Bringing faith onto the storyboard

The lives of Mohammed Ali and Mohammad Arif Vakil are like a script straight out of a comic book — they are real estate developers in the day and comic book artists by night. The duo released their book, 40 Sufi Comics, at the Comic Con Express at the World Trade Centre at Cuffe parade on Saturday. The convention is hosted by the Indian Comic Con, which brings writers, artists, publishers and comic book enthusiasts together. 40 Sufi Comics consists of comic strips about spirituality in Islam.
The Bangalore-based siblings grew up in Dubai and went to a madrasa in the evenings where they heard stories about the benevolence of the Prophet and his disciples. This, coupled with the influence of comics on Indian culture and mythology, motivated the siblings to bring out the comic book.
It all began with a book, says Ali. "I once read How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, and it explained how drawing improves the power of observation. That's how I began practising art and realised that it could be put to good use, too."
Ali and Arif then came up with small comic strips which talked about Islamic history and traditions. "There are many misconceptions about what is taught in madrasas and what Islam is about. That's when we thought we should put this together and look at Islamic history and tradition through the art of comic books," Ali says.
Two years ago, the brothers put up some comics on their blog as an experiment and gathered visitors. Soon, many madrasas insisted that they publish the comics.
"I do the artwork and, when it comes to writing, my brother and I discuss it and come out with a script," says Ali. They put in their own money for first volume, but, soon, the response was overwhelming and the siblings now plan to come out with a second volume by next year and put out animated films online. "We are also looking at getting these comics translated in other languages, too. We recently received a request from a madrasa in Reunion Island, around Madagascar, to translate them into French," he said.