could pierce anything. He lasted about five years. The Holy Burkas, comics’ interest in Arab characters receded along with the price of oil in the Batman! ’80s and the shift in national PROBING THE RISE OF MUSLIM angst toward the rising COMIC BOOK SUPERHEROES economic sun of Japan. BY RICH BARLOW Then came 9/11. While American interest in Islam In 2009, Image Comics gives characters a foothold led to Muslim heroes, issued a comic book with in readers’ experience, says Muslim villains (fictional COURTESY OF MARVEL COMICS OF MARVEL COURTESY a cover depicting Barack Lewis, who has written ones, anyway) have been Obama landing a right cross comics and graphic novels For much of the Cold rare, which Lewis attributes on Osama bin Laden, priced and edited Graven Images: War, Lewis says, mainstream in part to publish ers not at $1. The presidential Religion in Comic Books and comics avoided religion and wanting to muck with punch pales next to bin Graphic Novels, a collection tended to use communists Islamophobia or to offend Laden’s real-life end, but the of scholarly essays. His as real-life villains. Then customers. al-Qaeda leader’s demise doctoral dissertation details the 1973 Arab oil embargo What’s clear WEB EXTRA Watch a made the Obama-Osama depictions of the afterlife and the 1979–1981 Iranian is that Muslims slideshow of cover a collector’s item that in comics and other pop hostage crisis turned the on the comics comics images now sells for $100. culture. comics’ gaze toward the pages confront of Muslim For all their alien/under- The comics are “already Middle East, and the Incred- the conundrum superheroes water/superhuman evil- dealing with these incredibly ible Hulk embarked on of their human at bu.edu/ bostonia. doers, comics have on occa- fantastic characters: flying global adventures that coun terparts: sion borrowed villains from characters, alien characters, included evil Arabs. But if a community suspicious of the real world, says comics underwater characters,” that’s your scenario, Lewis them. “When Dust joins the expert A. David Lewis he says. “There’s such a says, you “do also have to X-Men, these persecuted (GRS’11), who is studying suspension of disbelief opt for at least…a token American mutants don’t for a doctorate in religion that they needed to ground superhero,” and in 1980, the really know if they can and literature. But Lewis them more in the readers’ Hulk series introduced the trust her,” Lewis says. “The sees a more surprising de- real world” with religious Arabian Knight, “our first comic book creators can velopment than a bonanza references. He points out headlining, Middle Eastern have it both ways. They can for comic book collectors: that both the X-Men and superhero,” replete with a present an altruistic Muslim the emergence of the Mus- Muslims are victimized flying carpet and a scimitar hero, but also reflect the lim superhero. minorities. that fired force beams and Islamophobia.” p The year after 9/11, Marvel Comics introduced Dust, a Muslim “mutant,” or super human member of the famed X-Men, only her eyes visible behind her niqab. , rescue me Born in Afghanistan, she can Comics expert change into a blinding, skin- A. David Lewis shredding sandstorm. (GRS’11), a PhD Meanwhile, rival pub- candidate in lisher DC Comics recently religion and literature, brought out Nightrunner, studies Muslim an Algerian Muslim immi- superheroes like grant recruited by Batman, Dust (above). drawing charges from some A member of American readers that DC is the X-Men, Dust can change PC. Batman, they groused, into a blinding should have deputized a sandstorm. native Frenchman. What’s up with the new Islamic heroes? Religion, once taboo in comics, now PHOTOGRAPH BY KALMAN ZABARSKY Fall 2011 BOSTONIA 23 116-23.BostoniaFall11_07.indd6-23.BostoniaFall11_07.indd 2323 99/20/11/20/11 112:322:32 PPMM.