Chronicles of Kanjisheik

There has long been a vacuum in the Indian comics market, one that has, till date, been inadequately filled by static reproductions of mythology and history by Amar Chitra Katha on the one hand, and mass marketed but culturally alien reprints of popular American comics by DC and Marvel. For those comic book fans who find themselves vacillating between these two extremes in search of a product that combines the best of both worlds, the newly formed Virgin Comics might come as a welcome change.

The basic idea behind Virgin comics is reinterpreting classic Indian stories and making them relevant to today's youth. Virgin promises to utilise classic tales as a springboard for the development of newer, more contemporary versions of myth — representations of "the Indian ethos of seeing everything in grey rather than black and white".

But in a world mainly dominated by American themes, one might ask, "why pick Indian stories now?" The Company believes that in the next decade, Asia will become one of the largest producers, as well as the largest consumers, of entertainment products. Virgin Comics intends to look to Asia, and India in particular, as both a growing market for consumers of entertainment products and also a source for unique, innovative content to be brought to the world in comics and licensing into movies, animation, toys, video games and consumer products.

In that sense, the company has a lot of models to look at and learn from, the most successful of which have been the Japanese forms of manga and anime. Reportedly, the worldwide market for manga stands at somewhere near $5 billion. Indeed, manga represents some of the best lessons for Indian comic makers, with the need for authenticity topping the list. And what will set Virgin Comics in a league of its own is the authenticity of the tale and the myth.

Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra, the principal architects, are spearheading the new Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, in collaboration with Deepak Chopra, Shekar Kapur and Richard Branson. In this pursuit of authenticity and quality, the company is working on creating a platform for indigenous artistes and writers. Thus, although some of its first collaborations boast big names such as John Woo and Guy Ritchie, it is working on going the long haul with Indian talent that has had success creating content, like Samit Basu.

And so you have it — the voice of the new Indian generation, in the form of "organic stories from modern urban cities," as Gotham put it.The comics that are being released in the Indian market now are Devi, The Sadhu, Snakewoman, and Ramayana Reborne. Right now, after the spectacular sales of these comics in the USA, Virgin Comics is on a high. All that remains to be seen is if young India likes the way Virgin Comics says it sounds.