I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Arab-Muslim to join ‘Green Lantern’ comic series Associated Press Writer
DETROIT — When DC Comics decided to blow up its fabled universe and create a brave, diverse future, Geoff Johns drew from the past for a new character: his own background as an Arab-American. The company’s chief creative officer and writer of the relaunched “Green Lantern” series dreamed up Simon Baz, DC’s most prominent Arab-American superhero and the first to wear a Green Lantern ring. The character and creator share Lebanese ancestry and hail from the Detroit area, which boasts one of the largest and oldest Arab communities in the United States. “I thought a lot about it — I thought back to what was familiar to me,” Johns, 39, told The Associated Press by phone last week from Los Angeles, where he now lives. “This is such a personal story.” Baz’s story begins in a standalone “zero issue” available Wednesday that’s part of a companywide effort to fill in the gaps or tell the origins of a character or
team. Johns has no plans for Baz to fade into the background — the character in February is bound for the Justice League of America, one of DC’s premier super team books, to fight alongside Green Arrow, Catwoman and Hawkman. Johns said he took economic as well as ethnic cues for the character from his native Detroit area, with Baz resorting to stealing cars after being laid off from his automotive engineering job. He steals the wrong car, which inadvertently steers him into a terrorism probe and, eventually, an unexpected call to join the universe’s galactic police force. The olive-skinned, burly Baz hails from Dearborn, the hometown of Henry Ford and the capital of Arab America. His story begins at 10 years old, when he and the rest of his Muslim family watch
Price: Rp 3.000,-
Entertainment
WEATHER FORECAST Dps 23 - 32
e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 Prince Harry jokes about nude snaps at charity awards Page 6
their television in horror as airplanes fly into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Events unfold from there as U.S. Arabs and Muslims find themselves falling under intense suspicion and ostracism in the days, months and years following the attacks. “Obviously, it’s affecting everybody,” said Johns, who grew up in nearby suburbs in a Lebanese Christian household and got into comics when he discovered his uncle’s old collection in his Arabic grandmother’s attic. “One of the things I really wanted to show was its effect on Simon and his family in a very negative way.”
This image provided by DC Comics via Bender/Helper Impact shows the November 2012 cover of the latest Green Lantern series featuring the character Simon Baz, DC Comics most prominent ArabAmerican superhero and the first to wear a Green Lantern ring.
16 Pages Number 179 4th year
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Historical and Archaeological Heritage Page 10
A rich, good-looking and sad Ronaldo rattles Real Page 8
Major quake rocked Bali Antara/AP
DENPASAR - A major quake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale jolted Bali early on Tuesday, but no report of casualty and damage to property on the tourist island.
“I felt the tremor at 02.23 local time as I was watching the television. The tremor awoke the neighbors but it caused no panic,” Made Daya, a resident of the Grand Cori complex in Denpasar said. Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geo-
physics Agency said the eartquake that struck at 1:23 a.m. Tuesday (1823 GMT Monday) was centered beneath the Indian Ocean, but has no potential to trigger tsunami. It was centered about 300 kilometer (180 miles) southwest of Banyuangi town
Bali tourism market changes over
AP Photo/DC Comics via Bender/Helper Impact
Obama says he’s a ‘huge Clint Eastwood fan’
Bali Post
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he’s a “huge Clint Eastwood fan,” even in the aftermath of the actor’s rambling “invisible Obama” monologue at the GOP convention. Obama says in an interview with USA Today released Sunday the Academy Awardwinning Eastwood is “a great actor, and an even better director.” But Obama was coy when asked if he was offended by the performance. Eastwood talked with an imaginary Obama in an empty chair before Mitt Romney’s speech at the GOP convention, saying the president has failed to deliver on his promises. Obama says, quote, “if you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession.” The president joked on Twitter after Eastwood’s appearance, tweeting that “this seat’s AP Photo/Lynne Sladky taken,” along with a photo of Actor Clint Eastwood speaks to an empty chair while addressing delegates him in his chair at a Cabinet during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. meeting. 30, 2012.
on the eastern end of Java, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Setio Aji, an agency’s official said the earthquake was strongly felt in Bali, while residents in some East Java cities told El Shinta radio they were awakened by the tremor.
IBP/File
The photo shows tourists taking picture of Balinese women that wearing traditional Balinese clothes during a ceremonial activity in Kuta Beach. Potential markets of Bali tourism are now changing over to destination nearby their country. It is indicated by the decrease in the number of direct foreign tourist visits, namely 4.24 percent in the period of July 2012.
DENPASAR - Potential markets of Bali tourism are now changing over to destination nearby their country. It is indicated by the decrease in the number of direct foreign tourist visits, namely 4.24 percent in the period of July 2012. “The arrival of foreign tourists in July 2011 reached 283,524 people. While the arrivals in the same period of 2012 reached 271,371 people, down 4.24 percent. It happened because their destination changed over or they delayed their holiday travel,” said the Head of Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali, Gde Suarsa, in Denpasar, Monday (Sep 3). It was said the tourism markets showing a decrease in July 2012 consisted of Australia at minus 11.53 percent, France (-1.80 percent), Malaysia (-9.31 percent), UK (-1.79 percent), South Korea (-6.90 percent), the Netherlands (-6.87 percent), and Taiwan (-30.36 percent). The decrease in the number of tourism markets was covered up by a number of countries whose tourist visit increased such as China rising by 9.40 percent, Japan (3.32 percent), and Germany (12.44 percent). “So far, Australia and China remain rank first in the top ten of Bali tourism market,” he said. Continued on page 6