India Authentic review at Beliefnet

A review of the India Authentic vol 2. is up at Beliefnet.com.

An excerpt from the review

What makes [INDIA AUTHENTIC] so effective and impressive is that these gods and near-immortals exhibit very human concerns. In fact, many of the stories allow the pictures to “breathe”–to dominate the space of the page–as the reader is exposed to the protagonists’ thoughts. Inner monologue is not something I commonly associate with sacred stories; we never get inside either Moses’ head as he leads Isaac up to the sacrifice or Jesus’ thoughts on Judas or Mary Magdelene. “India Authentic” takes readers inside the super-humans who still seem identifiably human-like.

Nevertheless, each story operates in a sort of god-logic (or, maybe more precisely, Hindu theo-logic), where devotion, will, or ethic leads to a transcendent resolution. These are not Aesop’s Fables with some simple moral to convey. Instead, “India Authentic” demonstrates universal themes refracted through Hinduism–both pictorial introductions and everyday reminders.

Full Review

Buy India Authentic @ Amazon.com :

(India Authentic Vol 1 – Book of Shiva)

(India Authentic Vol 2)

"Graven Images" and "Graphically Religious"

Yay! Attended the “Religion in Comics” panel hosted by BU as part of their “Graven Images” conference yesterday. Had a whale of a time with fellow panelists Mark Smylie (writer – ARTESIA, Publisher – ASP comics), G Willow Wilson (CAIRO), Steve Ross (writer/artist – MARKED). The panel was moderated by A. Dave Lewis (writer – LONE AND LEVEL SANDS, SOME NEW KIND OF SLAUGHTER).

We had a pretty hearty discussion about how religion is portrayed in comic books and the challenges that lie in writing comics with religious and spiritual themes. One of the most interesting parts of the conference was getting to know about the reaction to India authentic in academic circles. It makes all my efforts worthwhile when people walk up to meand tell him that they really liked the INDIA AUTHENTIC stories and that it is being made into required reading in south asian studies programs :) (details to come).

Later that day, I attended my first ever signing at the BU Barnes and Noble where we continued our earlier discussion in more casual setting as part of the “Graphically Religious” author meet at B&N. Here is a photo from the signing (more to come).

Barnes and Noble signing
From left to right: Dave, Your truly, Willow, Steve and Mark
Graven Images panel at BU
From left to right: Me, Mark (photo courtsey : Dave Moran)
Graven Images panel at BU
From left to right: Willow, Dave, Me, Steve and Mark (photo courtsey : Dave Moran)

INDIA AUTHENTIC #11 – HANUMAN Preview

India Authentic #11 – Hanuman has gone to press and I’m mighty pleased with the visuals. The cover is by Dean R Hyrapiet (Voodoo Child, Virulents) and the art is by Swapnil. Here is a preview from the comic which hits the stands on 26th March 2008 as per solicits. These are three splashes from the beginning, middle and end of the book.

Here is the solicit text for the book

Created by: Deepak Chopra,
Written by: Saurav Mohapatra,
Art and Cover by: Virgin Studios

A mere mention of his name is said to put fear in the hearts of the mightiest demons. It is said that the chant of his name protects one from the vilest of evil spirits. He is a god unlike any other. Born with the body of an ape, but a heart as large as a hundred suns, blessed with the strength to move mountains, leap across oceans and fly faster than the swiftest of birds. From the pages of the great Indian epic, Ramayana, Virgin Comics and Deepak Chopra as part of the path-breaking India Authentic series, bring to you the tale of a god who is both scholar and warrior; one whose name is synonymous with devotion and humility.

This is the legend of mighty Hanuman, son of the wind, slayer of demons and devoted ally of Rama, the warrior prince!

India Authentic vol II TPB collecting issues 6-10 has also gone to print and i think it is either already available or will be soon available for purchase at your neighbourhood comic book store.

Click the thumbs for hi-res images.

The images and India Authentic are copyright of Virgin Comics

INDIA AUTHENTIC VOL 1. TPB available at Amazon.com and Borders

Yesterday was a kicker. I went to my neighbourhood BORDERS and was thrilled to find a couple of copies of DEEPAK CHOPRA presents INDIA AUTHENTIC Vol 1. BOOK OF SHIVA in the Graphic Novel section. Icing on the cake was my name right on the front page with Deepak Chopra’s. It was an exhilarating moment to share cover space with such a big name.

INDIA AUTHENTIC vol 1. is also available for purchase from Amazon.com

So if you are stuck for a gift idea this holiday season, click on the link above and buy INDIA AUTHENTIC TPB… The gift that keeps on giving :D

Comic Book Resources coverage of India Authentic

Comic Book Resources (http://www.comicbookresources.com) covered [digg-reddit-me]“India Authentic” series from Virgin Comics. Even though I might not be the best of objective observers in this case ;-) , but I do feel it is a great writeup that touches the core vision of the “India Authentic” project. Read more about it here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12351)

Updates ahoy!!!!

whew! man talk about being swamped. September flew by and we are halfway through October now.

anyways Sadhu : The Silent Ones #2 and India Authentic #5 / Shiva are out as of 10th Oct 2007.

Now the big news :

DEEPAK CHOPRA presents INDIA AUTHENTIC VOL 1. BOOK OF SHIVA (ISBN-10: 1934413089 / ISBN-13: 978-1934413081) collecting #1-5 of the series is going to hit the stands on 17th Oct 2007. So swing by your comic book store and pick up a copy (btw, i think BORDERS is also going to carry copies so check there too :) ).

DEVI #14 also comes out that day … Just one more issue left in the KARMAGEDDON arc after this and from what i have seen of the #15 thumbnails so far, it rocks big time. lot of stuff getting blown up and DEVI is going to change forever.

If you don;t believe me take a look at the cover image and draw your own conclusions. (Cover is by Luke Ross (SAMURAI : HEAVEN & EARTH). Click on the image for a hires version.



so go buy the books and help feed the oompa loompas that live in my keyboard and write my stories :D .