Founder | Sharad Devarajan (CEO) |
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Key people |
Gotham Entertainment Group LLC was an American company established in 1997 to establish a leadership position in the Indian comic magazine and children's book market. The company was established by executives in the industry including the former CEO of Time-Life, the former Presidents of Warner Music Media and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) Direct, and the former Regional Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson-Asia Pacific. Gotham's CEO, Sharad Devarajan, is an entrepreneur with prior media experience at MTV Networks, Ford Modeling Agency, Elektra Entertainment, and DC Comics.
Gotham comics started publishing comics in India in the year 1998. In the early to mid-2000s, Gotham established itself as one of the leading providers of international comic magazines in India, securing publishing relationships with DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, MAD Magazine, Panini, S.p.A. and Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing. Through these arrangements, Gotham had access to a large library of publishing content, featuring over 10,000 character properties and more than 700 monthly comic magazine titles including Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, Tarzan, Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls, The Flintstones, and Wonder Woman. Gotham's products were available in English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, and other regional languages, reaching readers in South Asia.
Perhaps their most significant partnership was with Marvel Comics to create an Indian version of Spider-Man, which incorporated India's ancient, mystical heritage [1] and coincided with the launch of the second Spider-Man film in India. [2]
In July 2008, Gotham announced a partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin [3] empire to launch Virgin Comics in India. The first three titles that were made available in India were: Devi, Snake Woman and The Sadhu followed by Ramayan 3392 A.D. , a futuristic sci-fi story inspired by the original Ramayana mythology. [4]
Gotham Comics was usually published in three varying formats: standard issues (usually 22 pages in length); double issues (48 pages in length, sometimes a combination of two separate stories); and giant specials (six standard issues in one volume).
DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937.
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and many others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe. Those characters include Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Fantastic Four, and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse.
Valiant Comics is an American comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim Entertainment. After Acclaim’s 2004 bankruptcy, the company’s assets were purchased as part of Valiant Entertainment by entrepreneurs Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari in 2005. In 2011, Valiant received a capital infusion from private investment company Cuneo & Company, LLC. Peter Cuneo and Gavin Cuneo joined the company and a relaunch was announced.
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison.
Marvel Comics 2 was an imprint from Marvel Comics whose comic books depict an alternative future timeline for the Marvel Universe. The imprint was spun off from the events of What If? #105, which was the first appearance of the character Spider-Girl, Spider-Man's daughter from an alternative future. This Earth has been designated as Earth-982.
Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectible stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as manga in several non-English-speaking countries through the Planet Manga publishing division.
Joshua Middleton is an artist and designer working in the animation, film, comics, and book industries. In 2004 he was nominated for an Eisner Award as "Best Cover Artist" for his work on Marvel's NYX, X-Men Unlimited, and New Mutants.
Spider-Man: India is a superhero comic book series published in India by Gotham Entertainment Group in 2004, retelling the story of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man in an Indian setting. It ran for four issues, which were later also published in the United States in 2005 and collected into a trade paperback (ISBN 0-7851-1640-0). The series was created by Sharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, and Jeevan J. Kang with Marvel Comics. The titular character of Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man made his cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse voiced by Karan Soni, depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.
Marvel Entertainment, LLC was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. The company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company since 2009, and was mainly known for consumer products, licensing, and comic books by Marvel Comics, as well as its early forays into films and television series, including those within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The Sadhu is a comic book series based on the character of the same name. The Sadhu was created by Gotham Chopra and Jeevan Kang and the series is part of the Shakti line of comics published by Virgin Comics.
Jeevan J. Kang is an Indian comic book artist and writer.
Marvel Animation Inc. is an American animation production company. It was incorporated on January 25, 2008 to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets. The incorporated Marvel Animation included then ongoing animation efforts by Marvel Studios with Lionsgate and Nickelodeon. Marvel Animation operates under Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
Sharad Devarajan is the co-founder and CEO of Liquid Comics LLC, a digital entertainment company. Devarajan is also the co-founder and CEO of the Graphic India, which he co-founded with CA Media LP, the Asian investment arm of Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group, LLC.
Gotham Chopra is an American sports documentarian, media entrepreneur, producer, podcast host, director, journalist, and author. He is a co-founder of Religion of Sports, Liquid Comics, Chopra Media, and the Chopra Well. He is known for his sports-centric films, having worked with athletes such as Tom Brady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Simone Biles and Michael Strahan.
Teshkeel Comics is a Kuwaiti comic book publisher, and a division of Teshkeel Media Group, a company focused on creating, re-engineering and exploiting all forms of children's media based on or infused with localised culture in the Middle East.
Beyond is a three issue series from Virgin Comics. It was created by Deepak Chopra and written by Ron Marz with art by Edison George and is being adapted from a screenplay written by Chopra.
Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which would later become Marvel Comics. He was Marvel's primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries.
Liquid Comics is an Indian comic book publishing company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produces stories for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group, author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, and Gotham Chopra. In August 2008, the company restructured and relocated from New York to Los Angeles. On September 24, 2008, it was announced that Virgin Comics was renamed Liquid Comics after a management buyout.
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics in collaboration with Gotham Entertainment. Pavitr Prabhakar is an Indian alternate version of Spider-Man who lives in Mumbai, India.