The 99, A Muslim Superhero Team Comic Book

Naif al-Mutawa is the creator and co-writer of The 99, an Islamic culture superhero comic book. It is on Teshkeel Comics, owned by al-Mutawa. The comic is available in many countries, though not quite famous in the states as of yet.

The 99 are a team of superheroes that were given their powers by the Noor Stones given to them through different circumstances. The stones were originally in a library in Baghdad but the library get destroyed and the stones get hidden all across the globe. The characters that become empowered by the stones of knowledge go on a mission to retrieve all the other missing stones.

The comic book is a huge success in the rest of the world and will soon be doing a crossover with DC Comics’ JLA. With this crossover The 99 will be fighting along side with Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman etc.. This collaboration with DC, The 99 will be available to the mainstream comic book audience.

Al-Mutawa had always wanted to be a writer from childhood and was inspired to create The 99 to take back Islam from its “highjackers” after 9/11. The comic book is not a religious comic though. The 99 are as Muslims as Superman is Christian. The characters are from Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Hungary, Paris, U.S, England. They have names like Amira and Haroun.

Due to the geographic location the Muslim world finds itself, al-Mutawa thought a comic book featuring a team of Muslim superheroes could tell the stories of balance between the East and West. The 99 work together as a team of threes, unlike the solo superheroes of the West, ala Superman, Batman, Spiderman. At the same time the heroes find themselves sometime working for the bad guys, unlike Eastern comic heroes like Pokemon etc.

The other writer on the book is Fabian Nicieza, mostly known for his run on the X-titles of Marvel Comics, Fabian is a comic universe veteran. Fabian Nicieza has written everything from Batman to Turok. He has worked for Marvel, DC, and independent labels.

John McCrea illustrates many of the issues. He is also a veteran of the comic universe, known especially for him work on Hitman, a DC title.

There is a free origins issue available on The99.org for download, telling the story of stones and one character’s powers’ manifestation. A boy destroys a big portion of a city downtown by sneezing.