Richard Branson's Virgin Group, through subsidiary Virgin Books, will form new Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation divisions in cooperation with  Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and Gotham Entertainment, the Marvel licensee for South Asia.  Virgin Comics will be headquartered in New York; Virgin Animation in Bangalore, India.  The Bangalore operation is going to be staffed up with 150 people, mostly artists.

 

Both companies will focus on Asia as a source of intellectual property and as a primary source of revenue, although the companies intend, of course, to create properties with a global audience and potential exploitation in movies, animation, toys, videogames, and consumer products. 

 

The first release from Virgin Comics, an original comic property from director John Woo for the company's 'Director's Cut' line, will launch in mid-2006.  Virgin Comics will also include two other imprints, the Indian-influenced Shakti line, and the Maverick line.