Ten years ago, a Kuwaiti graduate of an American business school took a cab ride through London. By the end of his journey he had formed an idea that would spread across the world.
It was shortly after 9/11 and the graduate, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa had just decided to create a comic featuring Islamic superheroes. Islam had become a global talking point and instead of complaining about the way his culture was being misrepresented, Al-Mutawa decided to re-define the conversation instead.
“Every time something terrible happens in the name of my culture, it becomes diluted. I wanted to grab the bull by the horns and change it,” he explained in an interview with CNN.
And so the CEO of the Teshkeel Media Group came up with 'The 99' - a comic book series whose characters are inspired by Islamic principles. It follows 99 superheroes, whose powers are based on the Qu'ran's 99 Names of God; strength, courage and wisdom amongst them. It was important to Al-Mutawa that his heroes possess universal values, while at the same time offering fans something different from the usual DC and Marvel fare.
“It doesn't matter what culture you're from, the series can still resonate. What ‘The 99’ does is say 'Hey, our values, they're the same as yours, they're the same as the rest of the world. Let's just focus on the positives.”
To launch his project, Al-Mutawa called in investors to raise enough money. The series made its debut in 2006 and its success spread quickly, even turning into an animated series that is now showing in 70 countries. The big break, however, came in 2010, when DC Comics’ Justice League, which brings together a supercast including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, teamed up with 'The 99' for a six-issue crossover.
“The story lines start off with distrust between the two groups until they find out in Issue 2 that it's actually the bad guys from both universes causing the distrust. Then they fight together cape to shoulder.”
The union of the two comic book universes, fighting together, won praise from U.S. president Barack Obama. At the 2010 Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, Obama mentioned Al-Mutawa in a speech.
“His comic books have captured the imagination of so many young people, with superheroes who embody the teachings and tolerance of Islam. In his comic books, Superman and Batman reached out to their Muslim counterparts. And I hear they are making progress, too.”
But the journey of 'The 99' hasn't been marked only by praise. The animated version was originally banned in Saudi Arabia and both Europe and the U.S. have been slow to embrace the Islamic superheroes.
Trying to spark more interest amongst Americans, Dr. Al-Mutawa invited a group of students from Boston to Kuwait in the spring of 2013. They discussed the differences and similarities between the universes of DC and Marvel and the universe of 'The 99'.
One student in attendance pointed out the costume one of the female superheroes in 'The 99' was wearing. “One of the differences I noticed was, I guess there was an issue in the Islamic world that all the women were not wearing burqas, but in the United States, people were upset that one of the women was wearing one.”
Being proactive in the way Islamic culture is represented to the outside world is what's important to Al-Mutawa and he hopes he can have a positive influence on how future generations in the West will perceive it.
“For me to have been able to make any kind of a dent, even if it's a small one, in how Islam is perceived was my intent to begin with. I believe I have achieved that with my own children and hopefully I've been able to have that influence on Western children, as well.”
