| Industry | Comics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 as Virgin Comics, renamed Liquid Comics in 2008 |
| Founder | Richard Branson Deepak Chopra Shekhar Kapur Sharad Devarajan Suresh Seetharaman Gotham Chopra |
| Headquarters | New York, Bangalore |
Key people | Sharad Devarajan(Co-Founder & CEO) Gotham Chopra(Co-Founder) Suresh Seetharaman(Co-Founder & President) |
| Website | Official website |
Liquid Comics is anIndiancomic book publishing company, founded in 2006 asVirgin Comics LLC, which produces stories (many of which areIndian-culture related) for an international audience. The company was founded by SirRichard Branson and hisVirgin Group, authorDeepak Chopra, filmmakerShekhar Kapur, and entrepreneursSharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, andGotham Chopra. In August 2008, the company restructured and relocated from New York to Los Angeles.[1][2] On September 24, 2008, it was announced that Virgin Comics was renamed Liquid Comics after amanagement buyout.[3][4]
Virgin Comics LLC andVirgin Animation Private Limited are collaborative companies formed byVirgin Group entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur andGotham Entertainment Group (South Asia's largest comics publisher) in 2006.[5] The companies spun out of the previously announced partnership between Chopra, Kapur, and Gotham Entertainment (but not Branson).Gotham Studios Asia was announced in late 2004, planning its first release in 2005, which failed to occur.Variety reported in January 2006 that Gotham Entertainment headSharad Devarajan and Chopra's son Gotham were the key movers, and approached Branson as a potential partner.[6] With Branson on board, Gotham Studios Asia becameVirgin Comics and Animation, with Devarajan taking the role of CEO, with Gotham Chopra as chief creative officer, with Indian advertising executive Suresh Seetharaman running Virgin Animation from India.[6] The companies are based inBangalore with the comics arm having its headquarters in New York.[7]Variety reported that Devarajan and Chopra planned to spend 2006 "staffing the Indian operation with approximately 150 people, most of them artists".[6]
Devarajan, who continues to operate Gotham Entertainment as a separate entity, stated the aim of the Virgin imprint was to "create content that not only reaches a global audience but also helps start a creative renaissance in India."[6]
Focusing on Asia "as an area to inspire and create content and drive revenue... to reach a global audience." the two arms allow for properties to be translated into "full media properties across a wide line of products and media outlets".[8]
Adrian Sington, Executive Chairman ofVirgin Books noted that "the market for comics and graphic novels worldwide is exploding... [partly due to] the emergence of comics out of Asia."[9] Sharad Devarajan referred to the Japanese forms ofAnime andManga, stressing their impact on world media, and outlining Virgin Comics' "mission... to spark a creative renaissance in India, reinventing Indian character entertainment and permeating this new style and vision throughout the globe... launching a new wave of characters that simultaneously appeal to audiences from Boston to Beijing to Bangalore."[5]
On August 26, 2008, it was reported that Virgin Comics had shut down its New York office.[1][2] A statement released by CEO Sharad Devarajan confirmed closure of the New York office, but indicated that the company would be restructuring and relocating to Los Angeles.[1][2] Devarajan said that further information would be released later.[2] Gotham Entertainment will be unaffected by this change.[1][2] According to sources, Virgin will continue to own the rights for the properties which it published.[10]
On September 24, 2008, it was announced that Virgin Comics changed its name to Liquid Comics.[3] The company entered into an agreement with FremantleMedia Enterprises to create television shows. The first two shows in development under the partnership are First Family and Ani-Max.[11]
Gotham Chopra was working withMichael Jackson on a graphic novel calledFated which was announced for a June 2010 release throughVillard[12] and is copyrighted to Liquid Comics.[13]
On February 20, 2013, Liquid Comics began to refocus onDevarajan's company Graphic India, a digital comics and animation startup.[14][15][16]
Virgin Comics' initial lines were their flagship Shakti line, the Maverick (later Voices) line and the Director's Cut imprint. Although the first title, scheduled to debut mid-2006, was meant to be the first "Director's Cut" title, byJohn Woo, it in fact was the second "Director's Cut" comic, and Virgin's fifth overall when it debuted in October.
