Fighting stories with stories

A graduate of Tufts University… with a triple major in clinical psychology, English literature and history, the 37-year-old Al-Mutawa also has a keen sense of symbols. Mainstream comics in the West have drawn heavily on Judeo-Christian narratives and iconography, he says. Why not create a cast of characters whose powers echo Muslim history and traditions? The core conceit of the series is that when the Mongols sacked… Baghdad in A.D. 1258, their main target was its magnificent library. They “planned not only to conquer the greatest empire the world had ever known, but to eradicate its hope — its potential — thereby destroying its future,” the narrator tells us in boldface block letters. “That would require more than sword and club, sinew and blood. That would require destroying the empire’s true base of power… that would require destroying its knowledge.” The essential conflict in the story is an X-Men-like rivalry between Dr Ramzi, who wants to gather together the Noor Stones and their bearers to do good, and Mughal, who wants to gather them together for, ahem, world domination.

In fact, these comics are tapping into many of the same themes exploited by bin Laden… The message that Islamic civilisation once was a mighty realm of learning and science is dear to jihadi firebrands… “The 99’”s circulation is in the tens of thousands at this point, while bin Laden’s violent message gets out to billions. But comic books are “likely to be a lot more helpful than our bullets and bombs in attracting young people away from jihadi cool,” says Atran. They might even help convince Washington that “knowledge is the true base of power.” But maybe that’s hoping for too much.

Excerpted from Christopher Dickey’s ‘Jihadi Cool’ in the latest Newsweek