Yusuf Abdallah is Buraaq
Comics have gotten a facelift as of recent to adjust with the times and one of the most notable changes was having Samuel L. Jackson’s likeness used as Nick Fury in the Ultimate universe. I was surprised when Hollywood chose to go with the black Nick Fury whose first appearance was in 2001 over the white Nick Fury that was introduced way back in the ’60s. So with comic book characters now coming in a variety of races such as Black, Native American, Asian and Latino, I’m left scratching my head wondering where the Arabs at?!?
Well if you haven’t been fortunate enough to see the advertisements online, you need not worry because I would like to introduce to you Buraaq dubbed as the New Muslim Superhero. You might see the name Buraaq and automatically think that this comic has something to do with US President Barack Obama but it’s just a name similarity. According to the creators Adil and Kamil Imtiaz, the name is inspired by Islamic History when Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was carried on a white winged horse, which was named Buraaq, on a miraculous journey to Heaven from Jerusalem. Adil and Kamil Imtiaz created Buraaq in order to better the relations between the West and the Muslim world.
To be honest with you, when 9/11 happened and Muslims, guilty or innocent, were targeted for crimes, Muslims also turned their anger and frustration to Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda just as much as everybody else. Mainly because Bin Laden just ruined everything for honest hard working Muslims that were already living in North America. Some Rednecks that didn’t know any better even went out as far as to shoot some “rag heads” and ended up taking the lives of Sikh Indians that had nothing to do with anything.
I say it’s time for Buraaq to storm the scene and clean up the image of Islam and Arabs and hopefully the big name comic book houses like DC and Marvel come up with their own hero, and I don’t mean some throwaway hero, I mean a real hero that can stand on his own two without the help of any other hero. I won’t spoil the story but I will tell you that the first two issues you could read for free on their website and you could buy issue 3 for $1.99. As stated above, DC has already introduced the fictional city of Bialia, which is clearly inspired by the Middle East, so why don’t they create a superhero that upholds justice, truth, and the Islamic way over there? Seems like a missed opportunity to me but at least Marvel is one step closer with the introduction of Josiah X the BLACK Captain America!
In my opinion though I think if Adil and Kamil want to make Buraaq mainstream, they should make a deal with Image Comics and have them handle their distribution. I say this because they will still retain their ownership of any characters they create and they just have to maintain a steady release schedule but they might still make Buraaq well known on their own, who knows? Make sure you check them out and hopefully you’ll add Buraaq to your favorite superhero list. This is Livin’ Large and you’ve been Largely Livin’
Livin'~Large is Largely~Livin' 