Gizmo bug hit Indian Superheroes

Animation and comics have gone truly global. The comics are combining Manga art with our mythological characters to give the stories a complete makeover, says Puja Goyal

(C) 2007 Puja Goyal

Indian mythological stories have previously been converted into comic strips by various publishing companies and we have grown up reading them. Now, Virgin comics have brought out the international segment of the same stories with a different flavor. The comics combine Manga art with recreated mythology, to give the stories a complete makeover.

"Virgin is trying to get into comics it appears - While they are a huge company - they are not a major Comic book publisher in the US, not even in the top 10. The point is that these will be in the Virgin stores - but not in the comic book stores. That said Virgin seems to have a few in this vein - they seem to be cornering the market on Indian titles - they even have one by Deepak Chopra. So it may make sense to jump on the band wagon." Luke Lieberman, President, Red Sonja LLC

Our perception of Indian mythology is going through a radical change. Comic lovers abroad are now introduced to Indian stories in a different getup. We read the Ramayana religiously every morning, or used too… the essence of it was holy and religious. Now, with the advent of new technology and new thought, the Ramayana has turned "Hip". "Ramayan 3392 A.D. from Virgin Comics is a reinvention of India’s greatest epic told by bestselling author Deepak Chopra and acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur." says, Gotham Chopra.

Virgin comics has created a studio where stories would be created, and eventually turned into movies, tv shows, video games, digital applications, etc - by mining the rich talent and enormous anthology of mythic content, Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics Chief Creative Officer has been quoted as saying.

All said and done, Ramayana is now competing with Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman for the top spot. Lord Rama introduced as the "Blue God" is now going high tech with gizmos and special effects; to cater to Generation Next. He could pass off as what teens would call "AWESOME" and you might hear someone behind you scream "The dude Rocks man!!" Rama is now the new kid on the block.

"The ways you tell stories changes with time, but the essence of the story will remain the same; the international audience and younger lot find it easy to relate to this. We all know that Ramayan is a mythological book and not a religious book; it is interesting to see what we can do with it. In the new-age Ramayan, the set - up and gizmos that Lord Rama uses have undergone a change. These books have received a positive response from the Western world." Samarjit Choudhry; Gotham Comics. Luke adds, "The stories will have to change - almost definitely - they have to adapt to their new audience - kids who read comics - they are going to hire writers to adapt the original material - anyone would.

Manish (student) on the other hand is apprehensive about change, "They have taken the essence of Indian mythology and turned it into ordinary anime".

While most welcome the changes and the look, they also suspect that it's just a fad. Surekha, from US and an ardent reader of comics says, "Add James Bond and Superman, draw them in Manga, some special effects and you have Rama. Our very own Superhero!"
Samarjit expects a favorable response when they introduce the New Ramayan in India. Gotham Comics have already released "Sadhu" and "Devi", "the initial response for previously released comics in India has been good and we plan to release them in Indian languages."Devi" is based on the concept of Shakti, and not really Goddess Durga. It is about how Shakti manifests itself into form when evil goes beyond certain point."

For more information visit VirginComics.com/Ramayan.html.