DC Comics' stories may be fantastical, but no amount of suspension of disbelief, invisible planes, or men of steel can protect the company from the criticism it's receiving after referring to a language spoken in Pakistan as "Pakistanian" in one of its recent comic books.
The response started Jan. 5 when social media consultant Khaver Siddiqi tweeted an image of the page containing a scene based in a village in Pakistan, which the dialogue says is “all translated from Pakistanian."
“Think of it this way, for some people who read this comic this may or may not be their only exposure to Pakistan,” Siddiqi told Fusion about the page from “Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #2.”
“It is offensive (to me) to think that you can’t respect a culture or nation not to do some basic research about its people or language when you are about to use it in your story,” he added.
After Siddiqi's tweet, Twitter users piled on the company using the hashtag #Pakistanian.
DC Comics has yet to comment on the situation.
Although Siddiqi has not yet responded to a request for an interview from NBC News, he has since changed his Twitter bio to include a new descriptor: “Pakistanian."