DEVI and Other Hindu Comics Launched by Virgin

[Guest guest]

July 20, 2006: Watch out, DC and Marvel: A new line of comics, backed

by the world's wealthiest maverick, is bringing the heroes of India's

vivid heritage of myth and mysticism into the 21st century.

 

In the comics industry, there's a name for cosmic events involving the

unlikely intersection of icons from wildly different dimensions. It's

called the crossover, and when one happens, everything changes. New

heroes are created. Old paradigms are destroyed. Whole worlds, nay,

entire universes are spawned from the intersection of these colossal

and dissonant forces.

 

Well, rev up the foil-stamper and get ready to emboss some variant

covers, because a crossover of mind-warping proportions has just

occurred, and the results are poised to shake up the comic-book

firmament -- not least because the convergence has taken place not on

pulp but in the real world.

 

So who's who in this collector's edition team-up?

 

There's Virgin Man -- otherwise known as "rebel billionaire" Sir

Richard Branson. There's The Guru -- best-selling author and holistic

healer Deepak Chopra. There's The Movie Mogul -- Oscar-nominated

auteur Shekhar Kapur ("Elizabeth" and "Four Feathers"). And leading

the charge, there's the dynamic duo of The Vision -- Chopra's son

Gotham -- and The Operator -- Indian comics king Sharad Devarajan.

 

The goal for their freshly minted startup, Virgin Comics, is to

establish a serious new competitor to the two titans of the industry,

Marvel and DC, and they've got some resources on their side that make

this a reasonable proposition.

 

They have the backing of the Virgin Group, one of a handful of global

brands that's instantly recognizable -- and credible -- to their core

target audience of young, multiculturalist pop-arazzi. They've got a

host of celebrity creatives who've agreed to contribute their talents,

from movie directors like Hong Kong action king John Woo and Brit

brat/Madonna consort Guy Ritchie, to comic-world giants like writer

Garth Ennis, superhero portraitist Alex Ross and Japanese graphic

genius Yoshitaka Amano.

 

Plus, they've got India -- recently pimped in suitably superheroic

terms by Time as the next big "global power" and by Newsweek as the

"rising giant." Not only is India a tremendous potential market for

the new company's work, it also represents a vast wellspring of

untapped inspiration -- India's rich tradition of legendary heroes,

tricksters, monsters and magicians -- and, even more intriguingly, an

enormous pool of potential overseas talent.

 

"One of our most important assets is the studio we're building -- the

team of artists we're developing in India," says Gotham Chopra, Virgin

Comics' chief creative officer. "I pull down art from our server, and

I'm just amazed. Part of it is showing that we can compete creatively

on a global level. And part of it is that we're telling Indian artists

that this is a legitimate career path to follow -- that you don't have

to be a programmer or a physician, like they've been telling kids for

generations."

 

HERE COMES THE SON

 

Of course, it's not likely that Gotham ever got those lectures

himself. Though his dad began his career as a garden-variety doctor

(albeit one who rose to be chief of staff at New England Memorial

Hospital), most of the world knows him as the enormously successful

author of books like "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind" and "The Seven

Spiritual Laws of Success," and as lifestyle guru to millions of

devoted followers and admirers, including celebrities like Michael

Jackson, Demi Moore, Oprah Winfrey and former President Bill Clinton.

 

The elder Chopra's looming achievements would seem to have been both

an inspiration and a source of frustration -- one wonders how many

times Gotham has been asked whether he's simply riding his dad's

coattails -- yet both father and son quickly dismiss intimations of

nepotism. "He is his own man," Deepak has said. "But if you are not

using all the opportunities you have, you are a fool. The way we

think, karmically he chose this. He chose to be my son."

 

Hey, if that's the case, not a bad choice. But ultimately, it's not

what you're born with, it's what you do with it that matters. And

while Gotham has undoubtedly inherited his father's gifts, he's

exercised them in decidedly different venues. As a correspondent for

the classroom news program Channel One (along with View host turned

National Geographic explorer Lisa Ling, still a close friend), he

traveled the world reporting from global hot spots.

 

"I spent a good chunk of time as a foreign war correspondent," he

says. "Places like Chechnya, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank,

Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, a whole slew of other crazy places,

dodging narcotics traffickers, land mines and suicide bombers."

