Religion and comics and the Islamic view

I talked to comics writer Fabian Nicieza today for the story I’m doing on religion in comics. Well-known to American readers for his work for Marvel and others, he’s also co-writer of “The 99,” an upcoming series from Kuwait-based Teshkeel Comics. It features the world’s first superhero team based on Islamic culture and history, but is NOT a religious comic book, the company says. The heroes’ powers are based on the attributes of Allah, such as strength, truth and wisdom, but if you’re a non-Muslim reader, you’ll probably just see them as cool powers. “Don’t go into it expecting some kind of jingoistic agenda, because you’re not going to get it,” Nicieza says.