oh god! you devi!

Devi
Shekhar Khapur/Siddharth Kotian/Samit Basu/Mukesh Singh
Virgin Comics


we all know Sir Richard Branson's reputation as an adventurer and a risk-taker. we all know his daring and unusual business ventures and his penchant for drawing publicity to them. but ... comics???

actually, am giving props to him for diverging from the pack, i.e., the American context of comics, and going with the stories that appeal to the 2nd most populous country in the world: India. doesn't mean that the graying storekeeper in Bangalore, excuse me, Bengaluru, will be reading them (they're still aimed at the American audience primarily, and to an English-speaking audience secondarily). the American Desi (or at least their generation born on these shores) will mostly appreciate them, as it gives them a sense of what their roots are, packaged in modern-day pop culture wrappers.

wait a sec. Branson probably doesn't even know what his company is putting out. Virgin Comics' braintrust is composed of such names as Shekhar Kapur and Deepak Chopra (Dr. Phil will probably come out with his own comic line next year, financed by Harpo Productions). Indian art and mythology get a consciousness-boost while drawing new readers to the medium. you may like it or love it, but that's the way Branson operates.

so i've been getting some titles in the past months, and a few of them jumped out at me: Devi, the John Woo-penned 7 Brothers, and the upcoming retelling of the Ramayana epic (that'll take a lot of issues, i think). for this post, let me focus on the (sort-of) babe-centric Devi.

if they thought kickass babes were a draw to reading Virgin Comics, then they're right!

the fertile Indian mythology is as rich as any, and draws some similarities to what we might have learned as children. the gods of their Pantheon, led by Bodha, were instrumental in creating life as we know it. but one god with an ego, Bala, wanted dominion over their creations. spurned by the other gods, Bala went into exile and walked among humans. taking the form of a bat, he asserted his power over them and forced them to worship him, giving rise to the resistance movement Durapasya. Bala grew more powerful in time and the gods were unable to dissuade him from his actions. Bodha then decided to create a divine entity to combat Bala, but will be housed in a pre-selected human (in rites to be performed by the Durapasya), lest the entity turns on them once again. this powerful entity in a human avatar was then known as Devi. as to why the candidate mostly turns out to be a sexy full-figured woman is a question you should ask the gods' marketing division. or maybe not. they'd think you're dumb and laugh at your face.

actually, even Bala did.

maybe we should rethink the term 'chauvinist pig'

the first incarnation of Devi kicked Bala's butt for that crack (wait ... butt ... crack ... this post is already deteriorating early).

who wants to bet the Durapasya were staring at something else?

and who doesn't like a woman who knows what she wants ... and gets it? yeah, am not asking you, you chauvinist ... bat.


so, the evil god is imprisoned. big deal. they also said the Iraq War was over in 2003, that he never had sex with his intern, and that he would never leave the Miami Dolphins for Alabama.

"free ... from credit card payments ... and fraudulent charges ... and identity theft!"

the end, right?


okay, of course not.

present day world. let's cut to a bunch of dead ninjas. this is barely relevant to the big picture, but if you have a bunch of dead ninjas lying around, then that means Wolverine just passed by. that should be cool.


but no, actually, the fine ninja asskicking was administered by Kratha, a former Duparasya warrior turned premiere freelance assassin. just what we need: a future girlfight! note: Kratha is some sort of Lady Deathstrike, with her hands morphing into long steel claws. where's Wolverine when you need him?


you can already guess who hires her to kill this day's Devi avatar:

"i pwn those fools at Rucker Park!"

set in Sitapur, a Gotham City-equivalent, we are introduced to Inspector Rahul Singh, a cop who loves the smell of liquor in the morning ...

they said "don't drink and drive", not "don't drink and shoot"

... chopping heads off psychotic animals ...


... and loving liquor in the evening too. but in this case, a lead from the fanged psycho brings him to this club owned by a big-time mutton-chopped gangster named Iyam. where he meets our soon-to-be-heroine, Tara.

your eyes ... opened wide as i looked your way ...

and who, if you believe the neighborhood gossips, should be outed as a tramp and a harlot. yep, i can imagine those accents now (thanks to The Guru!).


Iyam gets called somewhere else, Tara feels ignored, you know the drill. Tara gets 'kidnapped' on the way home, by monks who would ultimately be revealed as the Durapasya.


