We have so many superheroes across the world, from Batman, Spiderman to Superman and Captain America all created nearly 50 years back. Ever imagined to see a hero in a turban for a change?
Well, meet the world’s newest action hero, Secret Agent Deep Singh aka Super Sikh. A story where justice wins, bullies lose and there is fuel for the combustible imagination. At night, he’s undercover, on missions destroying the plans of evil villains. By day, he’s working a mundane technology job as a cover. Quite frankly, he’s exhausted. Deep Singh decides it’s time to take his dream vacation to see Elvis Presley’s Graceland. However, one particularly crazy gang of Taliban terrorists decide to make it their mission to follow him to the United States and get rid of him once and for all.
Super Sikh, is a collaboration between Supreet Singh Manchanda, Silicon Valley executive and the chairman of Sikhnet, and Bay Area comic book and screenplay writer Eileen Alden.
The creators of this comic turned to Kickstarter, a global crowd funding platform based in the United States, to bring this story to life. Their initial goal was to collect a fund of $5,000 in a month and with god’s grace they have managed to collect $8,186 so far. It’s rare to see an Indian action hero in a comic book, especially one of the Sikh religions. Sikhism has 20 million followers worldwide, and is no way connected to Islamic extremism, yet Sikhs are often the subject of negative stereotyping and hate crimes. Super Sikh will fill a void by creating a new positive narrative and a modern role model for Sikh youth.
Manchanda saw the need for the Sikh action hero for years. “Growing up, I had great fun reading comics but there were never any examples of leading modern Sikh characters to fuel my imagination. Sikhs have always been the defenders of equality, justice and the oppressed, regardless of gender, caste, or creed,” said Manchanda in a statement.
Eileen Alden, who joined Manchanda to write the story, added: “Sikhism is often misunderstood in the West, so this comic project was a natural way for me to use my passion for writing fun unique stories. Fiction is a great way to open communities and create dialogue.”
Super Sikh’s story is told through the award winning artwork of Indian artist Amit Tayal, who is known for his illustrations from Campfire graphic novels and has won Comic-con India awards in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
The Super Sikh Kickstarter campaign launched 5 January and was fully funded in a little over 24 hours. It will continue to run through 4 February to meet other stretch goals. Backers can receive advance copies of the comic, special editions, t-shirts, and more.