Growing up reading comics, one of my all-time favorite comics, was What If? As the comic continuously explored different roads taken and what outcomes may have been. The only thing, looking back, that I hoped they would have taken, is more controversial takes, deeper undertakings. Choices and consequence that would have broken these characters.

Another road I wish was taken, and which is of much debate, these days, considering the lackluster response to show, is Iron Fist. I wished back then, and this was before social media, that one of the writers from What If? had seen where that road would have taken the character. As the road to inclusion, can be paved with good intention, but no real roadway. One of these roads is explored in the ongoing series, Kahlil, which asked how would the world respond if Kal-El, was of a deeper melanin.

In the opening pages, something crashes from the sky, but in a desert, not a quiet town in Kansas, and by a Pakistani man, who happens to be reading Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. The reader is then taken to the White House were they discuss the controversial topic of drone operations, but with the surprise, of a superhero destroying one. What follows is the familiar scene of the farmer taking a child he found to his wife. By the end of the book Superman and Kahlil are compared and how they take different roads becomes crystal clear.

Overall, an excellent book, that flips the superhero myths on its head and challenges the reader’s perception of what superhero looks like. The story by Kumail Rizvi is relevant while entertaining. The art by Rizvi shines as bright as the story and will have him on your radar. Altogether, an exciting and important take on the superhero that should be explored more.

Story: Kumail Rizvi Art: Kumail Rizvi
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy