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The Comic Book Arab
“SILENCE, Capitalist tool” booms the terrorist. “I am the FIST OF ALLAH—I will do the SPEAKING! The ANGELS OF ALLAH have seized this American warship. Its crewmen are our PRISONERS...prisoners in the war to UNITE the Arab brotherhood against the HEATHEN WORLD!" The Fist of God goes on to say that they have taken over the ship to prevent the American authorities from attempting to recover the Quracan Minister of Defense, whose “nation’s independent acts of violence are the greatest barrier to [Arab] unity.” The problem the terrorists find with the Quracan minister is not that he is violent, but that his acts of violence are not coordinated with that of the rest of the Arabs. As Superman considers his options, the ship’s captain warns: “They’re SERIOUS Superman. They’ve rigged the NUCLEAR REACTORS to explode!” The captain goes on to explain that while this could not trigger a nuclear blast, a radioactive cloud would form and spread “all over the Eastern Seaboard.” Superman attempts to reason with the faceless, armored terrorist: “You’d be DOOMING THOUSANDS of innocent people to lingering, PAINFUL deaths.” Answers the terrorist: “NO American is innocent!” At that moment, Checkmate bursts on the scene, taking the Fist of Allah and his black-clad Angels by surprise. In moments, the two superheros have disposed of the threat. Metropolis and the entire Eastern Seaboard are safe for another day. At comic’s end, Checkmate escorts the Quracan defense minister to his private plane. The superhero eyes him with distaste and says: “There he goes—the man RESPONSIBLE for God knows how many deaths...SCOT-FREE!” He is angry that, for political reasons, the minister cannot be disposed of in America. But Checkmate and his companions have an answer for that. Says one: “HAH! That towel-headed bozo will never know what hit him!” As the Minister’s plane passes over international waters, Checkmate pushes a button and the jet explodes, the sheikh CA-REEMED. This seems to have been the point of the entire comic book: to ca-reem Ali, to ca-reem the Arabs, to defame and degrade our image of them. To the imagemaker, it seems perfectly acceptable (even praiseworthy) to blow up a plane with Arabs but a heinous act of terror to slay other racial or ethnic groups in a similar fashion. A double standard? You bet. ARAB AS SINISTER SHEIKH With his dark sunglasses, white headdress and fierce beard, the sheikhs of comic book lore vary little in the malevolence of their aspiration to world domination. Sheikh Ahmed Azis of Moon Knight “Fist of Khonshu” (Marvel Comics,# 1, Alan Zelenetz, 1985) is a model example. The sheikh, who first appears in long flowing robes and sandals, is a Kuwaiti megalomaniac obsessed with restoring Egypt’s ancient empire. “Soon ANUBIS THE JACKAL shall reign as pharaoh supreme...And all the world shall bow to me—or die,” he states, as maidens place the golden head of Anubis on his head. To save the world from the sheikh, Mark Spector, a red headed American who was once the superhero Moon Knight, must recover the magical statue of Khonshu, the ancient Egyptian god of the moon and guardian of mankind. It is Khonshu’s spirit which saved Spector many years before when he was stranded in the desert. Now Mark returns to Egypt where the priests rebuke him for allowing the statue of Khonshu to fall into “evil hands” and charge him with the task of recovering it. When Spector protests that he is through with being a superhero, the leader of the priests delivers a rousing monologue: “One man can set example for eternity. One man can kindle hope in ten thousand hearts.” Finally, Mark Spector agrees to resume his role as Moon Knight. In thanks, the ancient Egyptian priests give him several powerful gifts to aid him in his quest, including a golden ankh. Upon leaving, Spector is waylaid by Arab assassins on camels. Apparently unfamiliar with the use of firearms, the Arabs launch spears, but miss. On the desert floor and weaponless, Spector is jumped by an Arab with a dagger in each hand. Spector out-duels the assassin and demands information. Preferring death over dishonor, the Arab swallows a poison capsule. Despite this setback, Spector soon learns of the location of his nemesis and makes his way to the sheikh’s palace, where he is forthwith captured and mummified. Death appears imminent. But then the full moon rises and the spirit of the ancient Egyptian god Khonshu fills the Moon Knight with power. With the aid of a giant sandstorm, the hero vanquishes the evil sheikh. The comic book ends with the Moon Knight standing alone in the desert, the moon high and full above his head, the ankh glowing golden upon the chest of his costume “...I guess for the time being, Khonshu...I owe you one.” he says. What is perhaps most interesting about the comic is that despite the fact that the American hero derives his power from an ancient Egyptian god, there is not a single good Arab in the entire comic book. Indeed, every Arab portrayed is evil, from the megalomaniacal sheikh to his personal servant (who, at one point, assassinates a rich American businessman with poison gas), to the Arab thugs who attack Spector in the desert. Remarkably, the ancient Egyptian priests do not appear Arab. Their skin is white, their eyes are blue, and their garb decidedly un-Egyptian. No wonder Khonshu sought “a mortal of the West” to carry out his battles. In the world of comic books, one is about as likely to find a good Arab as the camel is to pass through the eye of a needle.
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