If this is dumb, I don’t want to be smart.

The Hollywood Reporter has more on the launch of Liquid Comics, formed when Virgin Comics’ Gotham Chopra, Sharad Devarajan and Suresh Seetharaman bought out the assets of the company. As previously expected, Liquid will continue to develop digital content, films, animation and gaming projects based on its original characters and stories. Director Shekhar Kapur will have a changed role, however.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kapur said he will no longer be associated with the company, except as a minority shareholder. “The company is in the process of being restructured, and I continue as a founder-shareholder,” he said.

Liquid’s management plans to proceed with a number of projects previously announced by Virgin and said it soon would announce project launch dates.

But it was not clear whether Virgin-associated talent such as actor Nicolas Cage, porn actress and entrepreneur Jenna Jameson and U.K. musician Dave Stewart would work with Liquid.

Ongoing projects include “Virulents,” a feature based on a Virgin graphic novel to be directed by John Moore (”Behind Enemy Lines”).

Virgin Comics is no more…but Liquid has risen in its place. Virgin’s management team has completed a buyout of Virgin’s assets that they have renamed Liquid Comics. The new entity will have an emphasis on digital content. Developing.

Liquid Comics has completed the management buyout of Virgin Comics led by the founding management team of Gotham Chopra, Sharad Devarajan and Suresh Seetharaman. Liquid Comics will continue to develop innovative digital, film, animation, and gaming projects for its original character, stories and other properties.

Commenting on the change, Sharad Devarajan said, “Virgin Group has been a fantastic partner with whom to work and together we have established a strong foundation of great character properties and media partnerships.
We remain fully committed to continuing our mission to provide a home for innovative creators and storytellers across the world.”

Virgin Group senior vice president of corporate development Dan Porter added, “The management team has a track record of great relationships with artists and media partners. Under this new ownership structure, the company is well positioned for future growth in the rapidly changing global comic space. As Virgin Group focuses on its core activities in North America, we wish them well in building their exciting business.”

Founded in 2005, Virgin Comics is a character entertainment company that has forged partnerships with Warner Brothers, New Regency, Sony Online Entertainment, Sci Fi Channel, Studio 18, UTV and others. Under the new Liquid Comics name, the management team plans to proceed with a number of the projects previously announced as Virgin Comics and will make announcements shortly regarding those projects and the restructured launch dates.

Ron Chan of Periscope Studio posts his artwork for a once-upcoming issue of Virgin’s GAMEKEEPER.

Related: Snark from Steven Grant:

As I’ve mentioned before they’re not the first company predicated on titles created by “stars” with the grunt work performed by work-for-hire comics talent, with the goal of generating mass media franchises from the properties; that’s how the runaway smash success story of the 1990s, the much-loved Tekno Comics, became the industry powerhouse they are today.

Looking at my calendar for today, there was a single item, planned about a month ago:

12:00 — Lunch with Virgin Comics

The meeting had already been postponed once — it was a planned confab between Publishers Weekly’s team with Virgin’s people to talk about upcoming projects and how we could “work together.” Pretty standard stuff in the publishing biz, but a lunch that was never to be.

Last month, at one of San Diego’s numerous parties, I ran into a colleague from back in the day, a veteran of many companies and many booms and busts. We were talking about the problems at Tokyopop and Platinum, and the question came up of what company would be next. I have to admit, when asked, I was stumped. Virgin flashed briefly through my mind, but things like the looming lunch hoodwinked me into thinking that systems at Virgin were go. I never really had any reason to think they were “go,” but Virgin didn’t really do anything that showed they even considered panicking, or shoring up or cutting back…or ANYTHING business related, really. Putting out books by celebrities — with an occasional, half-hearted marketing push — seemed to be the sum extent of Virgin’s business plan.

But apparently, the handwriting had been on the wall, as an official statement released yesterday showed:

Virgin Comics announced today that it will be reorganizing its operations and closing its New York office to consolidate in an LA base.
The Company is currently working with management to restructure the business and will release its future plans in the next few weeks.
Sharad Devarajan, CEO, said, “We remain excited about the business and partnerships we have built through Virgin Comics and are working towards a restructuring that properly takes the business forward. The decision to scale down the New York operations and concentrate on core activities is due to the current macro-economic downturn and is in no way a reflection on the dedicated and valuable employees we have had the privilege to work with.”

Or, as I predicted the other day, all those pacts and movie deals will probably stick around. According to the PW piece, the Indian animation studio will also stay in place.

And so, another grave marker for another pamphlet publisher. Virgin’s seeming demise has turned in some online quarters in to yet another battle for the soul of the Direct Market — or perhaps even more accurately, an examination of whether the DM even has a soul.

