Nasarudin

Nasarudin, the Laughing Sufi

PL: 11

Alternate Identities: Ali Alsadi (Golden Age), Abdallah Al-Kurbi (Silver Age)

Identity: Secret

Base of Operations: None

First Apperance: THRILLING COMICS, January 1940 (Golden Age), MYSTERY COMICS April 1960 (Silver Age)

Gender: Male

Age: Early Thirties

Group Affiliations: Allied Justice, Justice International

Abilities

Strength 14 (+2), Dexterity 22 (+6), Constitution 12 (+1), Intelligence 10 (+0), Wisdom 16 (+3), Charisma 16 (+3)

Saving Throws

Toughness +11 (+1 Con, +10 Defensive Roll), Fortitude +4 (+1 Con, +3 Base), Reflex +8 (+6 Dex, +2 Base), Will +4 (+3 Wis, +1 Base)

Defense 21 (+11 Base)

Initiative +6 (Dex)

Base Attack Bonus: +11

Powers

Leap 4 (Maximum Distance 120 ft.)

Mind Control 11: One Command- Laugh, Sense Dependent- Sound, Nasarudin has an infectious laugh that he can use to provoke others into uncontrollable hysterics.

Super Speed 2: Wall Run, Rapid Attack

Feats

Move-By Attack, Instant Up, Improved Disarm, Defensive Roll 10, Taunt, Grappling Finesse, Elusive Target, Evasion, Distract (Bluff), Hide in Plain Sight, Uncanny Dodge, Teamwork 2

Skills

Bluff +19 (+3 Cha, 16 Ranks); Escape Artist +22 (+6 Dex, 16 Ranks); Stealth +22 (+6 Dex, 16 Ranks); Disable Device +22 (+6 Dex, 16 Ranks); Sleight of Hand +22 (+6 Dex, 16 Ranks); Gather Information +19 (+3 Cha, 16 Ranks); Acrobatics +22 (+6 Dex, 16 Ranks); Diplomacy +19 (+3 Cha, 16 Ranks); Climb +17 (+1 Str, 16 Ranks)

Complications

Distrusts Authority

Pacifism- Though almost all the heroes of the Star Comics Universe have a code against killing, Nasarudin's is much stricter than others. He will refrain from drawing blood, preferring to use his infectious laugh or, if pushed, quick punches designed to do no more than knock an enemy silly. If he ever were to kill an enemy, even by accident, he would give up his career.

Background

For centuries the small Middle Eastern country of Uram has been ruled by a line of cruel despots. The theocratic government has historically been hard on the country's Sufi minority, treating them as second-class citizens. Ali Alsadi was the lowest of the low, a street urchin driven to stealing, who was then approached by the spirit of the legendary Sufi Mullah Nasarudin. Nasarudin bestowed his essence on the young man, so long as he used those powers to help the oppressed and work against the corrupt sheik. Alsadi took the name of his legendary spirit guide, and became a masked crusader battling tyranny and oppression across the world.

Many years later, rule of Uram passed from the Sheik to corrupt cleric Zuhair Rashed, and Nasarudin, trapped with the other members of Allied Justice in a parallel dimension, had vanished. A young Sufi activist named Abdallah al-Kurbi was captured by the government and made to be the subject of several experiments designed to breed loyal, hard-working, unquestioning subjects. Something in the serums he was given backfired, and during a brainwashing session, al-Kurbi began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Soon the guards and scientists were also laughing uncontrollably, and given super reflexes, al-Kurbi escaped from his prison. He adopted the role of Nasarudin in order to provoke and upstage the government, and began turning his attention to other kinds of oppression taking place across the world.

Personality

Both incarnations of Nasarudin are known for their good humor and general fun-loving attitude. Though they battle evil out of a sense of moral obligation, this does not prevent them from enjoying the thrills of the job. They are optimistic; though they have struggled long to make Uram a better place, they have faith that justice and freedom will prevail in the end.

