Since the 1976 teaming of DC Comic’s Superman and Marvel Comics Spider-Man, pairing up characters from various comicbook companies forever left the venue of Fan fiction, and entered into a odd sort of Amalgam continuity where it was OK to have characters owned by different licensors to meet on a level playing field. Over the years that has lead to numerous interesting parings, not the least of which is one that is currently happing between DC’s Justice League of America (JLA), and Teshkeel Comics new take on teen superhero groups, The 99.
Teshkeel’s The 99 comic (written by Fabian Nicieza) centers around a group of Islamic teenagers from around the world, who have had certain aspects of their personality “augmented” by bonding with a number of Noor gem stones that have been imbued with one of The 99 special traits of Allah, and then passed these special traits each of the individuals that possess them. The teens are lead by Dr. Ramzi Razem who heads up The 99 Foundation a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping those in need throughout the world.
The JLA is (according to DC mythos) the premiere superheroes on the planet, being comprised of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and others. The two teams are brought together upon the completion of a City of the Future that has been built in the Rub al Khali or “Empty Quarter” on the Arabian Peninsula. It is at the opening ceremony that the city (and the world) comes under attack by a mysterious force (which turns out to be a classic DC villain, operating in connection with Rughal a villainous character that opposes The 99 and wants to assimilate all the powers of the 99 gems into himself.
JLA The 99 is co-written by Nicieza and Stuart Moore with art by Tom Derenick & Drew Geraci, and is currently at issue four out of six, and is swiftly reaching its anticipated climax. Like most inter-company team-ups, it is assumed that some of the readers coming to the story are unfamiliar with one or the other set of characters, and thus is written in a very open, flowing style that allows characters to be quickly introduced and move the story forward. As both Nicieza and Moore are veterans of the industry they make it all look so easy. The art (also an important aspect to any comic), is also clean, uncluttered, and easy to follow, making this comic a very enjoyable read.
While the story itself won’t affect the on-going storylines from either comic (these team-ups by their very nature can’t actually have any impact on the respective characters on-going comics, they must present the characters in character, and recognizable to their respective audiences. Something that JLA The 99 succeeds in doing. If you have missed any of the initial issues, don’t worry, it is a sure bet that a trade paperback will be issued collecting all six issues for republication.
According to Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa (a UNESCO award-winning author and the creator of the 99) the main purpose of The 99 comic is to present a positive image of both the Arab world and Islamic beliefs to the world at large, a message that Dr. Naif is always quick to point out in the comic itself and his editorials in each issue. Further, according to Dr. Naif there is no overt religious message in The 99, nor is he attempting to present a religious image of either Allah or Islam, as that would be something to difficult to attempt. Rather, he feels that the comic should be viewed as a typical superhero comic that just happens to take place with a cast of characters that is largely Islamic.
Hopefully this kind of inter-company team-up can be beneficial to both companies by introducing the characters of each to the readers of the others. To be sure, the DC characters are more widely known, but it certainly couldn't hurt to have them favorably introduced into the largely Islamic audience that reads The 99, nor would it be bad for the primarily U.S. audience to get a more favorable understanding of heroic and non-threatening Islamic characters.
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