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Marvel Comics Introducing a Muslim Girl Superhero
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: November 12th, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/books/marvel-comics-introd...
With most superheroes, when you take away the colorful costume, mask and cape, what you find underneath is a white man. But not always. In February, as part of a continuing effort to diversify its offerings, Marvel Comics will begin a series whose lead character, Kamala Khan, is a teenage Muslim girl living in Jersey City. No exploding planet, death of a relative or irradiated spider led to Kamalas creation. Her genesis began more mundanely, in a conversation between Sana Amanat and Steve Wacker, two editors at Marvel. I was telling him some crazy anecdote about my childhood, growing up as a Muslim-American, Ms. Amanat said. He found it hilarious. Ms. Amanat and Mr. Wacker noted the dearth of female superhero series and, even more so, of comics with cultural specificity. The creative team is braced for all possible reactions. I do expect some negativity, Ms. Amanat said, not only from people who are anti-Muslim, but people who are Muslim and might want the character portrayed in a particular light. But 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 can require rules to be broken. Ms. Wilson said the series was about the universal experience of all American teenagers, feeling kind of isolated and finding what they are. Though here, she adds, that happens through the lens of being a Muslim-American with superpowers.
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