Saurav Mohapatra: Cutting His Teeth at Virgin Comics
Virgin Comics is bringing new talent into the industry mix. One of these new voices is writer Saurav Mohapatra. As detailed at his website, Mohapatra is the writer of “Virgin Comics' series India Authentic, Devi and Sadhu: The Silent Ones”. SBC’s Matthew McLean recently got to interview Mohapatra about his work for Virgin.
Matthew McLean (MM): A good many readers are not as of yet familiar with Virgin Comics. Could you take a moment and tell us a bit about the company?
Saurav Mohapatra (SM): Yes, the comic book market is so crowded. Virgin Comics is a young company. It is the brain child of Gotham Chopra and Sharad Devarajan. Sharad is the founder of Gotham Comics which reprints and distributes DC/Marvel titles in India and South Asia. So Gotham and he being lifelong comic book fans, got together about starting a comic book company which builds off of Indian mythology. They pitched the idea to Richard Branson of Virgin group and he loved it. The rest is there for all to see.
The books are divided into imprints. Shakti, Director's Cut and Voices. Shakti is the imprint that covers Sadhu, Devi, Ramayan 3392 A.D. etc, and is about bringing the Indian mythology and legend based comics by Indian creators to a world audience.
MM: How did you end up working with Virgin?
SM: Well sometime in September '06 my wife sent me an email with a link to a newspaper article about Virgin Comics. I was so excited about it I sent them my resume and portfolio. I had done mostly web comics till then. They contacted me and asked me to write a test script. I sent that in. Sometime later Gotham Chopra, the editor in chief and Chief Creative Officer of Virgin wrote to me offering me India Authentic. That was the first series I started work on. Then down the line I was offered Devi and Sadhu when new arcs were launched. It was kind of cool to receive Gotham's first email. I was so pumped, I wrote him a quick draft of Kaali (which eventually became India Authentic #2) and things sorta happened from there
MM: You are educated as an agricultural engineer, right? How did you make the transition from engineer to comic book writer?
SM: Well…it is true I hold a bachelor's degree in Agricultural and Food Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in India but I started my professional career as a programmer. I gatecrashed an interview for a software company when in college.
I have been creating "comics" since I was 4. My mom still ribs me about my "multimedia presentations" where in I'd draw stick figures with a chalk on the sidewalk with balloons, captions and would provide the sound effects too. My early comic books were subject to "stringent criticism" by the school bullies since they mostly contained a hulk rip off character called "Mohaps" who bashed them. Owww... my jaws still hurt from those memories. It taught me to take criticism.
When we were dating my wife (she was my girlfriend at the time) encouraged me to start writing again.
MM: For a man who is passionate about comics, you’ve certainly been busy in other areas. You’ve hold three patents and work in a start-up company as well as writing for Virgin. Does your background and knowledge of web technology influence your writing?
SM: Yeah, it does. Right now I am balancing time between "Dimdim" a start up I helped co-found and my monthlies for Virgin Comics. See deep down I describe myself as "an author, artist and a bona fide geek". The geek in me kind of inspires me to always experiment and sometimes it shows into my writing. I am not much of an artist in that I can't draw much more than stick figure storyboards but still I believe being a writer and a technologist it helps me exercise both hemispheres of my brain: While creating something the old "art and science" synergy. (God, I can't believe I said synergy.)
Also working in software kind of gives me the financial stability to go about the business of creating comics till I can make a full living out of it.
MM: Speaking of synergy, Virgin has offices in Bangalore and New York. You live in Massachusetts. How does the collaborative process work? 
SM: Don't forget my editor Ron Marz (for Devi / Sadhu) lives in upstate New York. It's a small world we live in. We do most of the stuff over email and IM. I like to think that is the future of all collaborations. Ron and I chat on the phone often, especially when I get stuck on something. It is a great help to have a legend like him as what I essentially think of as a "Mentor".
MM: What has working with Ron Marz been like?
SM: Great. Ron is a terrific mentor, once my "fanboy" phase got over. Working with him has been a great learning experience. He has a tremendous work ethic. And a very refreshing air of professionalism. Working with him for the last couple of months or so I've learned so much about the art of comic book writing and the craft.
I remember the first mail Ron sent to me. He asked me what comics you like. I sent him the list and then he replies back, "From this list I think we're going to have a great time working together." The best part is Ron has a similar type of external memory as mine.
MM: External memory?
SM: Yeah. For example I'd go like, "Ron I'm thinking about a story idea about XYZ doing ABC". Ron would be like, "Oh! Have you read Amazing Hyperman #33 published in 1983? That had a similar story." And then we end up talking for 20 minutes on Amazing Hyperman #33. Just that experience in itself has been rewarding enough. I just used a fictional name, but most of our conversations are like that.