 

But as stimulating as his Channel One work was, he also inherited his

dad's sense of restless enterprise. "It was the greatest job on earth,

but when I came back to L.A., I spent a lot of time sitting around

waiting for the next assignment," he says.

 

Looking for something to occupy his free time and expand his horizons,

he ran into the guys behind a small indie comic-book publisher called

Flypaper Press. Although he says he wasn't a "die-hard fanboy" growing

up, like most red-blooded adolescent males he had a healthy respect

for the medium. Meanwhile, the Flypaper team decided he was the

perfect collaborator for their first major project.

 

"They had this great name for a comic book in mind and not much else,"

says Chopra. "I'm a writer by background -- it's what I really love to

do -- so they ended up bringing me on board to help invent that title."

 

The title was 1998's "Bulletproof Monk" -- a three-issue miniseries

that also served as a showcase for the work of Michael Avon Oeming,

now widely acknowledged as one of the most talented artists in comics.

"Monk" went on to be adapted by MGM in a 2003 film starring Chow

Yun-Fat and Seann Williams Scott.

 

Though not a success, the movie showed Chopra the power of the comics

genre. "It demonstrated to me how comic books have become the

launching pad for the larger media world," he says. "Comics are like

movies with unlimited budgets. They give you this room to create

universes and define characters in a visual way that lets people

immediately see that wide-screen picture."

 

Which helps explain why some of the biggest multimedia events of the

modern era have been comic-book movies: "Spiderman" 1 and 2, "X-Men" 1

through 3, "Batman Begins,Superman Returns" -- plus more

adult-oriented works like "V for Vendetta,Sin City,A History of

Violence" and "The Road to Perdition." As Chopra points out, comics

are "essentially storyboards," making it easy to see the transition

point from page to shot or page to pixels.

 

But there may be a more primal reason for the surging popularity of

comic books. "Comics are an evolution of the first real form of

storytelling -- hieroglyphics, illustrations on cave walls -- those

truly ancient forms of visual storytelling," says Chopra. "There's a

reason why these have become the foundation of modern mythology."

 

LEGENDARY HEROES

 

Of course, part of what makes mythology so powerful is that it's

permanent -- stories aren't invented, they're revived, refurbished,

reconstituted -- reincarnated, if you will. In my last column on

comics, I discussed how Superman is the quintessential immigrant

story, a refugee tale with X-ray vision. But others have noted that

his story, as a baby placed in a high-tech cradle and cast into the

waters of interstellar space, is templated on that of Moses

(consciously, no doubt, given his Jewish creators, Jerry Siegel and

Joel Shuster). More recently, pundits have noted the Christian memes

of the movie "Superman Returns" (the title is already vaguely

millennialist, but it's Supe's heavenly father Jor-El who puts the

mustard on the hot dog, repeating the quote, "I have sent them you, my

only son," at least twice in the course of the film).

 

And U.S. comic books swarm with manifestations of Western gods, mostly

from the Greco-Roman and Norse myths -- the Nordic thunder god Thor is

a quintessential Marvel superhero, while DC's Wonder Woman owes her

Amazonian powers to Mount Olympus (The beauty of Aphrodite! The wisdom

of Athena! The speed of Hermes!). Largely absent from four-color

glory, however, are the gods of Eastern traditions -- Japan's Shinto

pantheon, China's Confucian divinities and, of course, India's vast

world of Hindu deities and demiurges.

 

Admittedly, this is partly because each of these sets of supernaturals

is still the subject of active worship by millions of followers, so

depicting them teaming up with Batman or kicking Galactus in the butt

is a culturally dangerous proposition. (One might note that neither

Marvel nor DC has seen fit to launch titles like, say,

"Super-Mohammed" or "Christ-Man," either.)

 

But Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan -- best known for partnering

with Marvel to "transcreate" Spider-Man for the Indian market as

"Pavitr Prabhakar," a dhoti-wearing kid from the countryside given

mystical spider-powers by a mysterious holy man -- isn't worried about

offending believers.

 

In telling updated Indian tales for the 21st century, Devarajan said

in an interview on NPR's "Fresh Air,we're just tapping into a

tradition that's firmly established ... in India, there's never been a

negative stigma for comics. At one point, there were a lot of comics

in the marketplace that told mythological stories of Indian gods and

heroes, and these were very well received by the general population

there."

