islamicate.com, and The Houston Chronicle‘s “Believe It Or Not” column, among others. It also received comment of an altogether different sort from Avi Green of The Infidel Bloggers Aliance and The Astute Bloggers:

Wow! So in Lewis’s narrow vision, the Copts of Egypt aren’t victimized, nor are the French, the Israelis, the Sudanese Christians, or even the Armenians during WW1, when the Islamic-led Ottoman Empire of Turkey slaughtered at least a million Armenians. Nor, I suppose, was Lara Logan when she was gang raped in Egypt back in February. What a most utter ignoramus. I guess he hasn’t ever read the Koran either.

Green suggests The 99 as one example of Muslim superheroes Lewis may have been trying to sidestep: “Lewis chose to put his head in the sand.” Meanwhile, that series was being featured elsewhere online, as part of The National‘s coverage of DC Comics’ recent publishing shift. Shot in February, the video focuses on The 99‘s creator Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa discussing the multi-national and inter-religious basis for the series in addition to its Islamic roots.

Superman #712
New cover but old solicitation.

Coincidentally, DC’s position on Muslim characters was challenged in a different way this month with the resolicitation of Superman #712. ComicBookResources.com reports that the issue was originally supposed to feature Superman teaming up with the Muslim hero Sharif (formerly Sinbad), but it had been replaced with a story of Krypto the Super-dog. ComicBook.com notes that “the change was apparently so last minute by DC Comics that the DC Comics website still shows the old content description for Superman #712 with the new Krytpo the Superdog cover image for Superman #712.” ComicBookMovie.com has opened a poll to ask readers whether the decision was a wise move or not.

Lastly, in separate but not unrelated news, PR Newswire announced the new series Buraaq from Split Moon Arts. The title character is “a practicing Muslim, a regular guy who is turned into a superhero by traumatic events in his youth.  According to SplitMoonArts, the mission is not to preach, but to provide wholesome family entertainment. The underlying message, they say, would help foster better relations between the West and the Islamic World.” Whether this is, as the PR Newswire headline reports, the first Muslim superhero is doubtful, but that claim does not seem to originate with SplitMoonArts itself.


academic, events

Comics and Muslim Identity at Harvard

The Harvard University Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) has held a number of educator and creative workshops over the past year on comics and the Middle East. (See here and here.) This upcoming one at the end of April, though, is for all audiences and is open free to the public:

Comics and Muslim Identity at the Harvard University CMES
Flier for "Comics and Muslim Identity" at the Harvard University CMES

The day-long conference features talks by Jeffrey Melnick (University of Massachusetts, Boston), Hussein Rashid (Hofstra University), A. David Lewis (Boston University), Darby Orcutt (North Carolina State University), Laura Weinstein (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Nasser Weddady (American Islamic Congress Civil Rights Outreach Director).

It’s worth noting that the day prior, they will be holding another workshop, this time focused on making comics that address Islam and the Middle East region. Fascinating from all angles!

controversy

The (Controversial) Muslim French Batman – or French Muslim Batman

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The short version of this story goes something like this:

Both this month’s Detective Comics Annual #12 and Batman Annual #28 feature a new DC Comics superhero, Nightrunner. As Batman (aka Bruce Wayne) travels the world and takes his fight against crime global, he is appointing local heroes Batman-like roles, just as he has long done for Gotham in America. Nightrunner, otherwise known as Billai Asseiah, has an Algerian background and is Muslim.

Let the sideshow begin.

Warner Todd Huston, freelance writer for websites including BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, and, StoptheACLU.com, calls this “a PCing of the American comic book industry that has been going on for far too long” and “a misreading of what ails France.” He writes:

You see, DC Comics has decided that the “French savior,” the French Batman is to be a Muslim immigrant. The character’s name is Bilal Asselah and he is an Algerian Sunni Muslim and an immigrant that is physically fit and adept at gymnastic sport Parkour. Apparently Batman couldn’t find any actual Frenchman to be the “French
savior.”

Arturo R. Garcia, writing at Racialicious.com, argues against Huston’s position, sardonically commenting:

In the meantime, far be it from us here at Racialicious to completely dismiss the views of people like Mr. Huston or the “Astute Blogger.” In fact, here’s a hot tip for them to pursue: as it happens, DC has been guilty of exploiting an undocumented immigrant superhero for decades on end. We’ll even provide a picture for reference:

The “Astute Blogger” quoted by Garcia refers to Avi Green writing at The Astute Bloggers, who, among the rest of his commentary, suggests Nightrunner might “bring justice to the Parisian streets by lighting dozens of evil automobiles on fire every night” or “setting disabled women on fire too.” Like Huston, Garcia feels this is DC’s PC “kowtowing” (He points, too, at the cross-over between Batman’s superteam and Teshkeel Comics’ Muslim supergroup, JLA/The99, being “a fiasco.”)

Comics-centric sites like Comics Alliance, Superhero Hype, and Comic Book Resources have largely fallen on Garcia’s side of the debate, citing similar uproar over an African American actor in the Thor movie or Captain America‘s rebuke of the Tea Party.

Meanwhile, Dylan Moran, writing for 3News in New Zealand, says, “the [comic book] industry appears to be making equality a focus lately, and the inclusion of Nightrunner may be a real signal of that intent.”