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Islamic comics group ties up with Chandamama for 'The 99' 21 Apr, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,Sudeshna Sen, TNN LONDON: It's been taken along to Pentagon meetings by American sociologists, according to Newsweek, identified by Forbes as one of the top twenty trends sweeping the world, and it's now spreading from the Middle East and West Asia all over the world, including India. The 99, a comic book created by Kuwaiti entrepreneur Naif Al Mutawa, is a DC-Marvel type superhero versus super villain series, the only difference is the superheroes are Muslim, and the comics draw on Islamic motifs, history and tradition. Mutawa, whose company Teshkeel Media is the main distributor in the Middle East for DC, Marvel, and Archie comics, created the Muslim superhero series in 2006 in a bid to provide Islamic children and youngsters with role models and idols that were 'positive'. The company's stated objective is to fill in the void for healthy and positive, high-quality children's entertainment in the region. At a time when anti-US sentiment sweeping the youth of the Islamic world is a matter of global concern, many commentators are pointing to comics like this as a powerful weapon in the war against terror. All other comic and superheroes being largely western in nature, the creators of The 99 felt that something as simple as a comic they can identify with and feel proud about, would stop Islamic children from being disenchanted. Read being drawn to the ideologies of terrorism. If not, at least give them a sense of pride and identification with their 'own' cultural characters. It's caught on, and reports are the comics soon became second only to Superman and Spiderman in terms of sales in the Middle East. Teshkeel Media, is now reaching out to the rest of the world, with a strong focus on regions with large Muslim populations. It has just tied up with children's publisher Chandamama to release the comics in India. "India is not only one of the world's fastest-growing economies but also a country with a long Muslim tradition. It's a natural market for The 99 and a logical progression from our current operations in the Middle East, Indonesia and the United States," said Teshkeel CEO Naif Al-Mutawa. The 99 will be made available in bookstores, department stores and newsstands throughout India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives by the end of April. Teshkeel has also made moves to launch The 99 in Europe. So what is this comic that's targeted at battling what some American experts call the 'Jihadi cool' quotient among Muslim youth? Simply, it draws on ancient West Asian legends and imagery to create a band of teenage superheroes. Their individual magical super-powers are modeled on the 99 characteristics of Allah. The band includes diverse characters from a Canadian secret agent, a Pakistani-born Londoner, an Indonesian waiter, a rich Saudi businessman's daughter and a Portuguese street kid. The teenagers come together under the guidance of the mandatory mentor scientist figure to keep a magical treasure trove of 99 'lost' Noor Stones from falling into the hands of a historical demonic entity. The stones are supposed to carry the knowledge of the ancient library of Dar al Hikma after the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258; reinforcing the theme that enlightened knowledge is more valuable than armed conquest. Assorted villains and superheros, hulky fighters, sultry women, clash in storylines that follow familiar fantasy elements of Spidermen, Batman, Superman or X-Men. The comic is extremely careful to avoid any overt religious imagery that could get it into trouble, relying instead on old-fashioned superhero sagas to underline the good versus evil battle. Only in this case, the good guys use Islamic tenets and values, not the more prevalent Judeao-Christian motifs that underly most western superhero stories. Its Indian publisher, Chandamama, is confident that the comic will do well in India. Chandamama CEO L Subramanyan said, "We feel that the message of diversity and tolerance taught by The 99 will strike a chord with Indian audiences. The contributions of west-Asian society and literature have been major components in the development of India's heterogeneous culture, so we believe that there is huge potential for The 99 to become successful here."
