Yearly Archives: 2013
The 6 Coolest Middle Eastern Superheroes
With the announcement yesterday that Marvel is going to introduce a new Pakistani Ms. Marvel, I started thinking about all of the other Middle Eastern superheroes I’ve seen introduced since 9/11. In an effort to combat the obvious prejudices in this country, both Marvel and DC have taken it upon themselves to diversify their superhero line-ups with characters of Middle Eastern descent. And as great as that is, most of these characters rarely stick around.
The market is never very kind to new characters in general.
Especially if they have weird hands
Still, we can’t forget about them if I keep blabbing about them. So in my own effort to celebrate diversity, I’ve decided to take a look at all Middle Eastern superheroes to pick out the coolest ones. Some you may recognize, some you may have forgotten about and some you may have never known existed. But trust me, they are all cool.
Ms. Marvel to Return as a Teenage Pakistani Muslim Girl
Marvel Comics announced a new Ms. Marvel today: the teenage shape-shifter Kamala Khan. She will star in her own series starting up next year, exploring the life of a teenage Muslim superhero living in New Jersey. I would like to say we live in a world where this sort of announcement would be beloved by all, but we don’t, but to hell with those people. This is awesome news.
She’s also got a good fashion sense
As detailed in an article today in the New York Times, Kamala Khan is a teenage girl growing up in New Jersey who is not only both Muslim and Pakistani, but is also a huge fan of the superheroine Captain Marvel. When Kamala discovers her own super-powers – which include being able to change her shape – Kamala decides to become a hero, and she decides to use Captain Marvel’s old superhero name, Ms. Marvel.
The comic will be written by G. Willow Wilson, herself a convert to Islam, with art by Adrian Alphona. I’m not familiar with either of their work, other than Alphona’s brief run on Runaways. Either way, I’m definitely picking up this series.
“This is not evangelism,” Ms. Wilson said. “It was really important for me to portray Kamala as someone who is struggling with her faith.” The series, Ms. Wilson said, would deal with how familial and religious edicts mesh with super-heroics, which sometimes require rules to be broken.
Sounds good to me! I fully support and look forward to any and all attempts to make a more diverse superhero lineup. Though, of course, it’s not just going to be about growing up as a Muslim-American. Wilson told the Times that she wants to focus on the general experience of growing up a teenager. This one just happens to be Muslim and have super-powers.
Though I’m not sure what’s up with the porcupine with Hulk Hands
Wait, What? Hourman!?
Following the success of Arrow, and the potential upcoming success of a Flash TV show, DC and The CW are apparently now planning a show starring Hourman. For reals. Hourman!
This guy!
For those who don’t know, Hourman is a rather obscure hero who fights as a member of the Justice Society of America. There have been several different Hourmen over the years – because good brand names never die – with most of them ingesting a magic pill called Miraclo that grants them super strength and super speed for an hour. I apologize to all Hourman fans out there because that sounds absolutely ridiculous.
Which is probably why The CW is going with an entirely different version of the character, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on a short-lived volume of Hourman comics, the TV show is going to focus on a hero who can see one hour into the future. He will use that power to avert horrible upcoming disasters in order to win back his wife and child. So it basically sounds like a reduced version of Early Edition. Anybody remember that show? I never watched it, so why is it ingrained in my memory?
I’m starting to think somebody at The CW, desperate to follow-up the success of Arrow, just went down a list of DC superheroes and kept throwing out pitches until somebody shrugged and said, “Alright, let’s do that one.”
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New Desolation of Smaug Trailer
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is still coming, which means trailers are still coming too. Like this one. This is a new trailer.
While I’m definitely looking forward to the film, I can’t say as how any of the trailers have really filled me with trailer excitement. But that could just be because I’m an old curmudgeon. I turned 30 this year, so clearly everything is going to just annoy me, right? Isn’t that how adulthood works?
Full X-Factor Cast Announced – And I Don’t Care for Any of Them
When Marvel and Peter David announced the new X-Factor series last month, they revealed three members right off the bat: Quicksilver, Polaris and Gambit. The remaining three members were kept a mystery, because that’s how comic books work sometimes. Well now it seems the new Previews catalog has revealed the full lineup, and scans have hit the web courtesy of the CBR forums.
This isn’t it, this is what we’ve already seen
I’ll post the scan after the jump in case you don’t want to be spoiled. Suffice to say, I don’t particularly care for anyone on the new team. It really does seem like PAD threw darts at a wall to pick this cast. Kind of like how Uncanny X-Force ended up with Psylocke, Storm, Spiral and Puck.
Click the jump to see the full roster!
Henchman-4-Hire 