Biography:

Naif al Mutawa, a Kuwaiti psychologist with two doctorates and an MBA from Columbia, was in a London taxi with his sister when she asked if he would return to writing children's books. Wanting a project commensurate with his education, ambition and faith, he developed the idea for The 99.

He mixed his deep religious faith, business acumen and firsthand experience with other cultures -- his childhood summers were spent at a predominantly Jewish camp in New Hampshire -- to create The 99, a comic-book series about superheroes imbued with the 99 attributes of God. Along with AK Comics' Middle East Heroes, The 99 is one of the first comics to feature Middle Eastern and Arabic heroes.

Mutawa's superheroes are modern, secular and spiritual, moving seamlessly between East and West. They come from 99 countries and are split between males and females. The heroes include Darr the Afflicter, an American paraplegic named John Wheeler, who manipulates nerve endings to transmit or prevent pain. Noora the Light -- Dana Ibrahim, a university student from the United Arab Emirates -- shows people the light and dark inside themselves. Mumita the Destroyer, a ferocious fighter, is Catarina Barbarosa, a Portuguese bombshell in tight clothes.

The plot of the series, drawing on stories and history familiar to most Muslim youths, involves the great wisdom and learning that characterized the Muslim world at its apogee, when it reached from northern Pakistan to southern Spain in the late Middle Ages.

After returning from London to Kuwait, Mutawa raised $7 million -- some from his old Columbia classmates, the rest from Persian Gulf investors -- and set up the Teshkeel media group in 2004. He hired some of the best people in the industry, including writers and artists who had worked at Marvel and DC Comics. His current writing partner, Stuart Moore, is a writer on the new Iron Man comics.

In November 2006, Mutawa's first comic book hit the newsstands. Since then, his creation has gained many fans but also faced a rumble of criticism across the Muslim world. Some have disapproved of heroines' makeup and tight clothing. Others view the personification of God's attributes as blasphemous. One Kuwaiti cleric said the series promotes reliance on humans instead of God, counter to the Koran's teachings.

Details:

DOB: 1971.

Country: Kuwait

Selected works:

• The 99
• Title 2

Awards: Please enter awards here.

Website: The 99 website (comics available as downloadable PDFs).

Contact: Please enter contact details here.

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