The 99: Origins

    (Teshkeel, 2007)
™ and © Teshkeel

When the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan destroyed the city of Baghdad in 1258 his army threw the collected works of the city’s famous library into the Tigris River. But the Caliph devised a plan to preserve the library’s wealth of knowledge. Prior to the invasion of the Mongols, the librarians prepared an alchemical solution that would distill the essence of the tomes into 99 gemstones. These gemstones, when dipped into the ink-saturated Tigris River absorbed the knowledge of the beloved library.

Many years later the librarians constructed a fortress of knowledge and placed the gemstones in its ornate dome. When sunlight struck the dome, the gems displayed the collected knowledge of the long-destroyed library. The fortress became a center of learning with a cadre of guardians pledged to protect the secret of the gemstones. Eventually one of the guardians, Rughal, became determined to possess the power of the gemstones. He submerged himself in the alchemical solution during the light of an eclipse with disastrous results. The fortress exploded scattering the gemstones to the four winds.

Centuries later the remnants of these stones, by design or circumstance, have endowed various individuals with amazing abilities. These individuals are the 99.

Published by Teshkeel Media Group, The 99 is a comic, proclaimed to be the first, that is based Islamic culture and history. Not all the characters are Middle Eastern but each of the character’s powers is intended to reflect the 99 attributes of Allah.

— George Haberberger
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#1

January, 2007
Cover Price: $0.00
2 copies available from $10.00 		Naif Al-Mutawa, Fabian Nicieza, Nabeel MohanJohn McCrea, Jason Dennis
Ashcan #1

January, 2007
Cover Price: $0.00
2 copies available from $6.00 		Naif Al-Mutawa, Fabian Nicieza, Nabeel MohanJohn McCrea, Jason Dennis