Virgin comics

[JaySolis]

Hey there, quick question for Mr. Marz:

I noticed that the art in Ramayan and Devi recently changed (radically, in the case of the former) and wanted to know if the style change is only for a few fill-in issues or permanent.

[Lester C.]

While I can't answer your question Jay, I just wanted to welcome you to CBR.:)

[JaySolis]

Thanks, Lester. :)

[Ron Marz]

In the case of both Ramayan and Devi, new art teams were brought onto the books when the old/original art teams moved on to new projects.

Mukesh Singh, of Devi, is doing the full art on Gamekeeper, which is definitely worth a look. Plans are for the current Devi artist, Saumin Patel, to remain with the book for a while. However, Devi #11 will actually feature a 3-story format with 3 different artists, so you'll get a sampling of styles.

When Ramayan relaunches with a new #1 issue this summer, Jeevan Kang will be taking over the art. The work he's turned in so far is simply spectacular, so I think you'll be quite pleased.

Thanks for reading!

[JaySolis]

In the case of both Ramayan and Devi, new art teams were brought onto the books when the old/original art teams moved on to new projects.

Mukesh Singh, of Devi, is doing the full art on Gamekeeper, which is definitely worth a look. Plans are for the current Devi artist, Saumin Patel, to remain with the book for a while. However, Devi #11 will actually feature a 3-story format with 3 different artists, so you'll get a sampling of styles.

When Ramayan relaunches with a new #1 issue this summer, Jeevan Kang will be taking over the art. The work he's turned in so far is simply spectacular, so I think you'll be quite pleased.

Thanks for reading!

I'm looking forward to Gamekeeper and other Virgin and more stuff from Virgin in particular. To be honest, I was very dissapointed with the direction the art took on Ramayan, I thought the original style was gorgeous and fitting but the current style is anything but.

Take these images, for example: the first appareance of Rama looked great and Bharat used to look like this but now he looks like this (sorry about the crappy pics, I don't have a scanner around right now.)

I can only assume this was a shot an americanizing the art to make it appeal to a broader audience but I think it's actually taking away a big part of what made the book unique and alienating current readers. Is there any preview art for the relaunch? Ramayan had become one of my favorite books but, frankly, what I'm currently seeing takes me completely out of the story every couple of pages.

Will you have any input at Virgin other than editorial direction on Ramayan, Sadhu, etc? for example, I find that their site is lacking in information and ways to interact with fans and I have only found out about books such as Virulents, Gamekeeper and Enigma through ads on their own comics, which means that if someone is - for example - Mike Carey fan through Lucifer, UFF or X-Men but don't read Virgin comics it'd be extrmely likely they wouldn't have heard of Enigma.

[Ron Marz]

Thanks for the interest in the Virgin books, Jay.

I really think your concerns about Ramayan's art will be assuaged once you see Jeevan's work for the relaunch. It's truly impressive stuff. As soon as I get an okay to show off some of the design pieces, I'll do so.

I do have some input beyond just my work, but you do have to remember that Virgin is still a young, small company. The staff is relatively small, especially when compared to big publishers. Coverage in both the print and online press is just getting started as well. But you're right, we need to get more information out in more places, and we'll try to do so.

[JaySolis]

Hey there, I just wanted to drop by and say that I've finally seen some preview art for the Ramayan relaunch and frankly, all my fears and doubts about the artistic direction of the book have gone away. Jeevan Kang is a great fit and I'm looking forward to the relaunch.

I still have my doubts about Sadhu (mostly dialogue-wise) but I'll give the relaunch a chance to drag me back in. Voodoo Child, Snakewoman, India Authentic and Gamekeeper are all looking and reading great. So far Devi has been the only Virgin casualty on my pull list but the rest of the books are keeping me happy for the time being