I’ll return to this in a bit, but to me, anyway, the blazingly obvious thing about Virgin’s publishing failure — and the concurrent problems at Tokyopop and Platinum — is that starting a comic book company just to get movie options as a business plan — THAT DOES NOT WORK. Or as a a financial analyst told PWCW, “movie and video game deals are typically seen as one-time windfalls, not a bankable business strategy.”

Oh, it may work for the folks at the top — I doubt Scott Rosenberg or Stuart Levy is in any danger of losing their homes over the failures of their own business plans. And perhaps that is all that matters. But anyone who hopes to make an ongoing business out of optioning comics plots to Hollywood without actually publishing comics that people want to read, will be in for some disappointment. (Ironically, Tokyopop actually did publish lots of comics that people wanted to read–but they haven’t been able to sell Hollywood on any of these ideas.) Everyone who has tried it has failed — from Tekno to late-period CrossGen on. And there’s no evidence to show it’s going to start working soon — Radical, I’m looking at you.

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Somewhere, Nicolas Cage is crying. Calvin Reid at PW gets the tale of the tape:

Although calls to Virgin Comics CEO and cofounder Sharad Devarajan (who is also president of Gotham Entertainment) have not been returned, sources confirm that the venture has been closed and that a statement will likely be issued soon. The closing appears to effect only Virgin Comics’ U.S. publishing operations in New York City and does not effect the operations of Gotham Entertainment, the Bangalore, India-based partner in the venture that produces comics targeted at the South Asian consumer market.

The company produced about 17 different comics series in addition to publishing about 18 trade paperback collections and 3 hardcover titles. It is unclear what will happen to the rights to these properties.

We’re in transit back to civilization today. Full posting resumes tomorrow.

We’ll have more coverage of the Virgin Comics realignment soonish. Three former Virgin freelancers confirmed the company’s publishing shut down in our own comments thread, but elsewhere on the Web, the response seems to be a resounding “So?”…it looks like Virgin never really got a hold of any kind of audience. Another pamphlet publisher down the tubes.

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Rumors about Virgin Comics are flying fast and furious this weekend. Sources are telling me that the comics publishing is getting drastically reduced or eliminated and most of the New York staff has been let go…however, official announcements or confirmation have not yet come.

Virgin Comics launched in 2006, funded by billionaire mogul Richard Branson, with input from author Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. However, the principal movers and shakers at the company are comics-loving entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, and Gotham Chopra. From the start, Virgin has produced several lines of comics — the “Shakti” line, based on Hindu mythology and culture, and the “Director’s Cut” line which features concepts by directors such as Kapur, Guy Ritchie, and John Woo. The “Voices” line includes comics based on concepts by a variety of Hollywood/entertainment types, from Nicolas Cage (Nowhere Man) and Dave Stewart to Hugh Jackman and, most notoriously, Jenna Jameson.

Virgin Comics had also recently arranged with the Sci-Fi Channel to both produce comics based on TV shows and develop comics as shows. The first was The Stranded, by Mike Carey, which is being developed as a pilot.

Virgin’s most recent notable announcements are a deal with Stan Lee to create an entire new superhero universe, and The MBX, a series of webisodes based on the Mahabharata, written by Grant Morrison.

Virgin’s print comics line never seemed to catch fire, either in the US or India, so cutbacks would come as no surprise. It would be equally surprising to see a lot of their development deals and web-based material disappear, however.

Developing.

Vintage Grant Morrison in an interview with A. David Lewis at PWCW:

GM: Yeah! Because it’s the obvious, isn’t it? Again, this isn’t a mystical concept, because I’m not a mystical person sometimes. I got into magic to see if it was real. If someone says, “Ok, a demon will appear if you do this spell,” I just say, “Bullshit.” So, I did this spell, and then the demon appeared. So I had to revise my vision of what the world was and how it worked. Again, that’s another element of magic for me, trying to figure out, why do these things happen—what are we doing to our nervous systems to make us believe a demon has entered the room? It became to me about the actual “nuts and bolts” of it, not the fantastic thing or the mystic thing or the names of angels. I became interested in what’s actually going on.

PWCW: But you tried it out, and a demon did appear?

GM: Yeah!

PWCW: Wow.

Virgin is having portfolio reviews, exclusives and lots and lots of Grant Morrison, plus a contest to get drawn into Hugh Jackman’s comic NOWHERE MAN:

Kicking off the Con on Thursday morning (July 24) is our first panel, Stan Lee and Grant Morrison talk Virgin Comics, at 10:45-11:45am in Ballroom 20. Two of the most important comics creators team up to discuss the bold new frontiers being explored in the art of storytelling. Stan Lee shares his insights on the world of comics, and presents never-before-revealed hints about his new superhero universe with Virgin Comics, while the brilliant and prolific Grant Morrison discusses and debuts footage from his new animated project MBX from Virgin Comics and Perspective Studios. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event!

