Teshkeel Comics
Encyclopedia
Teshkeel Comics is a Kuwait
i comic book
publisher
, and a division the Teshkeel Media Group, a company focused on creating, re-engineering and exploiting all forms of children's media based on or infused with localised culture in the Middle East
.
, Teshkeel had established a partnership with Marvel Comics
to publish their comic book titles in the Arabic language
to be released for audiences in the Middle East and North Africa
n regions, which are an Arab-speaking majority. On March 16, 2006, Teshkeel released their first published comic, which was an issue of The Spectacular Spider-Man
in Arabic. However, Teshkeel also made deals with DC Comics
and Archie Comics
to publish and distribute their own comic book titles in Arabic the same way.
Other than translating the mentioned American
comics, Teshkeel is also publishing an original superhero
comic book series known as The 99
. The series takes a look at the lives of individual young characters from many different cultures which reflect the diversity of the Islam
ic world. The 99 was first released in May, 2006, and then continued with a steady monthly release ever since September the same year. Teshkeel publishes The 99 in both English
and Arabic languages, but the series being released in even more languages, including Bahasa Indonesian
. The 99 is currently distributed in North America
via Diamond Comic Distributors
. North Americans get different editions of The 99 comics from their Middle Eastern counterparts, as the series features different covers and related issue numbers.
Teshkeel Comics also published a licenced children's magazine based on Cartoon Network
's characters and series. The magazine included comics, games, articles, and other things which arouses children's interests. This magazine was published in both English and Arabic.
Circa 2008, however, all forms of translated comic books from Teshkeel Comics suddenly stopped appearing without any prior warning, as even Teshkeel's main website now redirects to The 99s official website, with material totally revamped to reflect some of the actual company's image without taking too much of The 99 theme. The cause for the cease-publishing of the translated comics is currently unknown, as well as any future plans for a possible continuation. No comments either from the respective American companies whom licensed their comics and characters to be published via Teshkeel in Arabic. Possible reasons for this massive cancellation could be either the poor sales of the Arabic translations, or Teshkeel taking a greater focus on their current plans for expanding The 99 franchise with several theme parks and an animated television series. There might also be complications due to Disney
's recent acquisition of Marvel Entertainment
, Marvel Comics' parent company.
Circa 2009, the Cartoon Network magazine was abruptly cancelled as Teshkeel lost the license to a Dubai
-based children's magazines publisher.
Circa 2010, whilst Teshkeel continues to publish The 99, there had been unknown problems with the distribution of the paper comics throughout various countries, most likely due to economic stress of the time and Teshkeel's uneven practice in its publishing cycle. Regardless, consumers can still attain any newly released issues of The 99, as well as previous issues, via digital distribution at any time. At this time, Teshkeel continues to franchise The 99 by introducing theme parks in Kuwait, establishing a television series, and collaborating with DC Comics in a crossover mini-series
.
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, and a division the Teshkeel Media Group, a company focused on creating, re-engineering and exploiting all forms of children's media based on or infused with localised culture in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
History
In 20052005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....
, Teshkeel had established a partnership with Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
to publish their comic book titles in the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
to be released for audiences in the Middle East and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n regions, which are an Arab-speaking majority. On March 16, 2006, Teshkeel released their first published comic, which was an issue of The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic books and one magazine series starring Marvel Comics' Spider-Man.The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man, was extremely successful, and Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to...
in Arabic. However, Teshkeel also made deals with DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
to publish and distribute their own comic book titles in Arabic the same way.
Other than translating the mentioned American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comics, Teshkeel is also publishing an original superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comic book series known as The 99
The 99
The 99 , also written as The Ninety-Nine , is a comic book published by Teshkeel Comics, featuring a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion....
. The series takes a look at the lives of individual young characters from many different cultures which reflect the diversity of the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic world. The 99 was first released in May, 2006, and then continued with a steady monthly release ever since September the same year. Teshkeel publishes The 99 in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Arabic languages, but the series being released in even more languages, including Bahasa Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
. The 99 is currently distributed in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
via Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
. North Americans get different editions of The 99 comics from their Middle Eastern counterparts, as the series features different covers and related issue numbers.
