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First Middle Eastern superheroes make
foray onto newsstands
Jalila was having a bad day. First, there’d
been a break-in at the nuclear power plant where she worked. Then
she came home to find her brother was using drugs again, and had
passed out on the couch – and when he awoke to find she’d
flushed his stash down the toilet, he slapped her.
Now, considering that Jalila can shoot bolts of
radiation from her hands, fly through the air and outfight a dozen
assailants, this might have been a hasty move on his part –
but she forgave him.
After all, he’s almost the only family she has
left since the Dimondona nuclear blast at the end of the 55-year
war killed their parents.
Jalila, a Wonder Woman-like super babe, is part
of a new pantheon of Middle Eastern superheroes introduced in Egypt
and the US earlier this year by Cairo-based AK Comics. The comic
books are printed in both Arabic and English versions and, according
to their creator, represent the first “superheroes” –
in the modern, secular sense – from the Middle East.
“It’s actually a dream I’ve had since
childhood,” said the 38-year-old hero-maker, who, like his
creations, maintains a secret identity (by day, he’s a university
economics professor). “I grew up with DC Comics,” he explained,
referring to the institution that gave the world Superman, adding
that the Middle East needed similar role models for young readers.
His four super characters were initially described
as the first “Arab” superheroes, but, he noted, he has
since modified the concept. “They’re not meant to be Arab
per se, they’re supposed to be ‘Middle Eastern’ –
it’s a little bit of a sensitive issue.”
Three of the heroes live in a futuristic Middle
East, at peace after decades of struggle. Besides Jalila, there
is Zein, 14,000-year-old Pharaoh and defender of Egypt, and Aya,
a highly trained crime fighter who goes after the region’s
criminals. “The whole concept goes back to the issue of a large,
peaceful Middle East. It’s a vision I’ve had all my life,”
he said, adding that the religious and ethnic backgrounds of the
characters was deliberately kept vague.
In some cases, the metaphors are obvious, like the
Jerusalem-esque “City of All Faiths,” in which Muslims,
Christians and Jews live in harmony, and which Jalila must defend
from the depredations of the dreaded United Liberation Front and
the Army of Zios. In Jalila #1, these two evil forces are described
as “still clinging to their extreme views, both wanting to
solely control the City of All Faiths.”
While the characters’ creator concedes that
Zios could be a loose reference to Zionism, he added, “It wasn’t
meant to be anything so obvious, but maybe that’s what they
had in mind.” He went on to say that the bad guys’ characters
weren’t his idea.
AK Comics’ fourth flagship hero, the Conan-like
Rakan, meanwhile, wanders a Middle East during the aftermath of
the Mongol invasions of the Middle Ages, wracked by savage battles
between Turks, Mongols and Crusaders. When asked if there were any
political messages here, the creator said, “I thought maybe
I could reflect from the future to some point in the past, when
things were quite similar to how they are today.”
When the comics were exhibited at this year’s
Comicon comic-book festival in California, (AK was the first
ever Egyptian company to participate), they garnered a great deal
of interest among American comic-book fans. “We sold more Arabic
versions than English,” read a statement from AK’s US
distribution partner, Studio G.
According to AK Comics managing director Ayman Al
Nashar, this was part of the original business plan, which hoped
to target Arab-American readers interested in developing their Arabic
language skills, along with comic-book fans with Middle East-specific
interests. Eventually, the hope is to distribute the serials in
other countries as well. “That’s where we want to be in
– maybe – 10 years,” said Al Nashar. “We’ll
have a strong line of comics, distributed globally, maybe in several
languages – something that hasn’t really been done by
the big comics.”
The comic books were first marketed in the US, but
the company had difficulty getting a foothold in the crowded American
superhero market. AK, therefore, changed tactics, introducing the
comic books in Egypt first, before eventually bringing them back
to the US.
Over the past few months, sales in Egypt have increased
steadily. While the first issue sold only a few hundred copies,
according to Al Nashar, by August, the company was selling 35 percent
of its 8,000-copy print run – even before students had
returned from summer holidays. National carrier EgyptAir, meanwhile,
has also commissioned 10,000 copies a month for distribution on
flights.