MM: That’s great. Let’s talk a moment specifically about your work on the Virgin titles. Did you grow up being familiar with Indian folklore or is it something you researched for writing these titles?
SM: A bit of both. I grew up with most of the stories like so many of my generation. My mom would tell me the stories as bedtime stories. Plus I read a lot of them growing up in the Indian equivalent of "Illustrated classics". But for writing something like India Authentic I'd again research them through books and online to remind myself of the particulars of the legends and also to find out various versions of the same story.
MM: Considering the depth of the stories, that must be a lot of research.
SM: Yeah, but think about it this way, it is also a lot of fun. Tracking down various versions, deciding on what'd work in a comic or not. India Authentic has been great fun to write because it brings back memories of my childhood. As I think back about the stories a lot of other stuff floods back in.
MM: India has a rich cultural heritage that many Americans are ignorant of. What are your ambitions in this regard? Do you have any stories in particular that you’re excited about telling?
SM: First of all I don't like the word "ignorant". As the bard says "More things in heaven and earth" so I'd like to think that a lot of people are not "aware" of the stuff. India Authentic has been real fun to write just because I get to tell these stories that are sort of fresh for a western audience. Devi is a kicker cause it's writing superhero comics in a very unique setting and locale. The one I am really looking forward to is Sadhu just because Gotham has set up such a lyrical and beautiful world and the possibilities are endless. In the arc of Devithat I'm writing I've tried to bring through the image of India as it exists currently. You know a world where cell phones and temples co-exist. That is India for you. It's kind of exciting to see first hand. You walk three steps and it's almost like you are seeing the past, present and future all blend into the now.
MM: That almost sounds like William Gibson's description of Tokyo.
SM: I loved Neuromancer. Well I've never been to Tokyo. But I can pretty much take a guess at how it'd be.
MM: Ganesha #1, the first of the India Authentic, has Deepak Chopra, the spiritual writer, on the credits. Did you get to work with him on the project? If so, what was his involvement?
SM: Deepak Chopra provides the connection between the stories of India Authentic and how they relate to the modern world. If you read through his introduction of Ganesha you shall find what enormous value he brings to the project. Those two pages set up the context and sort of serve as the Rosetta Stone for someone not familiar with Indian Mythology to go ahead and relate to the stories.
MM: For readers who haven’t picked up the book yet or those who missed the intro, can you give a little insight into how that works?
SM: Let us break it down into three basic parts. What India Authenticoffers is
a) The story (one per issue).
b) Deepak Chopra's introduction (which provides the context for that particular issue).
c) The overall 'arc' (for example the first five books are all related to Shiva).
Most Indians grew up with these stories. While those outside of India have no context. It was a challenge coming up with the story which would work as a 22 page comic book. And still make sure that the barrier to entry so to speak remained as low as possible for someone not familiar with the mythology.
Let us take Ganesha for example. For my part I tried to bring about the underlying theme of love and duty between a mother and a son because myths might be locale specific but the themes they represent are universal. Deepak Chopra's foreword further enhances this by describing the symbology of Ganesha from a spiritual standpoint.
Once he or she reads the foreword, the reader receives sort of a basic platform an idea of where the writer is coming from.
MM: In some ways, it sounds like you are re-creating the ‘illustrated classics’ of your youth for a novice audience.
SM: I'd not say recreating because India Authentic aims for something bigger. We do not try to cram entire volumes or tomes into 22 pages. Rather we have tried to focus on telling a single story, something that sort of represents the protagonist and I think you shall agree with me when I say that the art is mindblowing.
The books exist as one shots, but they are also grouped into arcs with an overall theme. Like first arc is about Shiva. He features in all four books and the "season finale" is about him.
MM: The art of all the Virgin books has been very high quality.
SM: Yeah. This ties into one of your earlier questions as to the vision for Virgin Comics. VC is allowing a new generation of Indian creators be they artists or writers to showcase their talent for the international audience. Fro example, we would not even be talking were it not for Virgin Comics. That in itself is a great boost for Indian creators.
MM: Would you like to leave readers with any news or teasers for upcoming projects?
SM: I'll give them three in fact to look out for:
India Authentic #2 - Kaali - about the primal facet of the Indian mother goddess.
Devi #12 - which has Tara Mehta graduate from being just a celestial warrior to a gritty crimefighter.
And of course Sadhu - Silent Ones #1 - which sort of is the story I wanted to write when I saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a child. I was like "whoa! That's not what India is like. Someday I shall tell a kick ass story in a similar setting."
MM: Sounds like a great deal of fun. Thanks for taking the time to speak/write with me today.
MM: Sure Matthew anytime.
Be sure to visit SBC Contributor Matthew McLean’s website here.
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