Teshkeel Comics also published a licenced children's magazine based on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network Studios
Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio. A subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System , Cartoon Network Studios focuses on producing and developing animated programs only for and related to Cartoon Network...
's characters and series. The magazine included comics, games, articles, and other things which arouses children's interests. This magazine was published in both English and Arabic.
Circa 2008, however, all forms of translated comic books from Teshkeel Comics suddenly stopped appearing without any prior warning, as even Teshkeel's main website now redirects to The 99s official website, with material totally revamped to reflect some of the actual company's image without taking too much of The 99 theme. The cause for the cease-publishing of the translated comics is currently unknown, as well as any future plans for a possible continuation. No comments either from the respective American companies whom licensed their comics and characters to be published via Teshkeel in Arabic. Possible reasons for this massive cancellation could be either the poor sales of the Arabic translations, or Teshkeel taking a greater focus on their current plans for expanding The 99 franchise with several theme parks and an animated television series. There might also be complications due to Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's recent acquisition of Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....
, Marvel Comics' parent company.
Circa 2009, the Cartoon Network magazine was abruptly cancelled as Teshkeel lost the license to a Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
-based children's magazines publisher.
Circa 2010, whilst Teshkeel continues to publish The 99, there had been unknown problems with the distribution of the paper comics throughout various countries, most likely due to economic stress of the time and Teshkeel's uneven practice in its publishing cycle. Regardless, consumers can still attain any newly released issues of The 99, as well as previous issues, via digital distribution at any time. At this time, Teshkeel continues to franchise The 99 by introducing theme parks in Kuwait, establishing a television series, and collaborating with DC Comics in a crossover mini-series
JLA/The 99
JLA/The 99 is an American comic book limited series and intercompany crossover between DC Comics and Teshkeel Comics. The series chronicled a meeting between the superheroes of DC Comics' Justice League of America and Teshkeel Comics' The 99...
.
Licensed titles (All defunct)
- ArchieArchie Andrews (comics)Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...
(Arabic only) - Archie and Friends (Arabic only)
- The Batman AdventuresThe Batman AdventuresThe Batman Adventures was a DC Comics comic book series featuring Batman. It is different from other Batman titles in that it is set in the continuity of Batman: The Animated Series as opposed to the regular DC Universe.-Overview:...
(Arabic only; based on Volume 2) - Cartoon Network Magazine (Arabic and English)
- HulkHulk (comics)The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
(Arabic only; based on the 2000 series) - Marvel (Arabic only; umbrella title for various stories of miscellaneous Marvel characters, such as Fantastic FourFantastic FourThe Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
) - The Spectacular Spider-ManThe Spectacular Spider-ManThe Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic books and one magazine series starring Marvel Comics' Spider-Man.The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man, was extremely successful, and Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to...
(Arabic only) - Superman AdventuresSuperman AdventuresSuperman Adventures is a DC Comics comic book series featuring Superman. It is different from other Superman titles in that it is set in the continuity of Superman: The Animated Series as opposed to the regular DC Universe. It ran for 66 issues between 1996 and 2002...
(Arabic only) - Ultimate Spider-ManUltimate Spider-ManUltimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
(Arabic only) - Ultimate X-MenUltimate X-MenUltimate X-Men is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
(Arabic only)
External links
- Teshkeel Comics at the Comic Book DB
- Unicorn joins Teshkeel to fund comic publisher, Gulf NewsGulf NewsGulf News is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates with a December 2009 BPA audited circulation of over 117,036 qualified copies...
, September 28, 2006 - Comics to Battle for Truth, Justice and the Islamic Way, New York Times, January 22, 2006
- Can Comics Change the Arab World?, The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
, February 15, 2007 - Teshkeel in India - Comicology