LONDON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Virgin Atlantic chief Richard Branson, Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and author Deepak Chopra are starting a new comic book venture.
Virgin Animation in Bangalore, India, and Virgin Comics in New York are scheduled to launch the first comic book by mid-2006, the BBC reported Monday.
The companies will "develop new and exciting talent -- giving a whole generation of young, creative thinkers a voice," Branson told the BBC.
Branson's Gotham Entertainment Group has already worked with Marvel Comics to tone down Spider-Man with a more modest costume for the Indian market, the BBC said.
In addition to comic book publishing, Virgin Comics will also be involved in movie licensing and tie-ins such as toys and video games.
"Comic book characters -- traditional and digital -- are the new cult, the new religion," Kapur said. "India's 600 million teenagers are now at the forefront of the creation of these new gods. For these new Indian comic gods are derived directly from the vast ocean of mythology."