According to Hind Wassef, manager of Zamalek’s
Diwan bookstore, the comics have received a lot of attention. “I
think people are very interested,” she said, noting, “Customers
don’t just come to buy one issue.” So far, 50 percent
of the comic books’ sales have been through Diwan.
While superhero-based comic books generally target
young males, there was evidence that at least some girls, too, were
interested – particularly in the buxom female crime fighters.
“Jalila is someone who does serious things and defends her
country,” said nine-year-old Alaa Mohammed after reading the
comic, noting that the series was much more serious than Mickey
Mouse, the reigning star of the Cairo comics scene. The heroine’s
gender also appealed to Mai Aboul Fotouh, 13. “Usually superheroes
are men,” she said. “It’s nice to find a woman for
a change.”
According to Al Nashar, the original concept always
envisioned strong female characters. “We’re stressing
on gender equality. Both the women are successful: one’s a
scientist, one’s a lawyer,” he pointed out.
Focus groups have also had a positive response to
the comic books because they are set in places familiar to local
audiences. “It’s very exciting to see images of Egypt
or the Arab world on the covers, such as the Baron palace and the
Egyptian museum,” said Al Nashar.
While the animated serials primarily target younger
readers, Al Nashar said the company tries not to neglect potential
older ones as well. “We try to be more sophisticated; to appeal
to the older age groups by having plots and characters with more
depth.” In the tradition of the classic American comic-book
heroes, AK’s superheroes – when not in costume –
are depicted with real lives, often suffering from problems familiar
to everyone, like Jalila and her brother’s drug habit.
Currently, artwork for the comics is outsourced
to studios in Brazil and California, but plans are in the works
to train Egyptian artists, in the hope of eventually producing the
comics locally.
While the look of the heroes – with their impressive
physiques and tight clothing – may be familiar to comic book
fans in the US, some concessions have been made to local sensibilities.
In the Arabic-language editions, for example, in contrast to their
English-language counterparts, Aya’s and Jalila’s bare
midriffs are covered.
While Al Nashar acknowledges that the comics will
probably never be marketed in Saudi Arabia, he hopes to eventually
distribute them elsewhere in the region.
One barrier to wider distribution in Egypt is the
price. Currently, the Arabic-language versions sell for £E
4, while the cover price for the English editions is £E 5
– prices which no doubt serve to restrict readership. For now,
the comics can be found in bookstores in Zamalek, at local toy stores
and amusement parks, such as Merryland and Dream Park, as well as
on whatever newsstands agree to carry them.
Meanwhile, the company has to deal with fresh competition
from US-based DC Comics, which has recently issued new, Arabic-language
versions of world-famous heroes Batman and Superman, which sell
for a mere £E 2. AK, therefore, is now experimenting with
a £E 1 black-and-white edition for the lower-income market.
“It’s actually the cheapest thing on the market now,”
affirmed Al Nashar, adding that, with each page costing $30 to $80
to produce, cover prices can only be trimmed so much.
One criticism made by readers has to do with the
language. The English versions, for example, have a surprising number
of typos – something the company ascribes to the necessity
of doing the typesetting in Brazil. This, say AK officials, should
be remedied once production is shifted to Egypt.
According to Adel Abdel Moneim, a long-time Arabic-language instructor,
the Arabic versions, too, are far from flawless. “They have
to work on the language a little bit,” he said. “It’s
a bit awkward,” and difficult for younger readers.
A devoted comic-book reader in his childhood, Abdel
Moneim was also surprised that the authors didn’t base their
characters more on the rich heritage found in Arab and Islamic legends
and epics. Still, anything that gets children reading is a good
thing, he said, adding, “It would be good if [the comics] created...
a tradition of local superheroes.”
For now, AK Comics is putting out only a single
issue a month, which means that, for those following a particular
title, like Rakan, there is a four-month interim between issues
– a long time to wait for most comic book fans. The hope is
that, as production glitches are smoothed out, an issue from each
series will appear on a monthly basis. There is also talk of an
animated TV series and a computer game featuring AK characters.
If initial reactions are anything to go by, there
could soon be an eager audience waiting every month for the latest
exploits of this new breed of Middle Eastern champions.
Paul Schemm
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