Friends of Jalila - AK Comics - Middle East Heroes

The Indian comic book market is finally opening up. Compared to other big Asian nations, India has always been under-represented in the field of comic books.

ACK comics has dominated the scene with its excellent retelling of Indian mythology - the Mahabharata and Ramayana especially - here's a useful link to that:

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/Comics/

However, Virgin comics are about to launch inside India with some more contemporary offerings. Here's their website with some people who are definitely going to be friends of Jalila:

http://www.virgincomics.com/

In particular, there's the extraordinary Snakewoman, created by HK film maestro John Woo. You can find out more here:

http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=5425

The idea of linking comic books to movie creators is so obvious in a way, bearing in mind the symbiotic relationship between the two, that it's a wonder the arrangement has not been made more explicit and promoted as such before - 'Director's Cut' is a perfect name for the line. Well done all at Virgin! I hate you!

Once again, Wikipedia has come up trumps and you can find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Comics

On a more serious note, India has honoured its first female astronaut with her own comic book. Find out more here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4215974.stm

I've tried to get hold of this but haven't been able to - if someone can help, that would be great.

DC and Marvel have both tested the Indian market. There have been Indian Spidermen and Supermen for example - but neither really made the grade:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_India

It's possible that any chance they had was permanently destroyed by just about the worst movie of all time:

http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/s/superman-indian.html

If only I could get hold of a copy for my collection! It would be up there with my 1929 Indian version of Tarzan (it's true!)

But wait - Indian superhero movies are just about to get a whole lot better with Krrish! starring matinee hearthrob Hrithik Roshan. Find out more here:

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/movies/krrish-hritik-roshan-movie-preview.asp

Exciting news today of the new Batwoman. She's going to be a lesbian socialite!!

This is not the first time that DC have toyed with a lesbian lead character - Alan Moore already had that pretty well covered with Cobweb within DC's ABC comic line - and in a very creative and humorous way too.

Nevertheless, we should support diversity in comic books as much as possible - maybe one day we will see more non-superhero comic books from DC and Marvel. A couple of years ago I pitched to them an idea for a soap opera comic book called Celebration, based loosely on the Disney-created perfect community in Florida. I now offer this to the public domain because DC just laughed at me - and yet I promise I had good plots, mystery, suspense, cliffhangers, female characters to die for (think Desperate Housewives) and so on - but not a superhero in sight. I felt their rejection lacked imagination, so now the idea is yours - go to it.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the new Batwoman - I always did have a soft spot for Kathy Kane, even though I'm not quite sure why.

Not many people know this department. In 1966, on the back of the Batman TV series, there was a totally illegal Mexican spin-off movie called 'The Wild World of Batwoman'. You can find out more here:

http://www.agonybooth.com/batwoman/
http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/wbatwoman/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/evilskip42/batwoman.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061191/

Well, the Octobriana article was a big hit - thanks for all the emails and the requests for more Russian friends of Jalila.

Well, there's the Black Widow of course and her team-mate, Darkstar - but they are Marvel characters so don't really count. Much more interesting is the Xena-lookalike from the Tom Strong series whose name escapes me for the moment but who keeps saying Bozemoi!

And well, that's all I can find in my files - if anyone else has any ideas, I'd be pleased to hear from them....

One of the most interesting friends of Jalila must be Octobriana.

She was allegedly created by Peter Sadecky but there's enough doubt about this to make it unlikely. She's also proposed to be a genuine underground Russian comic book character from the 1960s. This is also extremely unlikely as I have worked in Russia on many occasions and I can confirm first-hand that there is no real comic book history in the country - and certainly Octobriana has too many western traits to gel with even the most radical of Russian students......but of course I can't guarantee this. It's the mystery that makes Octobriana so much fun.

You can find out more here:

http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/web?query=octobriana&search=+&location=wholeweb&isinit=true&invocationType=wsgold_uk

And there's a great online trip here:

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~rad/Octobri.html

But wait - there's more - a 30-minute Finnish film from 2003 - 'Octobriana & the Order of Lenin'. It starred the beautiful Noora Piili. You can find it here:

http://www.octobriana.net/

One of the most important friends of Jalila must of course be William Moulton Marston's Wonder Woman. To be honest, the Wikipedia entry on Wonder Woman is first-class and it doesn't make sense for me to try to add anything to it except to say that the influence of Wonder Woman on Jalila is clear enough. Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman

Wonder Women has many fan sites devoted to her - as I'm sure Jalila will soon have.

