Saudi Arabia Has 99 Problems...

The 99 was created in 2007 by Stuart Moore, John McCrea, and Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa and published by Teshkeel Comics. The name stems from the eventual 99 member team of young super powered citizens of the planet. Their powers can complement each other and work best in certain groups of three, depending on the problem at hand. This stresses tolerance and diversity. They have already teamed up with DC superheroes like Batman and Superman. Download a free copy of the origin of the team at Comixology.

The comic has not been without its controversy among conservatives. Despite the controversy, The 99 franchise has a animated series broadcast in 70 countries and a theme park in Kuwait. In 2010, at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in 2010, President of the United States Barack Obama mentioned the 99 and head creator Dr. Naif Al Mutawa. “His comic books have captured the imagination of so many young people,with superheroes who embody the teachings and tolerance of Islam,” the President said. President Obama is an admitted comic book collector. In 2011, The 99 CGI  feature film debuted in New York and Dubai film festivals.

Saudi Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta issued a fatwa, or formal legal opinion, on The 99 recently. They call for the banning of the series for flouting religious values. “There have been numerous Twitter campaigns against me for a while now and so for me it’s not new,” Al Mutawa said to Gulf Business. “Maybe it is true this time, but I find it very difficult to believe that a group as influential and high profile [as the Saudi Committee] wouldn't recognise the good that THE 99 has done for Muslims around the world.”The creators were not notified of the ban and there is no official word if that is the case. The series(animated and comic) have been successfully sold in Saudi Arabia for many years now without official challenges. Al Mutawa vows that the franchise upholds strong Muslim values and cites that it is an uneducated opinion based on heresy.



The 2011 DC Comics/ Tashkeel Comics’collaboration , JLA:The 99, six issue miniseries is available on Comixology. The series is also available in Arabic. Download Beginnings for free(in English) here. Promotional information and more information is available at the official 99 website.