Iyam meets up with Amara Gaelle, who gave Lord Bala's instructions to kill Tara to their new hire, Kratha. thus we learn that Iyam is also the incarnation of Bala's general (hey, i didn't wanna assume; would you rather have him named "Fred"?) and he's stringing Tara all along before he kills her.

you're in love ... that's the way ... it should be ...

what Iyam doesn't know is that Rahul trailed him to the location, but that was going to change soon enough.

meanwhile, Kratha, who was ready to take out the unwitting Tara and the Durapasya, is interrupted by a teleporting monk named Agantuk (shades of a teleporting priest/elf named Kurt Wagner), who tries to talk her out of her job, but in vain.


Kratha acknowledges her history and her love for the job and the money overrides whatever remains of her moral compass. Agantuk also tells her that he has his doubts on the Durapasya, but still has enough faith to let the whole thing play out and let Tara become the Devi entity.

and i have neither of the two.

back at the pier, Rahul is discovered and is brought to Iyam and Amara. Iyam, not wanting to incur the wrath of Bala, leaves to kill Tara (at least beat Kratha to the task). Amara volunteers to kill Rahul herself.

yes, that will do. everytime.

plot twist: Amara shoots Iyam's psycho goons, lies to Lord Bala about Iyam, lets Rahul live to save Tara before Iyam gets to her. don't you love plot twists?

Iyam meanwhile, makes his grand entrance in the Durapasya parade. and proceeds to beat up all the priests who took exception to his mutton chops. he even joins forces with Kratha, and his suspicions of Amara's deception keep growing.

"oh, you didn't know? your ass better call somebody!!!"

Agantuk, thinking quickly, teleports Tara with a Cheech and Chong duo in a car. the two take a break from their "weed studies" and deliver the Devi candidate to the Durapasya council. unknown to the two, Tara was already undergoing a transformation internally.


the council, led by Swamiji, wants to continue the ritual (involves killing Tara and being reborn as the Devi), and doesn't believe in Agantuk's claims that Lord Bala's minions attempt to disrupt the proceedings. Agantuk firmly believes that the new Devi for this day and age has to learn to combine her humanity and divinity, and not just simply be a vessel. Swamiji dismisses Agantuk like a 5-year old boy who wants a PS3.

the high priest didn't waste any opportunity to show off his new iPhone

to Agantuk's credit, he didn't corner the market on being dismissed. Rahul doesn't get the police backup he asks for, by virtue of being an alcoholic. but he demonstrates his perfect timing, as well as his skills as a future stand up comic, by interrupting the ritual sacrificing of Tara.


things come to a head when Iyam and Kratha also crash the party. Kratha kills Swamiji before he swings the blade down, because she wants the honor. but of course Agantuk is there once again to change her opinion. or try to.


in a big case of bone-headedness (as comedians are capable of doing; see Richards, Michael), Rahul shoots Iyam twice. he already knew that bullets bounced off him the first time around. Iyam was more surprised that Rahul was even there, thus confirming Amara's trickery, than Rahul's stupidity.

unbeknownst to all, Tara's transformation to Devi was complete, thanks to Bodha (didn't need you old priests). and awakens in a burst of power.

to everyone's surprise, including Agantuk, this Devi still had Tara in her, and thus was affronted she wasn't even asked to take the responsibility of battling the ancient demons. she walks out of the room, out of the agenda of the Durapasya, with the injured Rahul.


so how long before these two really, really hook up? you know they're gonna do it. what's that, Branson? you wanna make it interesting? okay. the over/under is 6 issues. i say i'll take the over, because issue #12 (assuming it gets that far), the one year anniversary is always interesting. you're taking the under? okay, fine, as long as you don't cheat and dictate the flow of stories, you rich feb.


this Mukesh guy has talent, despite the Image/WildStorm influence and the occasional odd-looking figure. but i'd be surprised if he doesn't become a popular artist in his own right soon enough. as i speak, he's already gaining some pub. wait till Virgin Comics comes out with its swimsuit edition. Kotian and Basu tag-team on the script, and though it could get wordy at times ('cause they have to explain this mythology stuff to us peasants), it still has a Western feel overall, enough to draw new fans in.

by the way, they're rounding up a list of who might play Tara/Devi if ever a movie is made (keep buying them, Desis), and here's the initial short list. Cast your votes!

Aishwarya Rai	Lara Dutta
Priyanka Chopra	Kim Kardashian

of course, the story's not over yet. as Iyam promised:

Bruce Wayne, Bruce, is that you?
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issues read: #0-5