AK Comics is an

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian-based

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comic publishing company, and the first large scale production of the genre in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The company was founded by Ayman Kandeel.

Dærick Gröss Sr. Richard Gröss Event occurs at 1:13-8:35. (January 28, 1947 – December 8, 2023), known professionally as Dærick Gröss Sr., was an American illustrator, writer, editor, and art director. Gröss worked at comic book companies Marvel Comics, DC ...

is the editor-in-chief; Waleed Al-Telbany is the art director; Mohie El-Dein Sideiq is the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

-language editor and Sara Kareem is the

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

editor of the company. AK Comics first began publishing monthly titles in 2004, and its comics are produced in both

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. The comics are collectively titled ''Middle East Heroes''.

Overview

As explained in the first inside page of various issues, the intention of AK Comics is "to fill the cultural gap created over the years by providing essentially Arab role models, in our case, Arab superheroes, to become a source of pride to our young generations."

Superheroes

There are four superheroes: * Zein, a philosophy professor and the last of an ancient line of

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

s. He lives in Origin City, which resembles

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, and uses ancient technology and superpowers to thwart evil-doers. * Aya, a law student driven to fighting crime when her mother is wrongly accused of murdering her father. She has no superpowers of her own, but fights for justice and gender equality. * Jalila, a female scientist who at the age of 16 survived an explosion at the Dimodona nuclear plant (a reference to the

Dimona Dimona (, ) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arabah, Arava valley in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , its population was . The Shimon Pere ...

nuclear plant used by

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to build its undeclared nuclear arsenal), and gained super-powers from the radiation. She protects the City of All Faiths (based on

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

) from the warring Zios Army and the United Liberation Force. * Rakan, a medieval warrior who survived a Mongol invasion of Mesopotamia and was raised by a

saber-toothed cat Machairodontinae (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα '' machaira,'' a type of Ancient Greek sword and ὀδόντος ''odontos'' meaning tooth) is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the earliest ...

. His country is constantly attacked by

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

and

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

rs. Through the techniques of "sheba" (wisdom and peace) he is an invincible warrior. Rakan's most known enemy to date is ChessMaster, co-created by

Rafael Albuquerque Rafael Albuquerque (born April 12, 1981) is a Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' '' Blue Beetle'' and as illustrator and co-creator of ''American Vampire''. Though primarily a penciler and inker o ...

. Apart from Rakan, who inhabits a sort of sword and sorcery world, all the superheroes live in the near future, in the immediate aftermath of the "55-Year War" between unnamed superpowers, when terrorists and criminals constantly threaten to destroy the fragile peace. Although the protagonists are clearly Middle Eastern, for the sake of neutrality there is no direct reference to the religion or ethnicity of the characters. As explained in one issue: "The religious backgrounds of the heroes remain undisclosed so that no religion or faith can be perceived as better than another."Daniel Williams (2005)
Arab Superheroes Leap Pyramids in a Single Bound
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page C01

Reception

AK Comics started an initial United States venture in 2004 and found the market crowded.Pilcher, Tim and Brad Brooks. (Foreword: Dave Gibbons). ''The Essential Guide to World Comics''. ''

Collins and Brown HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...

''. 2005. 306-307. AK Comics sells mainly in Egypt and is beginning to be distributed in other Middle Eastern states, as well as having overseas subscriptions (particularly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). As of September 2005 the comics sell 15,000 copies an issue, and are beginning to break even.

Censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and a lack of local artists are issues for the company; besides had the initial storylines started by ' Studio G Pub' studio, most of the artwork is produced in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

by ' PopArt Comics Studio','Daniel Brandão Studio' and 'Legio Studio'. Among some subtle differences on displaying the characters in the middle-east ambient are the sensitive reduction of female features, like the size of breasts and skimpy outfits used by them. Nashar said that in certain cases local censors went through each page blackening out breasts with markers, and only the titles featuring the male characters are currently distributed in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

.Ed O'Loughlin, (2005) "Hero Jalila a comic cut above the rest" ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', Saturday September 24, 2005, p.18 The comics were received very favorably in the United States, where sales averaged 4,500 copies per issue for the first four issues released. The comics can be ordered at any comic book store through the normal Diamond distribution channels. They are also doing direct sales and subscriptions through their L.A. partner.Jordan E. Rosenfeld (2005),
Fantastic Four A new quartet of superheroes steps up to fight evil. Their turf? The Middle East.
''

North Bay Bohemian The ''North Bay Bohemian'' is a weekly newspaper published in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. The newspaper is distributed in Sonoma and Napa counties. The newspaper began publication in 1 ...

'', February 2–8, 2005 The comic books are also available in the UK from comic book stores or by subscription from the AK Comics website. They have a loyal following in the UK, especially amongst Arabic learners - although the comic books are also available in English. Pilots have been made for a TV series to be broadcast on Arab satellite channels and the first of these was shown at the Cairo Animation Festival in 2006.

References

*
Middle East gets first superheroes
, BBC News (2005)

Footnotes

External links

Home Page

- Publishing Industry Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Ak Comics Comic book publishing companies of the Middle East Egyptian comics Superhero comics