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In a week in which he announced a new superhero, announced a new manga deal and was awarded the first ever New York Comics Legend Award, Stan Lee just had to ramp it up a notch with news of a new line of superhero comics from Virgin:

“It will be a team of 10 heroes and they will be dealing with personality conflicts, personal problems and chemistry within the team,” Lee said in an interview this week. “I’m going to get started working on it right away and I’m very excited about doing something that will be fresh and breaking new ground. I can’t give away the details or the names yet, but I have some exciting things in mind.”

Virgin has had a number of big-name creators writing comics under its banner, among them filmmakers Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam and John Woo, actor Nicolas Cage and musician Dave Stewart.

The company has largely steered clear of traditional superheroes. While Lee has an esteemed background in that sector, his most vital work was in the 1960s and 1970s, and his most recent work, with its bombastic dialogue, is not in sync with the tone of today’s elite comics writers.

While our own aching bones prevented us from attending the Comics Legend award party, can anyone doubt that Lee is truly a law unto himself where getting his name out there is concerned?

Technorati Tags: Stan Lee

Dan Dare, Jenna Jameson, and Grant Morrison – Can you imagine the buddy pic? Morrison teams up with Virginonce more to announce an animation project with the company. More details in the jump.

Here’s a taste of how you can experience Virgin Comics first-hand at the Con. Be sure to check out our various panels and stop by the Virgin Comics booth (# 1415) to pick up some free Comic-Con goodies!

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Now here is the interview we have been waiting for! Hugh Jackman and Marc Guggenheim are teaming up on the latest Virgin Comics panel-to-screen project, Nowhere Man. Is it about a guy who doesn’t have a point of view and knows not where he’s going to? Not really, but he may be just a bit like me and you.

Story was being kept under wraps, but Jackson’s Seed Productions partner John Palermo said it features a protagonist reminiscent of the one Will Smith played in “I Am Legend.” The concept is a futuristic world where mankind has traded privacy for safety, a premise that sprouted with Seed, Virgin CEO Sharad Devarajan and chief creative officer Gotham Chopra.

“This is our first comic, and we feel the concept is transferable to other arenas, perhaps first as a videogame, and then a movie,” Palermo said.

You don’t’ say! According to Variety, Jackman is in love with the comic book world. “I’ve had so much fun in the graphic novel world with the ‘X-Men’ franchise that I wanted to get even more involved.”

We want you to get more involved, too, Hugh. Very very involved. We’re here to help you every step of the way. Just say the word.

Here at Stately Beat Manor we’ve been getting many holiday cards, both physical and electronic, and each and every one brightens our mailbox with tidings of joy. By far the most unusual, however, was the Virgin Comics holiday card, above. At first we thought “Kaliiiiiiiiii!” but’s it’s actually a character from VOODOO CHILD by Nicolas and Weston Cage. Not what we were expecting but here’s to diversity!

Via PR come the word that Witchblade co-creator Christina Z., long MIA from the comics scene, will be writing Virgin’s upcoming Jenna Jameson comic which is not called what you think it is, but instead SHADOW HUNTER. You can read all about it in the jump, but for the moment we’d like to suggest that the first thing Christina do is, during a story conference, buy Jenna a SANDWICH.

If Jenna resists an entire sandwich, Christina could buy a sandwich herself and perhaps offer to share it. Suggested phrases: “This turkey avocado havarti sandwich is really good. Have a bite.”

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Another massive multiplayer online role playing game is in the works, this one based on the Indian-based Ramayan universe published by Virgin Comics. The Kama Sutra has GOT to figure in there somehow.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced it is teaming up with Virgin comics to create an MMORPG based on the Indian-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book universe.

“The deal was announced today by John Smedley, President of SOE and Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder and CEO of Virgin Comics.

“Ramayan has inspired the lives of millions of people through the ages. The re-imagining of this great ancient epic through the creativity of a game platform re-affirms the fact that Ramayan is one of the greatest stories ever told,” said Deepak Chopra. “The fact that the same creative team of young Indians that created the story will be involved in working with SOE’s game development team, is a testament to the innovative and mythic minds of these gifted Indian creators who will take a new generation to new frontiers across the seas of consciousness into new realms of mystery, magic, adventure, and transformation.”

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New York filmmaker and actor, Ed Burns (Brothers McMullen, Saving Private Ryan) is creating a new series of comic books, it was announced today by Burns at Comic-Con, the industry’s annual super-festival in San Diego.

The series, entitled Dock Walloper, debuts in comic shops and online comic retailers in November. The complete 144 page Dock Walloper book will be available in May 2008 at all major book sellers. A new site, DockWalloper.com, will host additional information, previews and pre-orders of the comic art and books. The comic series will be written by Burns, along with comic book legend, Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane, Monolith). Cover and interior art for the series will be created by Virgin Comics’ in-house illustration studio and led by rising comic book star, Siju Thomas.

