Muslim superhero comic meets resistance in the US.

[RazPaK]

The point is what is the audience at which these comics are targeted . If its only in the Arab World , well and good ...but if its meant for an international audience ..then the creator should start making his heroes dress in suits instead of burqas .

Even an Arabic/Islamic hero called Jabbar can be dressed in Western attire .

Why does it have to be western attire?


Your hindu cartoons come on in Pakistanis channels, and the artists don't make them wear shalwar kamiz.

 

[Mech]

Why does it have to be western attire?

Why does it have to be a friggin' bat-suit? They want the American market...they ought to dress like American superheroes......

---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------

Alright boys, and a few girls who might accidentally stray into this discussion, I'm off.....working on a college project.

Ciao!

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

Why does it have to be western attire?


Your hindu cartoons come on in Pakistanis channels, and the artists don't make them wear shalwar kamiz.

It has to be in suits and trousers because Sherwanis , Burqas , kimonos don't appeal to an International audience...

those "Hindu" cartoons don't have world wide popularity , only in the subcontinent where the culture is familiar...

 

[Zabaniyah]

Why does it have to be western attire?


Your hindu cartoons come on in Pakistanis channels, and the artists don't make them wear shalwar kamiz.

Let me ask you something.

Would expect an American audience (suppose) to perceive a lets say...lungi-clad superhero? Perhaps to you and me, but not to the Americans?

It's all about marketing. If a comic book fails in marketing, the whole franchise will fail.

Arab and Persian women are hot. Use them!

 

[Mosamania]

Would you like me to? I can try if you insist.

Anyhow...how do you feel about my criticism..? Would you like to pass a fatwa against me? Maybe a public flogging, if you like kinky stuff with whips and all.

The backward evil Muslim are out tomget you again?? Maybe you should call the 99 to save you. Lol

 

[hunter_hunted]

The only supehero of Islam is the great hazrat up prophet Mohammad and no one else .

Well said bro

 

[Tshering22]

The only supehero of Islam is the great hazrat up prophet Mohammad and no one else .

Then they should stick to that. Infusing religion into superheroism where the objective is to save mankind was not reasonable and only will corner the image further.

 

[lonelyone]

Hey guys what about freedom of speech? Freedom of expression? What's your problem if a guy wants to make a "religious inspired cartoon", as though there aren't thousands of Christian cartoons already? If Americans don't like it then they won't watch it and it'll be a failure then.

Islam is a religion as well as a national identity. I don't see any problem with a comic celebrating the wide variety of cultures, languages, ethnicities and customs which make up the Islamic World. Though I don't like comics, as a rule. I would prefer a long 22-volume epic instead, that takes 40 years to write, continuing in the established Islamic tradition.

And also, burka-wearing women are very much a part of the Islamic world. I do not support sidelining them totally and pretending they don't exist. Covering the face may be a cultural thing, but it exists, we do not take lessons on "what's right and wrong form the West", just because they don't like it doesn't mean we will discourage it. We encourage or discourage things based on Islamic principles ONLY, not what some American thinks of it.

 

[Mech]

Hey guys what about freedom of speech? Freedom of expression? What's your problem if a guy wants to make a "religious inspired cartoon", as though there aren't thousands of Christian cartoons already? If Americans don't like it then they won't watch it and it'll be a failure then.

You can start talking about freedom of religion and expression once you folks mend your own house. Are these "rights" granted in all muslim countries? No. Hell, are these rights granted to all citizens/residents in ANY muslim country?

You want these rights on a foreign soil and yet wouldn't dream of implementing it on your own. I don't think you need a reminding of what happened when a danish guy made a few cartoons on Islam....which quite frankly, weren't really offensive.

 

[sspatil]

People with this kind of power are no human, they have to be gods/prophet.But Islam says there is no face for prophet and Allah.
you known how this narrow minded people went behind some Danish Cartoonist who draw prophet image.
will they be silent?

 

[LaBong]

Hey guys what about freedom of speech? Freedom of expression? What's your problem if a guy wants to make a "religious inspired cartoon", as though there aren't thousands of Christian cartoons already? If Americans don't like it then they won't watch it and it'll be a failure then.

Islam is a religion as well as a national identity. I don't see any problem with a comic celebrating the wide variety of cultures, languages, ethnicities and customs which make up the Islamic World. Though I don't like comics, as a rule. I would prefer a long 22-volume epic instead, that takes 40 years to write, continuing in the established Islamic tradition.

And also, burka-wearing women are very much a part of the Islamic world. I do not support sidelining them totally and pretending they don't exist. Covering the face may be a cultural thing, but it exists, we do not take lessons on "what's right and wrong form the West", just because they don't like it doesn't mean we will discourage it. We encourage or discourage things based on Islamic principles ONLY, not what some American thinks of it.

The comics have been banned in Saudi Arabia not in USA and mad mullahs put a Fatwa on the crazy dude's head, now fix your trajectory.

 

[Mosamania]

The comics have been banned in Saudi Arabia not in USA and mad mullahs put a Fatwa on the crazy dude's head, now fix your trajectory.

They are not banned Saudi Arabia I bought one today from a comic book store to check it out. However it is banned in the USA and that is the issue. I buy marvel and DC comics all the time here. Why are they banning our comics then....by the way the comic sucks >_>.

 

[Uchiha]

Washington (CNN) - Naif Al-Mutawa anticipated a struggle when he launched an Islam-inspired comic book series that he hoped would become a symbol of toleration.

He worried about the comics being banned in Saudi Arabia - which wound up happening, briefly – and he expected to be challenged by conservatives in Islam, since Al-Mutawa wanted to buck the trend of Islamic culture being directly tied to the Koran.