One area in which the Silver Age Nasarudin differs from his Golden Age predecessor is that he takes a much sharper interest in social and economic injustice, and is passionate about getting people- including his fellow heroes- involved in solving these problems.

Appearance

Nasarudin is a handsome Arabic man with a thin mustache, a turban and a blue domino mask. He has a thin, athletic build, and is of medium height. The Silver Age Nasarudin wears a red open-chested shirt, a blue cloth belt and red pants; the Golden Age incarnation wears no shirt.

Publishing History

Joel Gregory, Nasarudin's creator, was a young writer/illustrator for Star Comics with an interest in Middle Eastern culture, and Sufism in particular. (Gregory, an agnostic, never professed to follow Sufism, but he had a great admiration for the sect's philosophies.) This was playing in his mind when he wanted to create a "Thief of Baghdad-type" character for THRILLING COMICS, and eventually the idea mutated so that the hero became Sufi icon Nasarudin himself, or rather a modern-day version of him. (Gregory took care to make the character less violent and more playful than other crimefighting heroes, with the Laughing Sufi never killing or being overly rough.) Gregory's atmospheric art and playful storylines proved popular, though editorial quickly moved the character's adventures to MYSTERY COMICS as talent was shuffled. Gregory was drafted in 1942 and went off to serve as a combat photographer, while Hal Rogers and Ed Ross signed on as ghostwriters for the interim. Gregory returned in 1946 a man shaken by the horrors of war, and on returning to the feature, moved it even further away from the standard action format, creating light comic fantasies that imparted gentle morals without devolving into treacle. Comics aficionados have pointed to the postwar run as one of the finest runs of any non-creator-owned comic, and it stayed far enough away from superhero clichés to keep the character viable when the genre had gone out of fashion. However, in 1951, MYSTERY COMICS moved to emulate the EC comics model, and the incongruous Nasarudin was retired. (Gregory began writing for smaller companies and by the Sixties had staked an early claim in the underground comics movement.)

In 1960, writer George Johns of the recently cancelled SIX SHOOTER COMICS was offered a new job writing a backup feature for MYSTERY, which ended up being the revival of Nasarudin. Johns came up with a more contemporary origin for the character, but as an admirer of Gregory's work, stayed true to the hero's personality and code of honor. The new Nasarudin was drawn once again by Ed Ross. The character was a modest success at first, not being heavily promoted, but his star quickly rose when he became a member of JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL in that title's debut. For the rest of the decade, Nasarudin was a major feature in MYSTERY and eventually took over the cover.

The character's popularity dropped when Johns moved off the book in 1972, with Ross moving to fill in. In 1974 Nasarudin was dropped from MYSTERY, which focused back on Professor Hawk, but the company had other plans for the character. For a brief run, Nasarudin appeared with Captain Invincible in the latter's title, helping the Man of Magnet recover from an alcohol problem and general despondence caused by his disillusionment with the corrupt US government (a storyline evoking both the Watergate scandal and Star's own internal upheaval). The two spent the rest of 1974 and all of 1975 travelling around the country dealing with smaller, more relevant social problems, until the new Editor-In-Chief ordered Invincible to return to the status quo. Nasarudin was then seen only in the pages of JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL, and as a major shock event for the summer of 1976, the Laughing Sufi allowed himself to be killed rather than take the life of his foe Hashashin. (Ironically, starting that year, the Golden Age Nasarudin was featured in the new Allied Justice title.)

The Silver Age Nasarudin was resurrected in November 1981, again in JI. The character was rebooted once more with the general reset of the Star Comics Universe following THE END OF TIME in 1983, and though the members of Allied Justice perished in that legendary event, when Nasarudin finally gained his own title in 1987, Ali Asadil emerged as Nasarudin's mentor, an old Sufi mystic teaching him the wisdom of the original Nasarudin. NASARUDIN remains in print.