Jamal Igle talks about his journey, the creation of Molly Danger, and the challenges within the comic industry

Jamal Igle
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“What really got me into comics was movies. My grandfather took me to watch the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie, and I absolutely fell in love with Superman as a character,” says writer Illustrator Jamal Igle. 

Jamal is the recipient of the 2011 Inkpot Award for outstanding achievement in Comic Art. As the writer-artist-creator of Molly Danger for Action Lab Entertainment, he is also known for his art in DC comics’ Supergirl, and for contributing to Green Lantern Corps, Firestorm, Nightwing, and Teen Titans. 

Metro Plus caught up with Jamal who was recently in the city to interact with his fans at the 12^th Bengaluru Comic Con.  

Born and brought up in New York City, Jamal credits his mother and the city for his illustrious career. “My mother was always encouraging about my passion for comics and being raised in New York City where DC and Marvel were both making comics, it didn’t really feel like an impossible dream.”  

In school, Jamal was found either drawing or making little comics with his friends, “I would always get into trouble for climbing underneath the desk to draw during classes, and eventually get caught by the teacher.”

At the age of 14, Jamal joined the High School of Art and Design, to further his dreams. “That was the time I realised I could make a living out of it. It wasn’t always a linear path — I tried my hand at acting and marketing, but it always came down to comics somehow,” says Jamal. 

Dumas Legacy
| Photo Credit:
Jamal Igle

Molly Danger

Jamal walked us through the idea behind his most celebrated work Molly Danger, a comic book series about a 10-year-old superhero girl who protects the fictional city of Coopersville. Jamal served as writer and artist for the series. “Molly happened in 2003 and initially, it was an idea for animation because that was when shows such as Kim Possible and The Life and Time of Juniper Lee came out. My friend and I were kicking around an idea for our version of this type of show and the name Molly Danger came up.”  

However, Jamal agrees that the biggest influence on Molly came after he did his Supergirl run. “I worked on Supergirl for two years during which I had spoken to women who were comic book readers and almost all of them said they were looking for women superhero characters who weren’t attached to a male hero, as traditionally portrayed. That was when I decided to make Molly a 10-year-old superhero girl”  

Building a character comes with well-thought-out research that takes time. “I tend to be methodical; employing a lot of research and pre-planning for whatever project I am working on. We also need to keep in mind that whatever we create cannot be 100% original because we all draw from the same legends, myths and creative pull. So, you just try to find new things to add to that.” 

From his comic strip.
| Photo Credit:
Jamal Igle

All for one

As in any other field, the comic industry is also fighting a silent battle for inclusivity. “Even though we are in 2025, everybody is fighting to have their voice heard, to see reflections of themselves in the media they consume. However, when people do speak up, they are labelled as being woke which I find ridiculous.” 

“Western comics are all about white guys as superheroes. Even when big houses such as Marvel and DC try to bring some kind of diversity into their mainstream superhero lines, it is usually met with a lot of hate and derision,” added Jamal. 

Jamal talks about how meeting international fans opens up new perspectives, “Sometimes the fans aren’t familiar with the characters or if they are, they draw references mostly from TV or movies and not necessarily from the comics book themselves, so its always interesting to get their opinion. You also get to see their take on comics and the kind of stories that they are reading to create new characters, heroes and villains.”

Ask Jamal about his favourite project so far and the list is never ending, “I usually hate to answer this question because I feel whatever I am working on becomes my favourite. I will always be proud of my Supergirl run for DC, The Wrong Earth, and Molly Dangers — all of these are like my babies.”