India Ink describes Virgin Comics and Animation, founded by an unlikely group of business partners:
Deepak Chopra, the renowned self-help author; Richard Branson, whose Virgin Enterprises business empire covers travel, entertainment, mobile phones, lifestyle products, and, recently, space tourism; filmmaker Shekhar Kapur; and South Asian comics publisher Gotham Entertainment Group. The joint venture also includes Chopra’s son, Gotham.
Virgin Comics comprises three imprints:
The Shakti imprint, from the Sanskrit word for “power,” will tell stories illustrated in India and loosely based on Indian myth. It debuts July 12 with “Devi,” the story of a goddess reborn as a young woman who fights crime in modern Sitapur. Also slated to be released as part of the Shakti line are “Snakewoman,” created by Kapur about an L.A. woman possessed by a demon, and “The Sadhu,” the story of a young man who abandons enlightenment for revenge. The latter tale is written by Gotham Chopra, who was one of the executive producers of the Chow Yun-Fat film “Bulletproof Monk” and is chief creative officer at Virgin Comics.A second imprint, Director’s Cut — named after a movie director’s preferred version of his or her film — will be devoted to comics by creators best-known for cinema. Famed Hong Kong director John Woo’s comic “Seven Brothers” will make its debut as part of the line later this summer. And the third imprint, Maverick Comics, will feature works by leading talents in the graphic-novel business.
Virgin Comics wants to follow up on the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man: India and to mimic the penetration of Japanese manga and anime into the American market.