[Header artwork from “The Magnificent Ms. Marvel” #13, by Eduard Petrovich]
Did you know April is National Arab American Heritage Month? It’s true, you can even read President Biden’s letter recognizing the occasion here. We couldn’t help but take the opportunity to celebrate the Arab (American or otherwise) characters in the most popular genre of comics, whose numbers have slowly but surely risen in recent years, and ask: who is your favorite?
One interesting question emerged, which was whether to include certain immortal villains who predate the Arabization of Southwest Asia, and other lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In the end, we listed Black Adam, because being the ruler of the fictitious Kahndaq, he presumably speaks Arabic; in contrast, we excluded Marvel’s Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur, which means “the Morning Light” in Arabic) because he wouldn’t consider himself an Arab, or even Egyptian.
Agree? Disagree? Have we missed someone? Be sure to tell us in the comments, and to check back for the results on Monday!
