Comics scholar A. David Lewis (@adlewis) recently co-edited the new book "Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation," which explores the history of Muslim characters in the comic book genre.

Lewis joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss the book, and his work with the nonprofit NuDay Syria to distribute Arabic-language comic books to Syrian refugee children.

Interview Highlights

On the history of Muslim superheroes in comic books

"There have been many, going as far back as our research finds to 1944, a character who's dear to me, Kismet, Man of Fate, first appeared in Bomber Comics, No. 1 in 1944. He has slight, small premonitions of the future, and he uses that to fight Nazis in wartime France.

"This is your good Muslim, and you get the sense that absolutely no Muslims were involved in the writing or illustrating of this character, not surprising, this was 1940s New York. One of the things that comes out in the 'Muslim Superheroes' book is how often Muslim characters reflect either anxieties or viewpoints held by the U.S. population at large. Many times it's written by non-Muslims — sometimes not, we have notable exceptions that are worth examining. But when we use this genre, the superhero genre, to reflect and amplify — and sometimes simplify — what the national thinking is, what our engagement with other peoples are, it's a useful lens, and the point of this book was to sort of bring together — with a scholarly eye, but an easy-to-read scholarly eye — what's been done thus far."

On the superhero genre's role

"One thing that I've always loved about the superhero genre in comics is that it really has been an immigrant's genre. We have Superman from another planet, we have Wonder Woman from her paradise island, we have aliens, we have sorcerers, and they all seem to come together in a sense of unity, in a sense of shared space. Yes, this is a great space and a great place for Muslims, and for Arabs — particularly if they're seen as other — to display non-otherness, to display a sense of shared humanity."