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, by John Woo, it in fact was the second "Director's Cut" comic, and Virgin's fifth overall when it debuted in October.
Shakti
The Shakti line ("Shakti" means "power" in Sanskrit) 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 - were Devi and The Sadhu.[17] Devi was written by Siddharth 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 by Gotham Chopra himself, is a story of revenge, from an individual who "was once a Sadhu – what, in the East, they call mystics."[17]
Director's Cut
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 as Shekhar Kapur, Guy Ritchie and John Woo creating comics, and is rumoured to include the legendary Terry 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 by Warner 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 was Snake Woman
Voices
The Voices line (formerly known as the Maverick 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 by Eurythmics frontman Dave 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 by Jeff Parker, author of the acclaimed comic Interman.
Other
Virgin comics produced a Dan Dare mini-series, written by Garth 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 book The Econauts.
At the NYCC it was revealed Grant Morrison would working with Virgin Comics to produce "webisodes" (short animated stories) based on the Mahābhārata, 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 that Stan 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]
Novel art
- Kama Sutra
- The Life of Buddha
