First issue of desi comic book that grabbed twitteratis' imagination is now in print

Title – The Long Lost Brothers

Created by - Umair Najeeb Khan

Co-written by - Iman Sultan

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of months, you probably know about Paak Legion — a group of 12 superheroes hailing from different parts and ethnicities of the country.

The first issue, titled ‘The Long Lost Brothers’, introduces the first two superheroes of the series. No prizes for guesses: the two are brothers Shahvez and Shanawaz — twins who were separated at birth and raised in completely different households and environments.

The first issue establishes an origin story for the two brothers, who call themselves “Raad” (thunder).

Without giving out any spoilers, let me just say the level of detail is simply amazing. There's a particularly relatable panel with a superhero on the roads of Pindi reading from a list of groceries (I mean, even heroes have to get bread and eggs).

The story is written well and coherent, but it does feel stingy and left me craving more. The excitement and anticipation I felt cracking open the comic book, hoping to be immersed in a superhero story centred in our experiences, remained largely unsatisfied, and I really wish there were more words to go along with the graphics.

The majority of the story has been told in the form of captions, which, for non-comic readers, are words which appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel, giving the voice to a narrator.

There is limited use of balloons, ergo there is less of the characters' own voices and opinions for us. This is a shame because Shahvez and Shanawaz might have had some really interesting lines to throw at us.

The colour palette chosen by the graphic artist does wonders, as it balances the story of the two brothers, showcasing their different personalities. We get to see both a lighter and darker tone throughout the pages as the story builds up.

All said and done, the first issue is solid and I can’t wait to see what Marvi — the school teacher from Sukkur, slated to be revealed in the next issue — has in store for us.

'Characters rooted in the Pakistani experience'

Iman Sultan, who co-wrote Paak Legion with series creator Umair Najeeb Khan, says she fell in love with Khan’s art.

“It's like his art and his characters were telling us to be proud of the country we come from and its different areas, instead of trying to be more Western or copying something else," she recalled.

"Umair and I just started DM-ing on Twitter and then he approached me to help him out with the writing. And I accepted, super excited,” Iman told me.

“Right now, we're just introducing the characters, but we really will have the plot thicken to a conventional superhero vs super villain arc in the future,” she promised.

“I am really excited to do this because it means we will be fully immersed in the story and at the edge of our seats. I'm really excited to see how readers engage with this as well.”

Speaking about character development, Iman said the characters developed naturally for her.

Meet Paak Legion: Our very own group of Pakistani superheroes

“When Umair and I spoke and brainstormed ideas, we had things in mind for each character's personality, back story and other things. As we talked to each other, those ideas became more dynamic. The characters grew from our conversations and sharing of ideas. They are mostly, at the end of the day, not just rooted in our experiences but also in how we see Pakistan and the people in it.”

“We weren't interested in making things very political or oriented around social issues, but more in just showing the characters as realistically as possible in the society where they live. And how that society affects and shapes them, just like it does all of us. Except they have superpowers,” she explained.

But just writing the characters was not enough: connecting them with the average Joe (or Jahanzaib) was a priority for the creators.

“I think the characters connect very easily with the average Pakistani because you have young and old, boy, girl and women, Punjabi, Pashtun and Baloch... We have characters that are totally rooted in where they come from,” said Iman.

“We really want to show people as they are, as much as we can in a superhero comic book. Shahvez, our character from Islamabad, is what people would call a 'burger'. We are writing this series based on the society we live in, but we want some superpowers and fantasy elements thrown in. It is basically a depiction of what real life would look like if we had people among us with these superpowers," she said.

Paak Legion’s second issue releases in March.