Self-described rebel billionaire Richard Branson is making waves in the comic book world, and Gotham Chopra (son of spiritual guru Deepak) is leading the way.
Chopra pitched the idea of a comic book imprint tapping big-name movie directors and combing their ideas with the talents of graphic artists in India a couple of years back. The Virgin honcho, who juggles running an empire of galactic ambition with frequent attempts at world records by boat and hot air balloon, saw the proposal as bold and risky, exactly what his company is all about. To date Virgin Comics employs more than 120 graphic artists working in Bangalore on series such as John Woo’s 7 Brothers and Dave Stewart’s (yes, the Eurythmics guitarist) Walk. The endgame here being to create properties as stepping stones to the big screen.
Hitting shelves today are two new series: Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper and Virulents, which finds American and Indian troops fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. Ritchie (of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and husband of Madonna fame) admits in the interview at the back of issue one to being jealous of Sin City, thus jumping at the chance to get in on the action when Virgin came calling. He also talks about harboring ambitions as a youth to become a gamekeeper, which is the inspiration of his character Brock, a recluse who is forced to face his dark desire to hunt humans when a group of mercenaries invade his refuge. Ritchie describes Gamekeeper as what happens when “the harsh and primal order rubs shoulders with the alchemical wisdom of nature.”
I’m not quite sure how I feel about outsourcing comics artwork to India, but the results are definitely high quality. Virulents
- is also a great read and has an unusual twist when the nuclear wielding terrorists turn into vampires. Note to Homeland Security: Pay attention!
