History
Teshkeel Comics was founded by Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa while studying for his M.B.A. at Columbia Business School in 2003. In 2005, 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 African 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 Islamic 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 99's 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.
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