Saurav Mohapatra - comic book writer » Saurav Mohapatra

The Witch and The Warrior – Frank Frazetta Homage

mohaps — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:28:54 +0000

As I mentioned earlier, Saumin Patel and I had collaborated on creating a short comic book homage to the work of the late Frank Frazetta for Chitrakatha website – a project by Saumin and Alok Sharma to produce a documentary about comic books in India.

Both Saumin and I are big fans of Frank’s work and personally for me, the first mental image I envision for high fantasy or sword and sorcery themes is always Frazetta-esque.

Don’t know if it ever made it to the Chitrakatha pages. Here it is in its entirety , for your viewing pleasure.

Open publication - Free publishing - More chitrakatha

The comic is hosted on issuu.com and needs Flash to view. For iOS devices, you can go to http://issuu.com/mohaps/docs/the_witch_and_the_warrior_final1 and choose to download the comic book in PDF format.

Witchblade #141 Reviews

mohaps — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:58:35 +0000

Continuing from the previous post about Witchblade #140 reviews … (Co-written by me with regular series writer Ron Marz)

Newsarama Best Shots Review http://www.newsarama.com/comics/best-shots-advance-110119.html
Comic Buzz http://comicbuzz.com/witchblade-141-review
Project Fanboyhttp://forums.projectfanboy.com/showthread.php?t=10308
Comic Buzz http://comicbuzz.com/witchblade-141-review
nFamous Gamers http://www.nfamousgamers.com/reviews/books/paper-monsters-witchblade-140-and-141
Comic Attack http://comicattack.net/2011/01/tcrevwitchblade141/
Pendragon Post http://www.pendragonspost.com/2011/01/23/witchblade-141-review-top-cow/
Comics Bulletin http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/129590607378350.htm
Graphic Policy http://graphicpolicy.com/2011/01/31/review-witchblade-141/
Weekly Comic Book Review http://weeklycomicbookreview.com/2011/01/25/witchblade-141-review/
Donuts and Top Cow Podcast http://www.comicbooknoise.com/topcow/2011/02/episode-5-witchblade-140-and-141/ (7m30s onwards))

Once again, hearty thanks to Ron Marz, Top Cow, Filip Sabik and Phil Smith for giving me a chance to write Witchblade. Here’s hoping that we get to do something together again, soon… ish!

Reviews for Graven Images – Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels Anthology

mohaps — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:13:51 +0000

As I’ve mentioned before, I had contributed to an anthology edited by A. David Lewis and Christine Hoff Kraemer titled “Graven Images – Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels” (as a continuation of the aforementioned panel discussion at Boston University. Looks like it’s out from Continuum Books and available at Amazon.

A couple of reviews for the book:

Money quote(s):

“Moore and Morrison also share the stage in an essay from the first section, Saurav Mohapatra’s "Echoes of Eternity: Hindu Reincarnation Motifs in Superhero Comic Books, " where he deals primarily with Moore’s Supreme and Morrison’s Animal Man in a most intriguing fashion. Mohapatra is one of the several comics writers whose contributions to the volume enhance its appeal greatly.” – Phillip A Bernhardt-House at Eternal Haunted Summer

Reviews for Witchblade #140 [updated]

mohaps — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:39:37 +0000

Witchblade #140, the first of the two-part story I co-wrote with Ron Marz (art by Stjepan Šejić) for Top Cow (as mentioned in this post earlier) is hitting the stores tomorrow (8th December). Already there are a few advance reviews out and looks like it’s getting some love around “teh interwebs”

It shall be available in comic book stores on Wed 8 December, 2010. So run out and grab a copy.

So without further ado, here are the reviews so far:

Some nice blurbs from the reviews above

“… very nice art and a far more efficient piece of storytelling than we have seen since the rise of six issue trade paperbacks…” – Project Fanboy

“… gives readers some good old fashioned carnage with some great humor and nicely done art….” – Player Affinity

“… Marz and Mohapatra do a great job building this story up and letting it explode in your face at the end.” – Comics Bulletin

“Ron Marz co-writes this issue with Saurav Mohapatra, and as a sign of any good team-up — the writing is seamless” – Newsarama Best Shots Rapid Reviews

“a great detective tale, with a pretty creepy super natural twist thrown in…” – Comic Book Revolution

“… familiar, fun, comforting and a solid read. If you’ve never read a Witchblade comic before, this is a perfect hopping on point, and I absolutely recommend doing just that.” – Graphic Policy

Indian Express covers Mumbai Confidential and Dhurandhar

mohaps — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 19:37:27 +0000

Indian Express ran a piece written by Anisha Sridhar about Mumbai Confidential and Dhurandhar, my creator owned graphic novel projects under the Dhichkaon banner.