Here's one of my favourites because it has all the book covers:

http://www.sufferingsappho.com/wrap/wrapHOME.html

There are some great WW covers here without the text:

http://abcovers.free.fr/index.php?option=com_ponygallery&Itemid=26&func=viewcategory&catid=37

And here's one of the best fanboy sites:

http://www.wonderwoman-online.com/index.html

And then finally of course there's the much awaited Joss Whedon Wonder Woman movie - the latest news on this can be found here:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/wonder-woman.asp

I promise that one day there will be a Jalila movie!

Let's not forget the importance of the colourist in the production of comic books. They are often overlooked. In an odd way, if you don't notice the colourist, he's doing a good job. The worst thing is when the colour is so glaring or so dysfunctional to the plot that it ruins the message coming through the medium.

Michael Kelleher has none of these problems. The brooding images he has produced for Aya are magnificant and his ability to use colour to create mood and tone - and to change this as the story progresses are legendary.

Have a look at some of his work here:

http://www.glasshousegraphics.com/creators/colorists/mikekelleher/index.htm

One of the most important writers in the history of female characters in comic books is Trina Robbins. She wrote 'The Great Women Superheroes' and the even better 'From Girls to Grrrlz' about the change over 50 years from Romance style comics to kick-ass women superheroes.

I'm hoping that when she updates both of these, she will of course include Jalila and Aya in her lists - and the remarkable growth and influence of AK Comics - including the positive role models of women that AK is trying to develop in the Middle East.

You can check out Trina's website here:

http://www.trinarobbins.com/

Her old website is here:

http://www.popimage.com/gogirl/index.htm

And an interview with Trina can be found here:

http://www.nyccomicbookmuseum.org/exhibits/women_Trina.htm

One of my favourite all-time movies stars three friends of Jalila - Heroic Trio.

Made in 1992 in Honk Kong, it starred the three leading actresses of the day - the late Anita Mui, who was loved by all and was revered as a singer throughout Asia: the best actress of her generation, Maggie Cheung - try and catch her also in the marvellous French film, 'Irma Vep' and also Wong Kar-Wai's masterpiece '2046'; and the one who knows how to fight - Michelle Yeoh, who also starred in Jackie Chan's best-ever film, 'Police Story 3'.

You can find out more here:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/h/heroictr.htm

The film even has its own dedicated tribute site which can be found here:

http://www.heroictrio.com/main.html

Forget all those shallow Hollywood blockbuster interpretations. This film is the real thing - heroic women in extreme settings, collaborating simply to stay alive - and yes, it has relationships too - real human relationships born of tragic suffering.

Get your hankies ready but also be prepared to be blown away by the fight scenes in one of Johnnie To's best-ever movies

OK - so the mention of Darna seems to have been well-received - in fact some people have said they didn't even know there WAS a comic book industry in the Philippines - how wrong can you be. So okay, let's spend one more day looking at what's available.

One of my favourites is Rene Manaquis, who produces a Diabolik-type character called Masquaredo - here's his website:

http://www.geocities.com/capsulezone/main.html

His best work, however, is Manila 1913 - part of a series of stories on the Philippines quest for independence.

And then there's Bobby Villagazia's Merza, who could easily be a friend of Jalila. An article on her can be found here:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/merza.htm

They even have a comics art museum (yay!) in San Pablo. It has some amazing artwork. Look at this:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/

Look at the detail and vitality in Nestor Redondo's work:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/diwani.html and here:
http://www.komikero.com/museum/quovadis.html

And from the same golden age period of the early 1950s, Tony deZuniga:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

And the beautiful women of Fred Alcantara from the same age:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

And the crisp styling of Jesse Santos

http://www.komikero.com/museum/dezuniga4.html

Wow! Such talent - and it lends further strength, I believe, to my campaign for a comic art museum in the UK too.

One of the most interesting comic book creations in the world is Darna from the Phillippines. She's pretty much like Jalila crossed with Wonder Woman and immensely popular in her home country where there have been many Darna movies and a recent top-rated TV series.

It's strange that Darna has not travelled to the US and the UK when both comic book markets have been so open in the past to overseas influences, such as Manga - and of course, more recently, Middle East Heroes.

Darna was developed by genius Mars Ravelo and you can find out more about her here:

http://www.marsravelodarna.com/
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/darna.htm

Mind-blowing news for AK Comics fans today.

We launch our Hot Summer Competition here at AK Comics UK !!

AK Comics of Egypt which has recently launched its 'Middle East Heroes' range of comic books in the USA and UK are pleased to announce some major new developments in preparation with their appearance at Comicon 2006.

