The 99 was created by Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa as a way to promote peace and understanding; the title refers to the 99 names of God, and the characters are envisioned as role models embodying Islamic values that are shared by other cultures. We asked comiXology CEO David Steinberger to talk to us about this new addition to the line.

Robot 6: I know you have done single-property apps before, like Scott Pilgrim, and publisher and retailer webstores, but is this the first single-property webstore?

David Steinberger: We did a Transformers dedicated Web Store a few months back, but that’s the only other one. In that case, it was starting a new relationship. For this one, it’s that this is a special property — the only one from Teshkeel — and together we determined it should be sold directly on their site.

Robot 6: Why did you feel this particular property merits its own app and webstore?

David: Everyone at comiXology thinks that what Naif and his crew at Teshkeel are trying to do with The 99 is pretty important. We really wanted to put our shoulder in to this project and give The 99 as much exposure as we could.

Robot 6: Is it available worldwide or just in North America?

David: All these books are available worldwide.

Robot 6: This is one property that would seem to have a broad appeal among people who don’t necessarily read a lot of comics. Are you doing any marketing outside the usual channels?

David: Teshkeel does a great job promoting The 99, so right now, we are focusing on getting as much content into the App as fast as we can. As that runs its course, we will certainly work with Teshkeel on new promotional opportunities. We need to figure out the right opportunities, at the right time. Our goal is to get The 99 in front of as many people as possible!

[Note: This article originally stated that the 99 was based on the 99 names of the Prophet Mohammed and was corrected on November 11.]

Wonder Woman #122

Passings | Veteran inker Mike Esposito, who teamed with childhood friend and frequent collaborator Ross Andru on such DC Comics titles as Action Comics, Wonder Woman and Metal Men, passed away Sunday at age 83. To conceal his Marvel work from DC, Esposito used the pseudonym Mickey Demeo, inking John Romita Sr. on The Amazing Spider-Man and Jack Kirby on The Hulk. Andru later joined him at Marvel on Spider-Man. [Mark Evanier]

Publishing | Kuwaiti entrepreneur Naif al-Mutawa, whose Muslim-superhero comic The 99 recently met with absurd, manufactured controversy, is profiled just as DC Comics prepares to debut a crossover with the Justice League: “It seems likely that a media firestorm is brewing. On forums last week, DC comics faced accusations of ‘Muslim pandering’ and ‘treachery,’ but that’s the salient feature of The 99, not just that they’re superheroes from four continents fighting crime wherever they find it, but that they – and Mutawa – have to fight enemies and overcome resistance from both the east and the west. ‘One of the tough things is that people always think I’m working for someone else. In America, it’s like, “Sure, they’re private investors.” Back home, they think I’m working for the Americans and here they think I’m working for some sort of Islamic agenda’.” [The Observer]

Publishing | Calvin Reid looks at upcoming changes at long-troubled e-book publisher Wowio.com. [Publishers Weekly]

Disney DigiComics

Publishing | Dario Di Zanni of Disney Publishing Worldwide discusses Disney DigiComics. [ICv2.com]

Conventions | Robert Meeks previews the second Long Beach Comic Con, which kicks off Friday at the Long Beach Convention Center. [Press-Telegram]

Retailing | Chris Randazzo, owner of Galaxy Comics Games and More in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is profiled. [Wausau Daily Herald]

Creators | Alex Robinson talks about the upcoming re-release of his 2005 graphic novel Tricked: “It’s interesting to me because I feel like Tricked has always kind of been the overlooked child of the three graphic novels I’ve done. I mean, it’s going to a third printing, so it’s not as if it bombed or anything, but with Too Cool being the most recent book and Box Office Poison kind of being the one that everyone knows, Tricked is kind of the Jan Brady of the set.” [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Creators | Inker Ray Snyder is profiled as part of a series about Macon, Georgia, as a hub for comic artists. [Macon Telegraph]

Comics | Dareh Gregorian spotlights the debut this week of Superman: Earth One, the graphic novel by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis: “In Superman: Earth One, the Man of Steel is a conflicted 20-year-old who’s trying to find his way in the world, bearing more of a resemblance to Robert Pattinson from the Twilight movies than Christopher Reeve from the Superman films.” [New York Post]

Comics | Grey Scherl looks at 10 Marvel and DC series that haven’t been collected. [Inside Pulse]

Comics | Ben Morse recommends superhero comics for beginners. [The Faster Times]

In reality, Sharia is not a by-the-books law but more of a set of social and political beliefs practiced by Muslims around the world, who differ on the details depending on where you go and who you talk to. What’s generally true across the board is that Sharia is about being culturally conservative, behaving very modestly with respect to sex and money, and practicing a high level of courtesy and reverence for one’s neighbors.

But even by this most unspecific definition of Sharia, “The 99′s” connection to Islamic law seems tenuous at best. The reality is that Superman himself operates in a way that would be very agreeable by most mainstream interpretations of Sharia, and it is with pronounced irony that conservative Americans, particularly those in favor of living life like we’re all Boy Scouts, react so hatefully towards Muslims, who are truly their allies in this regard

Khouri, who grew up in Abu Dhabi, also points out that indoctrination isn’t as easy as all that. It’s an excellent, thoughtful piece and well worth a read, even though he ends by pointing out that while the cartoon may be harmless, it also isn’t very good.

JLA/The 99 #1

More than a year ago DC Comics announced a JLA/The 99 crossover, featuring DC’s flagship team meeting up with Teshkeel Comics’ Muslim superheroes. Now DC’s The Source blog has revealed not only the cover to the first issue–hey, check out the new threads on Wonder Woman– but also the creative team and the release date. The first issue of the six-issue mini-series, by writers Stuart Moore and Fabian Nicieza with art by Tom Derenick, comes out in October.