“As we are approaching the centennial of Prohibition in America, I wanted to re-imagine some of the characters and icons of that era with a mythic spin, in a story set in a stylized New York City of the 20’s,” said Ed Burns. “The story takes the classic American gangster tale, and transposes it to this atmospheric landscape, where the characters and inhabitants possess exaggerated strength, ability and power, capturing a modern American mythology.”

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As always, the jokes write themselves. Former porn superstar Jameson’s previous comics connections include working with Bernard Chang on illustrated portions of HOW TO MAKE LOVE LIKE A PORN STAR, the book she co-wrote with Neil Straus.

World-famous entrepreneur, adult entertainment icon and New York Times best-selling author Jenna Jameson is creating and staring in her own series of comic books, it was announced today by Virgin Comics CEO, Sharad Devarajan, at Comic-Con, the industry’s annual super-festival in San Diego. The series, titled Shadow Hunter, debuts in comic shops and online comic retailers in December. The complete 144 page Shadow Hunter book will be available in June 2008 at all major book sellers. A new site, JennaComix.com will host additional information, previews and pre-orders of the comic art and books.

Shadow Hunter is the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul. Cover art for the first issue has been created by Greg Horn, a top illustrator of comic books and video games. The story, while provocative and sexy, contains no nudity and is intended for a mainstream audience.

“Jenna Jameson is a cultural force,” said Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan. “She is an entrepreneur who is taking the taboo to the mainstream and has built an industry around her brand.”

“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Virgin to bring this story to life, first as comics and eventually in film and other formats,” said Jenna Jameson. “Working with comics is creatively liberating – everything is possible. My character is sultry, sexy and kicks ass!’

“Jenna brings a defiance and edge to everything she does, said Gotham Chopra, Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Comics. “She’s a provocateur and there’s no doubt that our creative team at Virgin is going to have a blast collaborating with her. I can assure you every artist we have in our studio is vying to get assigned to this project!”

San Diego Comic-Con is preparing for record crowds when Jenna makes her very first appearance at this event that attracts more than 100,000 fans. Jenna will be speaking about Shadow Hunter and signing autographs for fans on Saturday afternoon, July 28 at 4:30 PM. Images from the series will be available from the Virgin Comics booth at the San Diego Convention Center.

MySpace’s influence on the comcis industry seems to be growing and growing, as Virgin is the latest entity to pact with the social networking giant. This time it’s bringing reader participation to a new level. Read on.

Virgin Comics and MySpace have teamed up to launch Coalition Comix (http://www.myspace.com/coalitioncomix), a new online comic book platform, allowing thousands of participants to work with leading comic book creators in the development and creation of new characters and stories.

Coalition Comix will open up the role of comic book writer to the world at large, allowing participants to providing artistic direction for the comic by voting on the plot twists and turns at each step of the way.

Coalition Comix will commission some of the comic book industry’s leading creators to collaborate with users as virtual “Story Masters.” Leading creators will guide participants to collectively craft new story properties for comics and subsequent development into film, games and animations.

“Coalition Comix will allow readers to collaborate artistically with both a leading comics professional as well as thousands of like-minded MySpace users all over the world,” said Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Virgin Comics. “It opens the door to a new world of interactions and collaborations, taking an exciting step into the creative possibilities of the internet, and a new form of collaborative art without borders, barriers, or limits.”

“MySpace is about self-expression and the interactive format of Coalition Comix will allow the MySpace community to make themselves part of the story,” said Shawn Gold, senior vice president of marketing for MySpace.

Each digital issue will have a real time creation period of two weeks, with sketches, artwork and scripts continuously uploaded for interactivity with the community. The first comic planned will be guided by leading comic book author, Mike Carey (Voodoo Child, X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four).

Carey will dialogue with readers and guide the development of the plot at each step along the way by reviewing feedback from readers, and posing questions with five or six choices for the Coalition Comix community to choose from. During this time the Story Master will evaluate progress at timed intervals to give feedback to the community. Their ideas and votes will determine the final plot, generating a final work of sequential art that was created and influenced by hundreds or even thousands of contributors.

Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comic’s Chief Creative Officer added, “Creativity and innovation our the core ingredients to everything we try and do at Virgin Comics. So when we decided we wanted to experiment online and do something different, there was only one partner that made sense to work with - MySpace. What are we gonna create together? No one knows, but it will be cool. That’s the point.”

Users can join up to participate in Coalition Comix on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/coalitioncomix.

Comic book fans can also learn more by visiting the official MySpace Comic Books profile (www.myspace.com/comicbooks). This profile is the official community for manga, graphic novels and comic books on MySpace, where fans and friends of MySpace Comic Books can find the latest comic book news, interviews, special features, contests, exclusives and more. MySpace Comic Books spotlights the most exciting projects, creators and events in the industry including user generated comics by MySpace members themselves.