 

A generation of South Asians -- and their U.S.-born and -educated kids

-- grew up with this comic-book series, called "Amar Chitra Katha," as

a lifeline to centuries of heritage.

 

"I was born in Chicago and grew up in San Jose, so the only South

Asian characters I ever saw in comics were in the 'Amar Chitra Katha'

series, when I was around 5 or 6," says Abhi Tripathi, UCLA doctoral

candidate in astrobiology and blogger for the must-read Desi group

blog Sepia Mutiny. "I don't think there's a kid in India, or a child

of an Indian first-generation immigrant, who hasn't been handed an

'Amar Chitra Katha' comic in order to help teach them Hindu mythology

in a fun and interesting manner."

 

Fellow blogger Pratik M., who opines on South Asian culture and

politics at the group blog he founded, DesiPundit, and at his personal

site, Nerve Endings Firing Away, concurs. "I loved 'Amar Chitra Katha'

-- I attribute my knowledge of Indian history to those comics. The

potential of Indian mythology is immense, and the countless stories it

offered about kings, princes, historical battles, etc., has kept that

series going for years. Regarding the subtle connotations [of

characterizing gods] in comics, trying to sell Jesus as a superhero

would definitely not go down well in this country, but I don't think

people in India mind much -- so long as you're not tampering with

cultural sentiments."

 

Of course, the line between extending a long tradition of mythic

storytelling and tampering with cultural sentiments is a fine one.

"The goal we have is to mine this powerful vault of Indian stories and

myths, to stay authentic to their ethos but reinvent them in a fresh

way," says Chopra. "Other people are doing it already. We're more than

happy to take credit for 'The Matrix' and 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord

of the Rings'! Those are all tales that draw from the storytelling

tradition of our legends, epics like the Ramayana."

 

VIRGIN BIRTH

 

Virgin's first two debuts hit the stands last week -- the mystic

superhero title "Devi," about a goddess-avatar empowered by the Hindu

lords of creation to battle demons and sorcerers through time, and

"Snake Woman," a contemporary chiller about a female were-serpent of

sorts, who hunts down more-vicious members of her supernatural tribe.

(Both books were conceived by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, co-"chief

visionary" of Virgin along with Deepak Chopra and Sir Richard Branson.)

 

As you might expect from a Virgin-branded product, the quality of the

books is impressive -- coated and calendared pages, card-stock covers

and terrific color reproduction.

 

What's slightly surprising is the beauty of the art work, which in the

case of "Devi" was rendered by one of Virgin Comics' Bangalore-based

studio artists, Mukesh Singh. Though clearly of the comics genre

(fanboys will appreciate the iconic bad-girl poses and a combat

wardrobe that looks like a Victoria's Secret ensemble crafted from

solar plasma), the renderings are also reminiscent of ancient

tapestries and temple frescoes in their sweep and surreal detail.

 

Neither "Devi" nor "Snake Woman" shies away from invoking Indian

cultural idioms. Terms like devi (Hindi for "goddess"), rakshasa

("demon" or "unrighteous spirit") and naga (a legendary race of

serpent people) are slung around freely. Even from these first few

samples, the Virgin universe's default cosmology is unmistakably

cyclic and polytheistic, as opposed to Western comics, which --

despite their adoption of the divinities of countless cultures as

characters -- remain relentlessly millennialist and one-God-over-all

at their core.

 

Of course, the same culture shock issue also applies to manga, which

nevertheless has become the preferred medium of American adolescents

of every ethnicity. Not only are the pages of popular titles like

"Fruits Basket,Rurouni Kenshin" and "Hikaru no Go" suffused with

uniquely Japanese terms and ideas, those are the very things that

young people are finding so irresistible. The parallels with manga are

easy to draw -- Kapur has even gone on record as saying that "the

potential in India [for comics] is no less than manga in Japan," and

that Virgin's aim is to use "the base of existing Indian mythology and

art [to create] a unique product that has international appeal, just

like manga did."