Tintin in the Congo

Legal | A Belgian court will rule next week whether Herge’s 1931 collection Tintin in the Congo will be banned because of its depictions of native Africans. The decision, originally expected today, following a nearly three-year-old effort by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese man living in Belgium, to have the book removed from the country’s bookstores, or at least sold with warning labels as it is in Britain. [Guardian, Mail Online]

Libraries | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson reports on a C2E2 panel devoted to helping librarians deal with public challenges to graphic novels. On a related note, she also talks to Jeff Smith about a Minnesota mother’s attempt to have Bone removed from libraries in her school district. [Publishers Weekly]

San Diego Convention Center

Conventions | San Diego has sweetened the pot to keep Comic-Con International from leaving the city by offering $500,000 in hotel tax revenue over the next five years to help defray the cost of shuttling attendees to the event. The offer comes from the Tourism Marketing District, a nonprofit coalition of hotel operators, at the urging of Mayor Jerry Sanders and the San Diego Convention Center. Organizers are expected to decide within three weeks whether Comic-Con will remain in San Diego past 2012. [Union-Tribune]

Publishing | President Obama on Monday praised Kuwaiti Publisher Naif al-Mutawa for promoting international understanding of Islam with his comic series The 99: “His comic books have captured the imagination of so many young people with superheroes who embody the teachings and tolerance of Islam.” [CNN.com]

Retailing | Heidi MacDonald samples retailer opinion on digital distribution. “Our store is located under a music store, and we’ve already seen what can go wrong,” says Katie Merritt of Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. “Fighting digital delivery didn’t do the music industry any good.” [Publishers Weekly]

Retailing | Citing high rent and increased competition from chain stores, owner Ethan Peacock will close Vancouver’s seven-year-old Elfsar Comics & Toys in Vancouver on May 23. [Straight.com]

Publishing | Fantagraphics Books and Rosebud Archives have partnered to sell prints, posters, framed art and other products related to vintage comics, advertising images and illustrations. [press release]

Icon

Publishing | Ryan K. Lindsay offers an overview of Marvel’s Icon imprint. [The Weekly Crisis]

Creators | Clifford Meth provides an update on the health of artist Gene Colan. [20th Century Danny Boy]

Creators | Daniel Clowes chats about his new graphic novel Wilson: “I liked the idea of Ice Haven as this little travel book or something. I wanted it to look like a postcard. Wilson — I just wanted everything about it to be sort of easy to read. I wanted it to just have the feel of a kid’s book, almost — sort of heavy, weighty. I wanted it to feel like it could take a bullet — like you could hold it in front of your chest, and it’s like, the bullet didn’t make it all the way through! It’s really the thickest board I’ve ever seen on a book. I told Chris Oliveros at Drawn & Quarterly, ‘I want the thickest board you can get me.’ I thought, there’s something so great and strong about it. I felt like in a world where everybody is downloading books, it was saying, ‘I’m a book, damn it — deal with me’.” [Time Out New York]

Doctor Solar

Creators | Christopher Irving profiles legendary — or perhaps infamous — industry figure Jim Shooter, focusing largely on Valiant Comics and Defiant. [Graphic NYC]

Creators | Jonathan Ross talks briefly about Turf, his Image Comics series with Tommy Lee Edwards. [FEARNet]

Creators | Actor Michael Chiklis discusses Pantheon, his new miniseries with Marc Andreyko and Stephen Molnar from IDW Publishing. [USA Today]

Creators | Writer Jim McCann is interviewed about his Marvel work and his creator-owned graphic novel Return of the Dapper Men. [Creative Loafing]

Creators | Artist Chrissie Zullo chats about her covers for Vertigo’s Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love. [Major Spoilers]

Comics | Owen Vaughan rattles off 55 facts you probably already know about superhero comics and movies. [News.com.au]

The 99

DC’s The Source blog announced today that the Justice League will meet Teshkeel Comics’ The 99 in an upcoming mini-series. Fabian Nicieza, who is no stranger to either set of heroes, will write the book (CBR spoke with Nicieza about the project back in 2007). The release date and artist will be announced at a later date.

From the Source:

THE 99 team, which debuted in June 2006, was recently identified by Forbes Magazine as one of the “Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe.” Not too shabby, huh? In THE 99 — created by Naif Al-Mutawa — are a team of superheroes, including Jabbar the Powerful and Noora the Light who must collect 99 gems encrypted with the wisdom and power of the ancient Dar Al-Hikma library of Baghdad, which are spread across the globe.

They even have their own theme park, and a cartoon is in development.

The announcement comes on the same day that the BBC has posted an open letter from Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, who created The 99, to his sons. In the letter, he explains where the idea for the series came from:

Khalid, you were born in New York City, shortly after 9/11. I had already made a decision that I needed to find a way to take back Islam from its hostage takers, but I did not known how. The answer was staring me in the face. It was a simple, and as difficult, as the multiplication of 9 by 11: 99.

So, at the age of 32, I uncapped my pen to create a concept that could be popular in the East and the West. I would go back to the very sources from which others took violent and hateful messages and offer messages of tolerance and peace in their place. I would give my heroes a Trojan horse in the form of THE 99. Islam was my Helen. I wanted her back.

If you’re interested in seeing more of The 99, previous issues of the series can be downloaded for $1.99 each. There’s also a free preview of each issue if you’d like to try before you buy. There is also a free “origins” issue.