Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett checks in on good intentions from Teshkeel, and bad decisions from Marvel and DC.
 
I've been writing about Teshkeel Comics The 99 here since 2006 (I know, I checked).  The creation of Kuwaiti psychologist Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, C.E.O. and founder of Teshkeel Media Group, it features a superhero team designed to "take back Islam."  The name refers to the
99 attributes of Allah, such universal values as generosity, mercy, wisdom, etc., and the series worked to provide positive role models and promote social justice and peace.  Forbes Magazine once called the franchise "one of the Top 20 trends sweeping the globe," there was a 99 theme park in Kuwait and an animated series was produced.
 
Unfortunately the series never got much traction in the United States because in spite of being commendable and unobjectionable it received press that constituted "indoctrination of our children" and "Muslim propaganda."  There was a JLA/The 99 crossover back in 2010 but The Hub network got cold feet about airing the series and it ended up on Netflix Instant Streaming--it's still there.  You can watch episodes but I really can’t recommend as it features CGI only slightly more sophisticated than the average piece of courtroom animation.
 
The comics themselves though?  Absolutely solid.  The very best sort of entry level, kid-friendly, superhero comics so many people (me included) say that they want.  And although they were never widely distributed in the retail market, the comics have been digitally available via comiXology.  I know because I downloaded the latest issue.  You certainly can't beat the price, 34 color pages for only $1.99, or the quality of the content.  Like a lot of attempts at doing indigenous Middle Eastern comics (and there have been several in the last decade) Teshkeel has relied on Western creators and this issue features work by Stuart Moore, Ron Wagner and June Brigman.
 
But clearly I hadn't read an issue in a while because even though I've been Facebook friends with artist June Brigman I had absolutely no idea she was working on The 99 until I looked at her profile.  When I wrote asking for details she wrote back that working for Teshkeel had been "a great experience," and that she was honored and proud to be part of comics that were very positive and pro-tolerance,  But although Teshkeel "…was a great company to work for, it wasn't very financially successful," she continued.  "I was surprised it lasted as long as it did.  My editor gave me a heads up that the ship was sinking so I wasn’t surprised by the company’s demise."
 
As far as I can tell this hasn’t been officially announced yet, but I'll assume June knows what she’s talking about.
 
At this point we I just had to ask about her work on Power Pack, the Marvel comic she created with writer Louise Simonson.  For me part of the magic of that comic was the fact that the kids in it looked like actual kids, not miniature adults, which is something a lot of talented artists struggle with.  The present run of Fantastic Four is among my favorite current comics, except for the fact that little Valeria Richards, who is supposed to be four years old, doesn’t look much like any toddler I've ever seen.
 
She wrote back.  "The great thing about Power Pack is that the book has fans of all ages," she said.  "When I’m at conventions.  I have people who come up to me with their kids saying that they read the book when they were growing up, and now their kids love Power Pack too.  It makes me feel like a granny, but it's also very gratifying."   It is also, to my mind, evidence that producing comics for kids can produce dividends for a publisher decades later, even if they’re not immediate best sellers.  Because as we all know, pre-awareness is priceless.
 
Supposedly the drawing of a mock-up of a cover by Rob Liefeld was the result of a Twitter exchange between Brian Bendis and Liefeld.  The "joke" behind it being that there would be anyone who would actually want to do see a new Millie the Model comic when of course a lot of people would.  Well, me anyway, especially if was written by Bendis and drawn by anyone other than Lefield, like, say the recently released from DC Kevin Maguire.  You could do it as either a modern day "Ultimate Millie" decompressed romance/humor/soap opera, or preferably, a "historical" set in the magic fairyland of early 1960’s New York City.
 
Seriously every once in a while I wish Marvel would remember that they’re owned by freaking Disney and invest in six issues of a new series of  Millie the Model (to quote Ferris Bueller's dad, "You know you’ve got the money, you've just got to spend the money").  Maybe it would sell like crap in the direct sales market--though I imagine the freak factor alone would make for a high tracking #1.  But that's beside the point; "publishing" is really more of a sideline for them these days; Job #1 is capitalizing on intellectual properties on multiple platforms.  And the first platform where such a comic might really perform is online as a digital download, especially if Disney provided some marketing muscle.
 
And as I’m sure you know DC apologized (see "DC Apologizes") about the whole Harley Quinn dead in a bathtub thing.  The part that interested me about the piece was other people found it objectionable for completely different reasons.  I somehow had completely missed the group statement from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and National Alliance on Mental Illness that was emailed to both The Huffington Post and USA Today.  I've said it before (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--See the Wizard") but in a world where one in six Americans suffers from some kind of mental illness maybe it's long past time comic books abandoned (or at least dial way the hell down the use of) such outdated concepts as "dangerous lunatics."
 
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.