But it wasn’t an Islamic cleric that stalled the series, called “The 99,” after the 99 attributes of Allah, which the superheroes are supposed to embody.

It is the American market, and the voices of Islam’s Western critics, that have caused the most problems for “The 99,” says Al-Mutawa, who is the focus of a PBS documentary airing next week.

In 2010, President Barack Obama called the comic books, which debuted in 2006, “the most innovative response” to America’s expanding dialogue with the Muslim world, which Obama has encouraged. The series features 99 superheroes from across the globe who team up to combat villains and who embody what Al-Mutawa calls basic human values like trust and generosity.

But Al-Mutawa, a Kuwaiti-born clinical psychologist and graduate of Columbia Business School, says a vocal minority have raised surprising questions about American tolerance of Islam.

Meeting resistance

The idea for “The 99” started during a conversation in a London cab between Al-Mutawa and his sister. It took off, although slowly, after Al-Mutawa raised $7 million from 54 investors across four continents.

The first issue was released during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2006. The comic book was quickly banned in Saudi Arabia and Al-Mutawa received threats of fatwas against him and his project from clerics. But Saudi Arabia eventually lifted the ban and the television adaptation of “The 99” will be aired there this year.

Al-Mutawa and his team have now raised more than $40 million in venture capital for the project.

But when word leaked that The Hub, a Discovery Channel cable and satellite television venture, purchased the series and planned to air it in the United States, the response from conservative bloggers and authors was swift.

A burqa-wearing superhero?

Pamela Geller, founder of the Atlas Shrugs blog, called the series, part of the “ongoing onslaught of cultural jihad,” and created a counter-comic strip that made the 19 hijackers behind the September 11, 2001 attacks the superheroes.

New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser, meanwhile, urged readers to “Hide your face and grab the kids. Coming soon to a TV in your child’s bedroom is a posse of righteous, Sharia-compliant Muslim superheroes - including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa.”

According to Al-Mutawa, the criticism spooked The Hub. “All of a sudden we couldn't get an airdate and I was asked to be patient and we have been,” Al-Mutawa said. “But it has been a year and the actual push-back died down.”

Mark Kern, Senior Vice President of Communication for The Hub, told CNN that “‘The 99’ is one of the many shows we have on the possible schedule, but at this time, no decisions have been made about scheduling.”

Al-Mutawa isn’t shy about responding to the criticism his comics have received in the U.S. “There is nothing different from them and the extremists in my country,” he says. “They are just as bad. They are just intellectual terrorists.”

Geller, author of the book “Stop the Islamization of America,” called Al-Mutawa’s statement “ridiculous victimhood rhetoric.”

“He is the one mainstreaming oppression and discrimination,” Geller says. “I work for equality of rights for all people. So which one of us is the intellectual terrorist?”

Geller also takes issue with Al-Mutawa’s assertion that “The 99” exemplifies “moderation” and “toleration,” pointing to a “burqa-wearing superhero.”

But Al-Mutawa says criticisms of burqas are evidence that, “for some people anything to do with Islam is bad.”

“How cliché is it that characters created to promote tolerance are getting shot down by extremists,” he says.

Chronicling the ordeal

Al-Mutawa’s frustrations are chronicled in the new documentary “Wham! Bam! Islam!,” which will air on PBS on October 13 as part of the Independent Lens series.

The film’s director, Isaac Solotaroff, began shooting before the comic was released.

He said that one of the most surprising aspects of the story is how “a very small group of people who scream very loud, have a disproportionate share of the public discourse when it comes to culture.”

Echoing Al-Mutawa, Solotaroff calls it a case of the tail wagging the dog. He says that initial concerns of censorship in the Middle East began to change as the project progressed.

“We were waiting for a fatwa from a cleric in Saudi Arabia, Solotaroff says,” when it ended up being the U.S. market that has been resistant to “The 99.”

“Realizing that The 99 will not survive if focused solely on the Middle East, Al-Mutawa must now target an international and predominantly non-Muslim market,” reads the website for “Wham! Bam! Islam!”

Citing The Hub holdup, Solotaroff says the project is now stuck in the most important market” for “The 99.”

Al-Mutawa is also trying to gain distribution for his TV series in France and other countries, but his main focus remains the United States.

BURN IN HELL! I hate burqa!

 

[LaBong]

They are not banned Saudi Arabia I bought one today from a comic book store to check it out. However it is banned in the USA and that is the issue. I buy marvel and DC comics all the time here. Why are they banning our comics then....by the way the comic sucks >_>.

Dude where is it said that it's banned in US? I read the article and it says it was banned KSA but later revoked, and some random bloggers of US nationality made fun of Burqa clad wonder-woman! I'd too, but then I don't represent Republic of India nor does the bloggers represent United States of America.

 

[Uchiha]

It has to be in suits and trousers because Sherwanis , Burqas , kimonos don't appeal to an International audience...

those "Hindu" cartoons don't have world wide popularity , only in the subcontinent where the culture is familiar...

Most animes do wear kimonos very often, and american otakus also wear them in anime conventions

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------

You can start talking about freedom of religion and expression once you folks mend your own house. Are these "rights" granted in all muslim countries? No. Hell, are these rights granted to all citizens/residents in ANY muslim country?

You want these rights on a foreign soil and yet wouldn't dream of implementing it on your own. I don't think you need a reminding of what happened when a danish guy made a few cartoons on Islam....which quite frankly, weren't really offensive.

Truth is I talk about religion(or the lack of it) and joke around quite freely here in UAE. Heck I even draw the jesus fish sign on this athiest kid's bag for fun