Enter the great new hot summer competition - open to everyone, everywhere - you can win a year's subscription to the comic by designing a completely NEW team of Middle East Heroes!!! Descriptions or images will be fine. Send your entries to akcomicsuk@aol.com or by post to: AK Comics UK, 9 Southdown Rd, Newhaven, East Sussex BN9 9JH, UK.

Checkout the AK website at www.akomics.com. Order 'Middle East Heroes' through the website or buy them in your local comic book store.

Closing Date: June 30th

Good luck!!

I think we can now say for sure that AK Comics is a worldwide phenomenon.

Following recent articles in the Australian and NZ press, this one has reached us from China - with famous media commentator Marwan el-Nasher of AK Comics commenting on the Simpsons of all things - where next, the Moon?

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=7&art_id=7958&sid=5910705&con_type=1&d_str=20051216

Felipe Ferreira is one of the great writers of Rakan and other Middle East Heroes from Brazil. He works for the same PopArt studio that we've talked about before on these pages.

Felipe recently gave an excellent interview to Italian national newspaper 'La Stampa' where he talked about the joys of working for Middle East Heroes and how happy he was to see strong female leads.

You can see the interview here:

http://www.lastampa.it/cmstp/rubriche/girata.asp?ID_blog=47&ID_articolo=18&ID_sezione=70

This may be of particular interest to our Egyptian readers as AK Comics has close links to the Italian Language Institute in Cairo

Felipe and Rafael Albuquerque also launch their own comic book through Image this month - the amazing 'Rumble in La Rambla' which is already being compared to 'Love and Rockets'. Please support the guys in this new venture!!

Francois Riviere - Slightly off-centre today but I thought you'd be interested to know that I met Francois Riviere, French BD-writer at a book signing in the French quarter of South Kensington in London on Saturday - seemed like a nice guy - and it's always good to chew the fat with someone else in the industry.

Samples of Francois's work can be found here:

http://www.bdparadisio.com/scripts/detail.cfm?Id=317

Francois has been in the industry many years and has produced beautiful adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, and stories for ace British spy Victor Sackville - and also some very atmospheric stories set in the second world war in his Blitz series - he's a true craftsman and a genius.

Naturally, I told him all about AK Comics. He seemed very interested and promised to spread the word when he returned to France.

Al Jazeera - The recent news of the upcoming Al Jazeera documentary on AK Comics brings to mind the recent interview from the TV station that can be found here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B66A298A-D802-43B1-A336-3BEEDEC42B8C.htm

In many ways, it's not surprising that AJ want to cover AK because their philosophies are very similar - both seeking to project a realistic view of the Arab world through positive role models and professional production standards.

Most intelligent people in the UK are looking forward to seeing Al Jazeera's new English-language channel helping to produce a more balanced range of news sources worldwide - in the same way that CCTV-9 has done from China and SAB has done from India.

Meanwhile, you can check out Al Jazeera's excellent website here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

Comicon - Good news for all US fans of AK is that the gang will be appearing at Comicon again this year in July - once again, the only Middle Eastern company to do so.

Comicon is at the very heart of the US Comic Book scene and more information about it can be found here:

http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

One of my favourite writers who will be attending Comicon as a special guest is John Wagner - the creator of Judge Dredd, Britain's best-known comic book hero.

You can find out more about John here:

http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=458

You need to READ Judge Dredd to enjoy the irony and the humanistic approach to life - not so far from that of AK. Unfortunately, the Sylvestor Stallone movie did not do the character justice almost glorifying the aggression and violence of the character - not recognising that the writer and the reader actually disapprove of the lawman's actions - but are nevertheless drawn to the flaws of the character by the humanity within.

The AK guys at Comicon are going to have a great time mixing with all the special guests at Comicon this year, including J Michael Staczynski, Forrest J Ackermann, Brian Bolland and others - hopefully, they will also have a productive time developing leads, working on co-projects and selling services and investment opportunities from within Egypt.

Academia

One of the most significant triumphs of AK Comics is the way in which it has penetrated the world of academia. Phil Taylor at the Institute of Communication Studies at Leeds University - one of the UK's most prestigious - has been including the work of AK within the final year of his Communication Studies course - within the module 'The Great War on Terror - Propoganda'. Here's a copy of that excellent Washington Post article that he includes as reference material:

http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp01.cfm?outfit=pmt&folder=2053&paper=2150

The Media Studies argument is that all information is a form of propaganda, shaping attitudes, focussing attention, creating stereotypes and so on. It's not only what is said, for example, but also what is left out. In many western media outlets, particularly in the US, the media image of the Middle East is one of noisy Arabs, behaving irrationally, undeveloped, buried and chained by religion and so on. This is of course nonsense but is a common perception.

