Children and adults have had Spiderman and Superman as their favorite comic heroes for years. But now, thanks to Tufts graduate Naif Al-Mutawa (LA '94), people across the globe have a new set of heroes to admire.
Al-Mutawa, a native of Kuwait, launched a comic book series called "The 99" in September. It focuses on "the positive values of Islam, such as generosity, strength, wisdom and foresight - the attributes not seen of Islam today in [the] media," he said.
According to Al-Mutawa, the series will provide positive role models for Muslim children based on inclusive religious morals. The characters are Muslims from all over the world, not just the Middle East.
"'The 99' gives kids something to look for today," Al-Mutawa said. "'The 99' has nothing to do with religion or the Koran. It's about how people interpret it. You can take good and bad even from the Archie comics."
Al-Mutawa explained that most North American comic books stories are Judeo-Christian stories with orphan characters who received miracle messages delivered from spirits above. He used Spiderman as an example: Peter Parker's super-powers arrive via a spider that drops down from the ceiling.
"Religion has always been an archetype," Al-Mutawa said. "Japanese comics also reflect their society, where everyone works together. Japanese characters need each other to work together, and each has one power. Nobody has done this for Middle-Eastern culture."
In the Middle East, a region long torn by religiously motivated conflicts, Al-Mutawa hopes his series will provide a positive influence based on Islamic religious values. The series will focus on the stories of 99 superheroes representing different moral virtues.
"Allah has 99 attributes; each character embodies one trait and works within teams of three [to accomplish a goal]," Al-Mutawa said.
Al-Mutawa has already written several children's books, including "To Bounce or Not to Bounce," which was one of three books honored at the UNESCO Competition for Children's Books in the Service of Tolerance.
Al-Mutawa stopped writing for five years to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Long Island University and two Masters Degrees in business administration and organizational psychology from Columbia University.
During a cab ride in 2003, Al-Mutawa's sister reminded him of his pledge to continue writing after he finished his schooling. It was then, he explained, that he began to envision the series.
"My sister asked the right question at the right time to give me an idea," Al-Mutawa said. Now, three years later, Al-Mutawa has 54 investors in eight countries, including classmates from Tufts, high school friends, and larger financial institutions.
Al-Mutawa agreed to write again, but only if he could create something that would have the potential for the success of the Japanese anime series Pok?©mon, which had been banned in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Mutawa was bothered by the ban, and decided to do something about it. Soon after, "The 99" was born. With help from a friend with connections to Marvel Comics, Al-Mutawa successfully introduced his series to the company. Now it is in the hands of the producers of comics like "Spiderman" and "The Incredible Hulk."
The comic received its first major publicity in a January New York Times article. Ironically, a slight difference in timing could have led to completely different results.
"I don't know if you would call it fate or luck, but we did an interview with the New York Times on Dec. 6 and hoped the story would run but it just kept getting pushed back and we didn't think that it would ever be published," Al-Mutawa said.
When the article was finally printed, it was just days before the controversy surrounding Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed led to riots in Europe and the Middle East.
"If it had been a little earlier it would have not received much interest but if it had been a little later it would have looked like we were just trying to make a quick buck," Al-Mutawa said.
Instead, though, the timing allowed his comic to be "catapulted into people's vision earlier than it would have normally." As a result, the series' success has opened up a wealth of licensing opportunities, including a potential hotel or restaurant with a "99" theme. He is supported with $25 million from an Islamic investment bank and has been approved by many Islamic religious scholars.
"I have fulfilled my personal goals of writing and doing what I wanted with my life and what my parents wanted," Al-Mutawa said, but "goals on the business side keep changing."
Al-Mutawa said he didn't anticipate such rapid success. "The reaction has been predominantly positive, which was very surprising because I was expecting negative criticism," he said.
However, Al-Mutawa also noted that some readers are still skeptical. "I was talking to the leader of fundamentalist group in Kuwait and he said it was anti-Islamic," Al-Mutawa said. "I asked him how he could judge that and told him that's good thing about living in a democracy - I can think what I want and you can think what you want."
Al-Mutawa, who triple majored in English, history, and psychology at Tufts, said he enjoyed his time here, but that he wishes he "had gotten advice to take a more practical angle and done more things like internships or projects, because even my summers were filled up with classes."
"If there's one thing that at Tufts education set me up for, [it] was a thorough immersion and appreciation of diversity," he said.
Al-Mutawa said that in spite of his success, he keeps his "degrees in drawers, not on the walls, because I don't want to influence my own children and make them feel like they're not doing enough.
"My biggest advice," he added, "is to do what you love."
