No Sikh Superheroes? Why not? and What can we do about it?

Religious Super-Teams scroll down to "Society of Sikh Supporting Characters"

Q. What's with all the Sikh supporting characters, but no Sikh super-heroes?

So you noticed this, too? You tell me. It's the strangest thing. Sikhism is one of twelve classical world religions. More people practice Sikhism than Judaism. Perhaps best of all (for comics), Sikhs are easy to draw and they're very visual. Sikhs have their own visually distinctive ethnicity (although non-ethnic Sikhs can convert), their style, religiously significant apparel such as bracelets and, most of all, the turban. Now, many people who aren't Sikhs wear turbans (including Muslims, Hindus, etc.) But when you couple the turban with a surname such as "Singh" or "Kaur", and there you go, instant Sikh. How difficult is that?
Apparently not too difficult, because there are scores of Sikh comic book characters. Hadji Singh (from "Johnny Quest"), Punjab (from "Little Orphan Annie"), Randu Singh (ally of Jason Blood/Demon) and Tabu Jaswinder Singh (best friend of Thunderbolt/Peter Cannon) are some of the better known Sikhs from comics. Newer Sikhs include Omar, the Escapist's assistant (from Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and the comics that came after it), Ajeet Patel (from Stormwatch: Team Achilles, and Lauren Singh (the girlfriend of new Marvel superhero Gravity).
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-youth/22784-no-sikh-superheroes-why-not-what.html
But these Sikhs are always the buddy or friend or helper. They're supporting characters. They don't get the super powers, they don't get to dress up in colorful spandex costumes. They're not superheroes themselves. Why is that?
I even thought I found a Sikh superhero: Non-Stop wears a turban and runs a convenience store in the superhero parody "Minoriteam" on Cartoon Network. But then I found out that Non-Stop worships Krishna. He's a Hindu, not a Sikh.
So even teams that go out of their way to include ethnically diverse, racially diverse and regionally diverse stereotype characters> - teams like Minoriteam, Global Guardians, Cadre of the Immortal, Young Gods... even the "Super Best Friends" from South Park... none of these have a Sikh member on the team.
You know what it is? Partially, the problem is that Sikhs don't have their own state. Their homeland is Punjab, which is a province in India. So while every "international" superhero team anywhere has a Japanese superhero who can eventually be identified as a Buddhist or Shintoist or something, nobody has a Sikh superhero because once they added the Hindu superhero from India, they figured they were done.
So Sikhs are the world's largest religion that doesn't have it's own superhero. But at least they've got all these loyal supporting characters. That's better than Baha'is or Jains have, isn't it?
Still, whenever I see the list of comic book Sikhs I always think, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride." Sorry, Sikhs.
Comic Book Religon Website FAQ
__________________________________________________ _____________





Let's get some Sikh superhero out there, people!

This thread is for those who are willing to go beyond "Santa, Banta and Trendy", and are willing to create comics, games, movies, etc on Sikh superheroes. I know our history is full of heroes but this is specifically for fictitious heroes.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=22784



In my honest opinion, I think our youth will benefit from having these Sikh Superheroes, as these heroes will constantly remind our youth of Sikh heritage.
It is possible for one to teach history through fiction, when pulled off correctly.
For example, I have been working on this character called "Sarbloh". His powers are similar to those of Colossus from X-MEN.
But by placing him in the time period of Anti-Sikh riots, I will be able to teach the reader about them (or least give the Sikh side of story). By putting him in the period of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers (where he helps rush people out of the building but then fails to make it out in time and gets crushed under the weight of the tower), I am ablw to show Sikhs in positive light. This at the same time reminds us of that event(s) which left a deep scar on our history. Since, the character was born just before 1984, I cannot show World War 1 and 2, using him but I have another character who has been through the 2 World Wars, and using flashbacks I can teach the reader about Sikhs in World Wars. It's like hitting two targets with one arrow.
Currently, I am working on a purely Sikh superhero with a completely unique set of powers and abilities. Never been seen before! (well acutally, I have showed it to some friends). I started off with a Sikh version of the X-MEN, but now I have been focusing on developing characters with unique powers. Too hard to explain what I am talking about but when I am finished with the concepts of this hero, I will paste links on this thread, for everyone to see.




So discuss ideas, form teams and bring your ideas to life! That is what this thread is all about. I am here to provide my artistic abilities(Or should I say, I am here to help you with my artistic abilities, which I gained through a series of accidents, with a final one involving gamma radiation... ).
If you have a good concept, I will be more than happy to draw out concepts of the character(s) so that others may visualize it.

 
Do share your immediate thoughts or reactions on this issue? We value your views! Login Now! or Sign Up Today! to share your views with us.. Gurfateh!

__________________
The intellect of the mind is like a drunken elephant. Whatever one utters is totally false, the most false of the false. - Guru Nanak, 351

This is another area where we need to create and celebrate. Not critique and tear down. And there is super-hero material "out there" but my intuition tells me that WE have not made next move. The next move is to celebrate in each and every venue where we have a voice.

Exactly!
If we can't "fight" in the front lines, we should at least support from the back. We can do that by funding teams/projects like "Sarbloh Warriors" and "Singh Media". Donate daswand to them rather than to gurudwara prabandak committees...(won't say anymore)

All I can add is that sometimes art imitates life and sometimes life imitates art.

I guess we pretty much have our heroes....wonder why we'd need more??

And who might these be?

Very well said!

Why, the Gurus, the sants, and the many martyrs of course! They're are heroes, the real ones...

I knew someone was going to say that!
This is why I added the following to my post. Please read the post before replying.
Thank you.