Alternatively, you may view:

Express Buzz online ePaper version
Text-only version
Hires PDF Version
Hires JPG Version

Quick Links:

Mumbai Confidential – GOOD COP, BAD COP Chapter 1 free online preview
Mumbai Confidential – Digital Short# 1
About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series (about the infamous encounter cops of Mumbai) created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

About DHURANDHAR

DHURANDHAR is a supernatural/occult comic book series (set in present day India) created by Saurav Mohapatra and Siddharth Panwar. Currently work on the first installment “THE MAN WHO RIDES TRAINS”, a 84 page black and white original graphic novel, is underway. [read more... ]

Mumbai Confidential preview updated

mohaps — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:57:11 +0000

So, we have an updated preview for Mumbai Confidential, in full painted grayscale goodness. Vivek Shinde has done an amazing job and I’m indeed lucky that he’s my collaborator on this one.

The earlier preview was done in a no-frills b/w style (with an eye towards cheaper publication costs), but once Vivek did some explorations and a full chapter in the painted style, there was no looking back

You can check out the upated preview and read the details over at the Mumbai Confidential site.

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series (about the infamous encounter cops of Mumbai) created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

“Building Character” (Part 2) – TRISHANKU

mohaps — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:21:12 +0000

Like parents, creators are duty bound to say that they love all their children equally and like parents, creators always have their personal favorites.

When working on creator owned projects like MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL or DHURANDHAR, I have the freedom to build the world and its inhabitants from the ground up. So I can craft each character and add whatever oddities I feel like to make them more “human” . But as a “work for hire” writer, the properties one deals with already have set personalities as protagonists and antagonists. So as a creator, I always felt that one way I could leave my stamp in those projects was to create some characters around the main cast who’d provide extra flavor.

Here’ a list of some characters from the ones I’ve created so far for my Work-For-Hire projects. I shall be writing a series of these dealing with one of my favorite characters in each.

<< #1 FUKKU BHAI

#2 – TRISHANKU (from THE SADHU: THE SILENT ONES)

TRISHANKU was a major character in my run on THE SADHU : THE SILENT ONES, a 5 issue mini-series drawn by R. Manikandan and edited by Ron Marz. When I thought of the character of Trishanku, the immediate model in my mind was the character of Ben Gunn from R.L. Stevenson’s TREASURE ISLAND.

The other influence, obviously, was the mythological figure of Trishanku, who was the only mortal on record to bodily ascend to heaven. His unprecedented act threatened to topple the delicate cosmic balance and as a compromise, he was offered “Trishanku’s Heaven”, a midway realm between heaven, hell and earth.

Like his namesake, our character from Sadhu has been marooned in Limbo for a long time and this has cost him his sanity. Trishanku is a scholar-warrior, displaying in depth knowledge of Vedic hymns and martial arts — a homage to the drunken/crazy kung-fu fighters from Hong Kong flicks.

I still remember the first line I wrote describing the character to the editorial team.

Trishanku is the proverbial mad monk, kind of like Ben Gunn from Treasure Island meets Yoda. You don’t know at any given moment, if he’ll unlock the secrets of the universe or fling his poo at you.

Another cool thing about Trishanku was the way he spoke. He is shown as completely mad by the time we meet him in the story and thus he has a unique speech pattern. He refers to himself in the third person and fires off synonyms of words together. This gives him a deranged voice that hints at deep wisdom.

As the story progresses, we get to know more about who Trishanku really is and what he’s capable of. Needless to say, he plays a pivotal role in wrapping up the plot and helping James Jensen in his quest.

Even when his mind is not quite right (from the centuries of being marooned in Limbo), Trishanku displays awesome capabilities and powers that help him when threatened.

