General Portrayal

As Iran in particular and the Islamic countries in general are one of the biggest demographics of the world that do not produce many of their own comics, most comic appearances of Iran are inherently tied to the Western perspective.

Earliest Published Appearances

The final Iranian monarchy in a long line of empires was the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979), which coincidentally began around the timeframe that comic books were first coming into their own. Though Iran did appear or was referenced in comics published contemporarily to this timeframe, it was very few and often included references to historical periods of the distant past moreso than contemporary Iran. Iran of this time when it was portrayed was seemingly most closely associated with oil.

1979 and Beyond

After the Iranian revolution, portrayals of Iran increased significantly over the decades but the most common theme became commentary on the political situation. In the 80's DC published a G.I. Combat story where the American military is sent secretly into Iran to stop terrorists who they find have taken over an oil refinery. Another DC publication of the decade a few years later (Blue Beetle) depicted Tehran as a city that had become a living ruin of itself. In the late 80's Dracula 2199 story, Iran was portrayed negatively as the one place that had not abandoned religion for science.

During the War on Terror era, comics about the Middle East became much more common but the major emphasis was on Iraq with only limited examples of a similar story range featuring Iran in the storyline such as Squadron Supreme or Terror, Inc. - Apocalypse Soon. In Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates, Iran achieving democracy is portrayed as a happy accident of American political interests, that happens almost exclusively offscreen throughout the miniseries due to American superheroes almost starting a war with the country.

As it became more common for comics to portray groups of characters from around the world, there have been a number of Iranian characters who are pulled from the country to take part in a storyline (such as in Unfollow or Aquaman and The Others) but these appearances do not generally spend much time in Iran itself.

Outside of relatively common portrayals of Iran in its historical forms, contemporary Iran sometimes appears as a place of archaelogical or mystical interest due to what exists there beneath the surface such as the city of Itsa Faka in the Carl Barks' Donald Duck story or the Garden of Eden in Hellblazer.

Chronology

Although it is not an especially common setting compared to contemporary ancient civilizations, Iran has appeared in various comics throughout its more historical periods.

Antiquity (Pre-550 BCE)

There's less of a historical precursor to modern Iran before this time period but parts of modern Iran were within the southwestern border of ancient Mesopotamia (today more closely tied to Iraq). Elam, which was its own distinct empire from Mesopotamia, is the specifically Iranian focused region of this ancient period but little of it is explicitly known from history and it is much less likely to be depicted in media compared to Mesopotamia. Ancient Persia depicts an imagined form of this Elamite empire from around 3000 BCE through the fake city of Itsa Faka.

Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE)

Biblical adaptations like The Kingstone Bible will most commonly reference this period due to its founding ruler Cyrus the Great being seen as a great hero. As he led Iran into its first great empire, he also allowed the Second Temple period of Judaism due to overthrowing their Babylonian captors and allowing them to rebuild after the Exile.

About seventy years into this period is the Battle of Thermopylae, most famously depicted in the 300 comic, but the Persians are represented as an invading force so the story's setting is focused on Greece.

Seleucid Empire (330-200's BCE)

Depictions of Alexander's conquests that greatly expanded the Macedonian empire and took control of Persia kick off this period but due to his early death, his empire was almost instantly splintered off into factions with the Seleucid's being the faction that remained in power in Persia, until they were overthrown by the Parthians in Iran (although the Seleucid's continued to control other territories).

Parthian Empire (200's BCE-200's CE)

Currently, there are no known comic book touchpoints for this period.

Sasanian Empire (200's-600's CE)

The classic Scheherazade framing story of Arabian Nights features her telling stories to a fictional King of the Sasanian Empire. Comic depictions of these tales rarely explicitly clarify where they think the stories are taking place in the present but when they do they can erroneously be set both inside or outside Iran when compared to the original.

Muslim Conquest (600's-1000's CE)

アルスラーン戦記 is set in an intentionally unique world with a mix of slightly modified and completely original place names, but the setting is most closely based off this period of Iran.

Similarly, the Prince of Persia franchise including Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm is believed to be set in this time period but it is not explicitly defined.

Seljuk Empire (1000's-1100's CE)

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age implies Ra's al Ghul to have been the historical Hassan-i Sabbah of Alamut.

Mongol Conquests (1200's-1400's CE)

天幕のジャードゥーガル takes place in the wake of the Mongol invasion of Iran.

Marco Polo's travels through Iran (and much of Asia) have been depicted in comics including a brief appearance of Iran itself in the first issue of Action Comics.

Safavid and Qajar Empires (1500's-1925 CE)

Currently, there are no known comic book touchpoints for this period.

Modern Era (1925 CE-Present)

The Tehran Conference of 1943 (spelled Teheran in the comic itself); when Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met in occupied Iran during WWII was portrayed in an issue of Sgt. Fury. In it, a Nazi assassin is sent to kill the three leaders but is foiled by the Howling Commandos.

The CIA/M16-backed coup d'état of 1953 is alluded to in Ennis' Unknown Soldier when the US sends in the Unknown Soldier to threaten the Shah that the US "will bomb Iran back into desert" if he doesn't take back control of the country from Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had nationalized Iran's oil and was not cooperative with British and American interests. The Unknown Soldier demands the Shah follow America's orders one hundred percent and when asked what gives him the right, the Unknown Soldier responds that he has "the moral right".

Persepolis is an autobiographical comic from an author born in Iran and she alludes to its 2,500 year history that was taught to her by her father. The comic begins with the Iranian revolution of 1979 which led to the current government of Iran, although the author was only a child at the time. The story focuses on her growing up through these changes rather than the event itself.

Ayatollah Khomeini appointed Joker the Iranian U.N. Ambassador in the infamous A Death in the Family arc.

At the height of the War on Terror era of the United States government, Squadron Supreme were sent in as a brutal military force to subdue Iran.

Alternate Future

In Warren Ellis' Supergod Iran creates the god Malak Al-Maut who then destroys Tehran and beelines for Pakistan to fight India's Krishna.

In Dracula 2199, one of the stories in the Blood of Dracula anthology, the land of Iran has become known as Al-Wútin Al Ákher and is where Dracula awakes.

Sub-Locations

Real-World Locations

• Persepolis: A historical capital of the empire.
• Tehran: The capital of Iran and most likely city to appear in any modern appearance of the country.
• Zagros: A mountain range.

Fictional Sub-Locations

• Garden of Eden: In Hellblazer there is an entrance to the Garden of Eden in Iran though it is not the only entrance.