The new Islamic superhero

SPEAKING VOLUMES

What kind of cape would an Islamic superhero wear? A Kuwaiti publishing house answers that question, and others, with 'The 99', touted as "the world's first superheroes based on Islamic culture and society". The concept behind the comic books, recently launched in the US, is based on the 99 attributes of God "" the names of Allah as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah.

Naif al-Mutawa, who created the series for Kuwait's Teshkeel comics, believes that in the post 9/11 climate, it's important to "bring heroes to the Islamic world". He has carefully avoided including overt religious references, so as not to offend the faithful, and the 99 is a fairly eclectic and not unusual fellowship of superheroes.

There's Hadya, aka Amira Khan, brought up to be a dutiful daughter in Pakistan, whose special powers allow her to create intricately detailed maps, starting with the world and moving outwards to the solar system. Jabbar the Powerful aka Nawaf Al-Bilali was an average Saudi Arabian teenager until he stepped on a landmine: instead of killing him, the effects from the blast make him grow to an inordinately large size.

Fatah, also known as Kya Batak, comes from Indonesia; he has the ability to enter portals that will take him anywhere he desires. Noora or Dana Ibrahim from Sharjah has the ability to see "the light of truth" in others; Mumita the Destroyer proved her mettle by entering the UAE Grappling Championships in Abu Dhabi disguised as a boy, and is a warrior woman. A few members of the 99, such as Blair Davis aka Raqib the Watcher, are not directly part of the Islamic world (Blair is from Vancouver, Canada ).

As a series, The 99 follows the time-tested formula of superhero fellowships anywhere in the comic book world. The back story is vaguely historical and involves the discovery of 99 Noor stones; the storylines and picturisation are adequate but not extraordinary. The 99 is satisfying enough, but Sandman, it's not.

What makes The 99 fascinating is that it's a classic case of reverse cultural export. In the Middle East/West Asia, according to some sources, The 99 has become one of the most popular comic book series "" after Spiderman. Its creators are watching anxiously to see how it does in the US, where the comic books became available in mid-October. Will The 99 find a niche market in that country? Will it be marginalised and ignored, after an initial blip in interest? Or will it be absorbed seamlessly into the mainstream, in much the same manner as Barbie's culturally-appropriate doll-clones?

Naif al-Mutawa would like to direct the traffic both ways: in one of his interviews, he speaks of wanting to bring Archie comics back to the Middle East in a big way. He explains that there's a perfect fit: Archie's world, almost an anachronism in today's US, is still loved in the Middle East and countries like India for its evocation of a clean, Golden Age for teenagers.

He doesn't need to spell this out. For Indian readers, Enid Blyton evoked a tidy childhood world where children can have adventures and toast muffins, far away from drugs on the street and prowling paedophiles. P G Wodehouse is still loved and read in India because he performed the same magic for adults, giving us a fantasy world of English country houses, pottering Earls, prize pigs and innocuous romances, instead of sleazy exposes in the Sun, racist controversies and political scandal. And Archie's Riverdale evokes a pleasantly bland America of jalopies and sundaes, every bit as timeless and unreal as either Blandings Castle or the Faraway Tree.

In the Middle East, The 99 is not uncontroversial. The comic books are banned in Saudi Arabia, but a convenient loophole in the laws allows the comic strip to be carried in local newspapers "" a bizarre, illogical and yet utterly satisfying solution.

The problem with The 99, though, is that despite the back stories and the superficial trappings "" one hero wears a burqa "" they are more generic than anything else. They have the look and feel of the kind of superhero who made the grade in the early years of the comic books industry in the US "" when it was, ironically, by and large Jewish and Italian immigrants who defined the icons of mainstream America.

The 99 could do well, and if it does manage to break the stereotype, al-Mutawa will have done his job. But there are very few comic book series that truly speak from the countries at the cultural margins to the places that occupy the centre. The 99 is a brave attempt; it just doesn't go far enough.

nilanjanasroy@gmail.com  

The columnist is Chief Editor, EastWest and Westland Books; the views expressed here are personal