 

Yet the challenge for Virgin is a larger one, simply because Japan's

domestic comic-book market is so huge that it can thrive independently

of its efforts at overseas expansion. "In Japan, comic books are a

part of the cultural heritage -- they've been embedded there for

generations," admits Chopra. "So it's sort of presumptuous for us to

say that we're headed for that. It's more something we can aspire to."

 

"I do think that our comics share with manga a very different form of

storytelling, something inherently Eastern. It's different from the

John Wayne archetype of the West, in which man makes his own destiny.

In the East, there's always been this concept of man adjusting to or

reconciling with his fate. There's this idea of the 'chosen one,' and

this idea that these stories don't have a typical three-act structure

-- beginning, middle and end. In the East, this lifetime is one of a

never-ending chain of lifetimes, and every tale is a prequel to another."

 

Which is why Chopra, Devarajan and their boldfaced-name trinity of

partners are quick to label their current efforts just the first

chapter in what promises to be an epic story. "Richard [branson] has

backed us with enough capital to make ourselves into a really strong

company," says Chopra.

 

"It took Marvel 50 years to get to a point where they were this kind

of a cultural force, and we hope to cut that time quotient down

considerably. We don't know that in five years people will compare our

titles to 'Spider-Man,' but we'll be on our way -- we'll have a very

prolific library of our own. And we'll have built a global creative

footprint.

 

"You have to look at the shifting economics of the entertainment

marketplace. For movies, international numbers sometimes eclipse

domestic box office. 'The Last Samurai' did $150 million in the U.S.

and $400 million overseas. The numbers are staggering -- in India, 15

years from now, you'll have 500 million individuals under the age of

20. Already, you have 100,000 new cell phones being activated in India

every day. We're looking at this from the long view. By creating comic

books today, we're making the myths of tomorrow."

 

Jeff Yang forecasts new Asian and Asian American consumer trends for

the market research company Iconoculture www.iconoculture.com. He is

the author of "Once Upon a Time in China: A Guide to the Cinemas of

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China" (Atria Books) and co-author of

"I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action" (Ballantine) and "Eastern

Standard Time" (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin). He lives in New York City.

Go to www.ouatic.com/mojomail/mojo.pl to join Jeff Yang's biweekly

mailing list offering updates on this column and alerts about other

breaking Asian and Asian American pop-culture news.

 

SOURCE: SFGate.com

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2006/07/20/apop.DTL

[Guest guest]

For a free preview:

 

http://comics.ign.com/articles/712/712865p1.html

 

To get your own copy or subscription:

 

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=devi+virgin&hl=en&btnG=Search+Froogle

 

 

, "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta

wrote:

>

> July 20, 2006: Watch out, DC and Marvel: A new line of comics, backed

> by the world's wealthiest maverick, is bringing the heroes of India's

> vivid heritage of myth and mysticism into the 21st century.

[Guest guest]

I still haven't ordered Bombaby yet!

 

prainbow

 

, "Devi Bhakta"

<devi_bhakta wrote:

>

> For a free preview:

>

> http://comics.ign.com/articles/712/712865p1.html

>

> To get your own copy or subscription:

>

> http://froogle.google.com/froogle?

q=devi+virgin&hl=en&btnG=Search+Froogle

>

>

> , "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta@>

> wrote:

> >

> > July 20, 2006: Watch out, DC and Marvel: A new line of comics,

backed

> > by the world's wealthiest maverick, is bringing the heroes of

India's

> > vivid heritage of myth and mysticism into the 21st century.

>

[Guest guest]

Virgin Comics #01 - Sadhu

Comic Review

August 29, 2006

Deepti Lamba

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/29/133509.php

 

The much awaited Virgin Comics, a collaboration between, among others,

Richard Branson and Gotham Chopra, is finally here. The first issue,

Sadhu, proved to be an entertaining read. The amalgamation of western

art and eastern mythology has produced a storyline layered in the

enigmatic eastern philosophy of karma and the cult of Shakti (the

female manifestation of God).

[see above link for the rest of the review.]

 

, "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta

wrote:

>

> July 20, 2006: Watch out, DC and Marvel:

> A new line of comics, backed

> by the world's wealthiest maverick,

> is bringing the heroes of India's

> vivid heritage of myth and mysticism

> into the 21st century.

>

> [....]

> SOURCE: SFGate.com

> URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2006/07/20/apop.DTL

>