Dear GEEKS, In these last few days of 2016 we, like so many others, are reflecting on the past year and contemplating the future. While this process has, in years past, been a generally pleasant, meditative practice, 2016 has ensured that this time, we are steeped in shock and mourning. How one would even sum up such a devastating year beyond simply recreating a litany of losses is almost beyond me. Watermark events such as the attacks in Nice, Brussels, and Istanbul, the outbreak of the Zika virus, numerous police shootings across the US, Brexit, the destruction of Aleppo and the suffering of the Syrian people, and of course the election of Donald Trump all compound to make what has felt like one of the worst years on record. That is to say nothing of the rapidly growing list of our heroes who have left us which, makes sense really, because we didn’t deserve them in the first place: Prince, Bowie, Muhammad Ali, Alan Rickman, George Michael, Carrie Fisher. So many beautiful souls that to name them all would require another page entirely. It is precisely because of this dismal and painful roundup that we are using the last days of this year to publish Kismet: Man of Fate. Inspired by heroism, commitment to justice, and unwavering love, the creators of this Kismet comic are bringing us something we have been sorely lacking in the the last twelve months: hope. Reflecting on yet another devastating event of 2016, the Orlando shootings, A. David Lewis and Noel Tuazon explore the bravery of human empathy and the courage required to love in what has become a divisive and hate-filled culture. The hope we can gain from such a comic is not of the kind which promises a fresh new dawn, this hope does not declare that 2017 will be altogether better or free from pain. Instead, the hope Kismet embodies is of a Dumbledorean nature, it ensures us that even in the darkest places, one can find glimmers of light. Dark times do indeed lie ahead, but if we can find courage, if we can act with loving bravery, we can be the lights. Sam GEEKED Editor
written anD illustrated by A. David Lewis & Noel Tuazon published by GEEKED, 2016 Cover illustration by Christopher Srnka Art edited for publication by Sofia Hericson
KISMET Man of fate
by A. David Lewis & Noel Tuazon
meet Kismet
Kismet isn’t a superhero comic: it’s about not being a superhero, only being one’s own form of hero. The genre is an intentionally messy one. It’s a modern-day action-fable that slides into semiautobiographical meditationsin Bomber on predestination The Kismet character first appeared Comics #1 (1944), and political allegory. If you want anyand simpler credited to the studio pseudonym Omar Tahan hailedan as the first explanation, you’ve come to the wrong book. Kismet recognized Muslim superhero. Only four issues of Bomber Comics is specifically to frustrate labelswith other were published, Kismetdesigned sharing the adventuresimple magazine andWonder designations. a juggling act, taking features like Boy, Dr.Kismet Grimm:isGhost Spotter, and Eagle Evans: on as much as can be thrown at it. To aim for Sky Fighter. Each issue featured Kismet fighting Nazis inorEuropean anythingultimately less isn’t fell worth audience’s time. In 2016, cities, butdeliver the character intothe the public domain. It’s Tuazon, a mysteryand for company the intellectually curious. Lewis, Noel produced the 1st Kismet story in over seventy years as part of The Broken Frontier Anthology, explaining Kismet’s final wartime mission and disappearance.
Kismet isn’t a superhero comic: it’s about not being a superhero, only being one’s own form of hero. The genre is an intentionally messy one. It’s a modern-day action-fable that slides into semi-autobiographical meditations on predestination and political allegory. If you want any simpler an explanation, you’ve come to the wrong book. Kismet is specifically designed to frustrate simple labels and designations. Kismet is a juggling act, taking on as much as can be thrown at it. To aim for or deliver anything less isn’t worth the audience’s time. It’s a mystery for the intellectually curious.
The appearance of Kismet was inspired by the great grandfather of author A. David Lewis, Abraham Dvlinsky.
Look for more of
Kismet in 2017
Follow the Kismet on twitter @kismet1944
Once, he was Khalil Qisma of Algiers. Then, empowered by forces beyond his understanding, he became
Kismet: Man of Fate!
Using his split-second glimpses of the future to fight Nazis in wartime France, Kismet performed covert missions for the Allies until his sudden disappearance from the front in 1944. Now, he’s been whisked far into his own future, thrown 70 years forward, to forge a new fate with new allies in modern-day Boston -- mysteriously transported into a world without the Nazis but threats very much its own.