The Shakti line ("Shakti" means "power" inSanskrit) feature Indian mythology, art, history, classical stories, and other related themes, often with a modern twist. Its debut titles - two of the first three to see print from Virgin Comics - wereDevi andThe Sadhu.[17]Devi was written bySiddharth Kotain, and featured "a modern take on a very ancient myth", in which title character Devi becomes a "warrior of the light" after the pantheon of gods rebirth her in response to "the rapid decay of the city of Sitapur" caused by "fearsome renegade god Bala."[17]
The Sadhu, written byGotham Chopra himself, is a story of revenge, from an individual who "was once aSadhu – what, in the East, they call mystics."[17]
The Director's Cut line is designed to showcase the work of film directors, and effectively give them an unlimited budget to create works that might be more difficult to realise on screen. It sees directors such asShekhar Kapur,Guy Ritchie andJohn Woo creating comics, and is rumoured to include the legendaryTerry Gilliam at some point in the future.[18] Gilliam's reputed interest (and that of the other directors) is said to be in part due to the comics' ability to "provoke new Hollywood interest in old ideas and, if nothing else, give the audience a glimpse of what [was] intended" in a potential film version.[18]Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper was optioned byWarner Brothers Studios to be made into a motion picture.[19]
Virgin Comics' initial comments stated that the aim was "to launch comic titles in collaboration with iconic film-makers", with "Woo’s Seven Brothers [originally listed as] the debut comic of the Director’s Cut line".[20]In fact, the first "Director's Cut" comic, and Virgin Comics' second overall wasSnake Woman, fromShekhar Kapur and artistZeb Wells. It revolves around 25-year-old Jessica Peterson, a Los Angeles-based woman with the tagline: "STUDENT…WAITRESS…MASS-MURDERER."[17]
Virgin's highest-profile comic in the west, and the one announced before any other, became the company's fifth release in October, 2006. John Woo'sSeven Brothers was a Chinese folklore idea was expanded byPreacher,Hitman andPunisher authorGarth Ennis into "a modern, global story," in a manner that is "clearly a brother to the film medium," said Woo.[20]John Woo described his experience "working in comics [as] quite comfortable", since "it's like the ultimate storyboard".[20] Ennis described the manner in which he became involved as remarkably straightforward. Indeed, in his own words: "All they had to say was ‘John Woo’ and I was sold instantly."[20] The covers were byYoshitaka Amano, withGreg Horn producing a variant for #1.
The Voices line (formerly known as theMaverick line) is intended to feature new talent, as well as presenting comics by actors and musicians. The line's first release was in December, 2006, and written byEurythmics frontmanDave Stewart.Dave Stewart's Walk In #1 was loosely based on "Stewart’s real-life experiences as a young man doing stage shows as "Memory Man" and – during this time of his life – suffering from odd moments of memory loss himself".[21] It was scripted and expanded byJeff Parker, author of the acclaimed comicInterman.
Virgin comics produced aDan Dare mini-series, written byGarth Ennis.
Additionally, "the company will tap into innovative creators in comics, film and entertainment from around the world."[5] Virgin Comics animators have worked on graphic novels, and the venture is linked to Virgin Animation. One such graphic novel is the upcoming children's environmental bookThe Econauts.
At theNYCC it was revealedGrant Morrison would working with Virgin Comics to produce "webisodes" (short animated stories) based on theMahābhārata, he said it would not be a direct translation but "Like the Beatles took Indian music and tried to make psychedelic sounds…I'm trying to convert Indian storytelling to a western style for people raised on movies, comics, and video games."[22] It was also announced thatStan Lee will create a new superhero team to appear in a new Virgin title, the details of which were being kept secret for the moment.[23]
Virgin also started Coalition Comix onMySpace, where users could suggest ideas for a comic which would then get made. The first one wasQueen's Rook, written byMike Carey.[24]
Virgin Comics' creators include:
Virgin Comics will be co-producing a number of TV series with theSci-Fi Channel and the first will beThe Stranded, written byMike Carey.[25]
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