New X-Men Based Islamic Comic

Despite the hype associated with The 99 from Teshkeel, I am not so sure how new the concept of an Islamic comic is.

When I was studying Arabic over 10 years ago, we had some comics from Algeria, Egypt and the UAE that covered the whole range from superheroes, to Islamic themes, to a sort of Peanuts type strip (Zakiya al-Dhakiya?).

According to the London Times story:

The franchise, which was created as a cartoon strip three years ago to counter the effects of jihadist agitprop on Muslim minds, is poised to make its debut on British television this year. An animated series is being produced by Endemol, the Dutch company that made Big Brother internationally ubiquitous. Its mission: to instil old-fashioned Islamic values in Christian, Jewish and atheist children.

Obviously, someone is extremely confused.

The X-Men comics used to appeal to late adolescents and young adults.

It was all about teen-age insecurities and learning to use hidden powers as one entered adulthood.

The story-lines were a caricature of Nazis (pure humans with Sentinel robot enforcers as SS troops) versus Mutants as Jews.

The main bad-guy and head of The League of Evil Mutants was Magneto, who was even a survivor of Auschwitz.

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Swash-Buckle With The 99

It's 1258. The Mongols have just invaded Baghdad. They destroyed the library, but the Guardians of Wisdom manage to preserve 99 "stones of enlightenment," which are scattered to the winds. So begins The 99, a comic book in which each superhero possesses one of Islam's godly attributes, like wisdom, farsightedness or healing power. The series has become a phenomenon in the Arab world; when Teshkeel Comics--exclusive Arabic-language distributor of Marvel Entertainment comics like Spider-Man and The Hulk--launched The 99 in Kuwait in 2006, regional sales of the Muslim comic book were second only to Superman. The 99 debuted in the U.S. in 2007.

Download the entire 52-page The 99 Origins, as well as wallpaper, avatars and emoticons, or upload fan art.

I remember a Marvel special Capt. America series with a nice American Islamic component at the end: Editorial Observer; Reliving World War II With a Captain America of a Different Color.

Steve Rogers was not the first Capt. America, for the American eugenics researchers did not want to risk a white man's life in testing the early versions of the super soldier serum.

This comic series did not have a specifically Muslim theme, but as I remember, in the last issue, Steve Rogers tracks down the wife of Isaiah Bradley, the first Capt. America. Her name is Faith. She is in her 50s and is a niqab-wearing convert to Islam (either Sunni or Nation of Islam -- which is not clear). She teaches at Hofstra, lives in the Bronx, and takes care of Isaiah, who can now barely speak.

Even though the early version super soldier formula slowed the aging process as does the formula which Steve Rogers received, it has damaged the mind of the Black Capt. America to the point where he is little more than a child.

The comic was quite well-done. Not only did the Islamic aspect feel right, but it managed not to intrude on the story, which ended on an appropriately somber note so that no one should forget the evil of the medical experimentation that has been carried out on American blacks since the days of slavery.

Originally, Isaiah Bradley was outside the Marvel continuity, but he was later brought into the primary Marvel Earth history as well as one alternate Earth.

For the 99th Time! discusses The 99 and Isaiah Bradley, whose current Marvel status is summarized here.

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