The lack of any contact with daily Arab life - and most importantly pop culture - undermines any sense of common humanity. Without being pompous, that's one reason why AK Comics is so important - and Turkish/Egyptian/Lebanese pop music too - and movies!! We need to provide a diverse and balanced media in every field. By recognising that we all share common interests and entertainment values, that we share common desires for a better world, we can begin to undermine the divisions created between us by ignorant politicians and the greedier side of business.

Laurent Melikian

Many thanks are due to Laurent, one of France's premier writers on BD, for his superb article on AK Comics (and other lesser Middle Eastern brands!) in this month's 'L'Echo des Savanes'. This is France's best review magazine for comic books and animanga. It also has a pretty neat line in political satire too - George Bush is not a big favourite of the editors! The magazine - which has origins in the days of post-68 cool - scampers happily along a line of 'cold humour and hot love'.

Yes, some of the scripts are a little risque for the Anglo-Saxon market perhaps - but, hey, this is France, right?

Laurent's article is absolutely first-class and the page layout is exactly what you would expect from editors with 30 years experience in the field of graphic design. I'm going to cut it out and stick it on my wall!

You can order 'L'Echo des Savanes' here:

http://www.viapresse.com/via2005/pages-new/catalogue_detail.asp?context=abo&titre=1209

France is lucky of course to have one of the world's biggest comic book industries - they usually sell as softback albums and the market is huge. Japanese manga is also very popular.

You can find out more about Bande Desinee (BD) here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2004/08/16/expatliv.xml

Great news today. Award-winning documentary makers, Amir and Taghi Amirani are planning to make a film on AK Comics - initially for UK television.

This offers tremendous potential for the AK message to travel worldwide once again. Taghi Amirani first sprang to fame covering the Afghan war in 2002, including a harrowing documentary on an Afghan refugee camp. The contrast in the film between the absolute poverty of the refugees and the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on the invasion leaves an indelible impression.

Amirani Films has won awards in countries as far apart as Georgia and the United States. More recently, they have turned their eyes towards covering events in Iran from the point of view of the humanist reform movement - and also looking at the UK from the point of view of an Iranian.

The interest of Amirani Films in investigating the AK Comics phenomenon - positive role models for Arab and Middle Eastern children - is much appreciated.

Studio G

These are the guys who coordinate much of the artwork for AK Comics - and an excellent job they do to! They are based in southern California - as the rain falls on my window here in the UK, how I wish I was in southern California!

But Studio G don't just look after AK, the Gross family - father and son - also do a lot of other excellent stuff too. You can check out their work here:

http://www.studiogpub.com/artwork/index.html

As well as AK's work, they also produce the excellent 'Tales of the Moonlight Cutter'. Here's a sample:

http://www.studiogpub.com/mooncutter/index.html

And my own particular favourite - She-Bat/Murcielaga:

http://www.studiogpub.com/shebat/index.html

Allan Goldman is the third of the great Brazilian artists that underpin AK Comics success - along with Rafael Albuquerque and Daniel Brandao. Between them, they have created a consistent and flowing style that is instantly recognisable and demands attention.

Allan in particular is the artistic creator of Aya - one of the most interesting of AK's characters.

Allan is also involved in developing other series such as 'Shaun C Bury's Nox', a mythical road tale.

You can find more of Allan's artwork on his own website which is here:

http://goldmanpenciler.blogger.com.br/

Kahina - Queen of the Berbers.

It's not often that I talk about a rival publication but I must just mention Queen Kahina produced by the Royal Institute of Berber Culture. You can find out more here:

http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=7957

She's a fascinating character - a real-life warrior queen, but like many Berbers with a strong influx of European genes - Celtic in her case - red hair, green eyes. She must have been a magnificent sight. She is a legendary character throughout the Middle East - a bit like Rakan - and it would be great if she were picked up in an AK story at some stage. It's true she fought the Arab/Muslim empire from the fringes but this was largely from a nationalistic viewpoint - not a religious or cultural one. She is credited with ordering the Berbers to execute a scorched earth policy rather than hand over anything of value to the Muslim invaders. It's tragic to think of how many treasures and items of historical interest may have been destroyed by this policy.

Meanwhile, you could read the Manly Wade Wellman novel - "Cahena" - which was published in 1986 - his last book - or check out the amazing Berber script in the Royal Institute's comic book.