São Paulo – The 99, a group of super heroes created by the Kuwaiti Naif Al-Mutawa, is about to get a Brazilian member: Hafiz the Preserver, the codename for Carlos Valmor Jatobá Cauê, a 14-year-old boy born in a remote village in the Amazon, who has the power to manipulate plants.
According to Mutawa, inspiration for the character arose during the inauguration of theme park The 99, in Kuwait, in 2009.
"I was simply upset with the level of polluting at the park at the opening, with garbage thrown everywhere," said the author to ANBA by e-mail. "I decided then that we needed an environmental member of The 99 and decided that that character would be our Brazilian character, complete with an Amazon back story," he added.
Hafiz should star in great style, appearing in the third edition of the miniseries in which The 99 should meet face to face with the Justice League of America (JLA), a team that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other famous North American heroes from DC Comics.
The special series, in six episodes, should be issued in late October, in the United States. The storyline is in the hands of Fabian Nicieza and Stuart Moore, the art will be by Tom Derenick and the covers by Felipe Massafera, one of the several Brazilians leading successful careers in the North American comic industry. Nicieza and Moore, who have worked on famous titles for the “two great ones”, Marvel and DC, are regular storywriters for the Kuwaiti publication.
"The 99 and the JLA will not trust each other and we find out that the bad guys cause the mistrust, so that they can get their way. Its only when they collaborate that good can truly overcome evil," said Mutawa regarding the argument of the series.
Dialogue
Promotion of East-West dialogue was one of the inspirations for the creation of magazine The 99. The author said he had the idea when faced with the "terrible things" committed by some people in the name of Islam.
"I wanted to show that these people are the problem, not Islam," said Mutawa. "Surely, if I can create fun, positive messages, theme parks and comic books from the same source from which others are pulling messages of hatred, then it can’t be Islam that is the problem," said the designer of the characters, who is a psychologist.
Recently, US president Barack Obama praised the comic in an address. He said that the stories instigate the imagination of youths giving a message of tolerance.
The number in the title relates to the 99 magic stones. Each one grants the holder one of the 99 powers of God mentioned in the Koran. "I am Muslim so The 99 is influenced by Islam, but there is no religious content," said the author. The characters are from different origins, despite the Islamic inspiration, as shown in the case of the Brazilian super hero.
To develop his characters, the author, an amateur writer who did not know how to draw, had the aid of professionals in the area who had worked in publications like Superman (DC) and Spider-Man (Marvel). "I was an amateur and it took the collaborating with experts who had worked on Superman, Spider-Man and Power Rangers to professionalize my creation and bring it to the next level," he reports.
Comic The 99 is published in English and Arabic and, according to Mutawa, sells well in the Arab world, India, China, Turkey and Indonesia. In the near future, a cartoon based on the comics will be released.
Teshkeel Comics, developed by him, has already sold the rights for translation of the stories to Chinese, Turkish, Indonesian, Hindi and Urdu. But does he plan to publish in Brazil, in Portuguese? "If we find a partner for that, absolutely," answered Mutawa, the CEO of the company that has investors from several countries.
*Translated by Mark Ament