You can read the whole THE SADHU : THE SILENT ONES miniseries for free at SCRIBD. Here’s a post I made earlier about that.

Introducing DHURANDHAR

mohaps — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:38:18 +0000

Lately I’ve started work on a supernatural/occult comic book set in India called DHURANDHAR.

When I initially envisioned the project, I wanted it to have a very typical Indian look and I looked at several artists who were interested in collaborating. I finally decided to pick Siddharth Panwar, a young artist from India who has done some prior work for Raj Comics, who was recommended highly by artist Abhishek Malsuni. Siddharth “got” the character and the setting from the get go and his explorations captured what I wanted to do with this project. I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing how Siddharth shapes the visual aspects of DHURANDHAR further.

As per the story itself, I can’t give away too much of it here (it’s after all at heart a horror story). What I *can* share is that:

It takes place in present day India in the “Real world”. Obviously, it’s as close to the real world as possible, given the subject matter
Trains play a significant part in it
It may or may not have a SMOKE MONSTER

You can find out more about the project and see some concept art/teasers at http://dhurandhar.com.
About DHURANDHAR

DHURANDHAR is a supernatural/occult comic book series (set in present day India) created by Saurav Mohapatra and Siddharth Panwar. Currently work on the first installment “THE MAN WHO RIDES TRAINS”, a 84 page black and white original graphic novel, is underway. [read more... ]

SADHU – THE SILENT ONES Full Miniseries is now free to read on SCRIBD

mohaps — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:08:18 +0000

Way back in 2007, I wrote a miniseries called SADHU – THE SILENT ONES for Virgin Comics (now reborn as Liquid Comics). There was an 8 issue main series called The Sadhu written by Gotham Chopra, who had created the character. I was assigned to the project to continue the story further.

Ron Marz (Witchblade, Green Lantern, Samurai: Heaven and Earth, Dragon Prince) had signed up as Editor for this title and we decided to follow up the main series with a 5 issue mini. So long story short, the entire 5 issue mini is up at “SCRIBD for FREE. I’ve created a SCRIBD collection for easy access.

The Trade Paperback collecting the 5 issues is available from Amazon.com.

The first series (created and written by Gotham) dealt with British soldier James Jensen, whose family (pregnant wife and son) was brutally murdered by his psycopathic commandant and nemesis Townsend. James was left for dead and was revived by a mystic, who initiated him into the ways of the Sadhu. But James was torn between quest for salvation and his thirst for vengeance. The main series ended with James slaying Townsend in London.

I had a ton of fun writing the series. I set out to create what I thought of as an “existential swashbuckler“, something that blended elements of mysticism, metaphysics and good old pulp adventures. Ron was an excellent guide in creating the story and mentored me as I learned the ropes. He also got some cool covers done by Brian Stelfreeze and Jefferey Spokes. The series had great interior art done by R. Manikandan (see the interior page pictured above and below).

Another strong aspect of the whole thing was that Ron and I decided to create a narrative which would be accessible to people who hadn’t read the main series. So if you haven’t read The Sadhu before, you can still enjoy The Silent Ones (or at least we tried our level best to make it so)

I introduced an ancient cult led by a fiesty Grand Mistress (yeah, that’s the pulp adventure part. this was my homage to Thugee lore and an honest attempt to grow beyond Mola Raam from INDIANA JONES AND TEMPLE OF DOOM), played with themes of multiple realities and pre-destiny/rebirth. We started the series off with James coming to know that his son is alive and that the child is a captive of the cult. James races against time to reach his son before they sacrifice him. But his path is not straight forward. He finds himself in Limbo (the void between universes) and encounters a character marooned there for centuries. (gawd, I so want to give out the details, but don’t want to spoil it for you). So why don’t you head on over to SCRIBD and see for yourself?

Or you can use the handy links below:

Mumbai Confidential teaser posters

mohaps — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:31:02 +0000

We now have some teaser posters for Mumbai Confidential. Click on the images to see details or head on over to the Mumbai Confidential site.

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by writer Saurav Mohapatra (DEVI, SADHU, MUMBAI MACGUFFIN, INDIA AUTHENTIC, JIMMY ZHINGCHAK) and artist Vivek Shinde (PROJECT: KALKI, SNAKEWOMAN) set in (of course!) the Indian city of Mumbai.