Justice League Characters Will Now Speak Islam

Pulse

oi-Staff

By Staff

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:04

Have you, any time, heard about the comic book, The 99? If not, then better get yourself acquainted with the book, for superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion from the book are all set to appear in a new mini-series collaborating with Justice League characters.

The , created by Teshkeel Comics, will feature with their DC counterparts in the unprecedented cross-cultural project. On this, the Telegraph quoted Paul Levitz, DC Comics' president and publisher, as saying, "It is a long-standing tradition for characters to meet others in the fictional world."

He further feels that converting superheroes for an all new audience, living with different cultural backgrounds is definitely a challenge. "Over the years a lot of the superheroes have been translated into Arabic, taking on ethnic elements. But this is a nice step forward". He explains: "The most difficult creative test is when you are working with the least precedent and when you're trying to reach an audience that has a different cultural bias and different interests."

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, the creator of 'The 99' and the founder of Teshkeel Media, said that the plot was yet to be determined.

He questions: "Are we going to have them working together from day one, or will they think the other is the enemy? Enemy number one is fear. You could open it with Obama's speech (in Cairo) with the two sets of superheroes watching it and having different reactions. There's plenty of possibilities."

The creative team for 'The 99' include comic book industry veterans Fabian Nicieza, Stuart Moore, June Brigman, Dan Panosian, and John McCrea - all of whom have worked with at both Marvel and DC Comics. And although the series is based on Islamic concepts, it is promoted as appealing to universal virtues, and the religion of each character is not made explicit.

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