Broken Frontier

In the second century, the gods of light decided to create a powerful entity to combat one of their own. She’s known as Devi and she’s the most powerful woman warrior on Earth.

When I first heard the news about Virgin’s corporate endeavors to expand into the world of comics, I thought it was a bit odd they would pair themselves up with a bevy of India’s best filmmakers. But having said that, I was also salivating at the mouth since the goal was to bring a more diverse range of culturally flavored characters into the medium. Again, I’m all in favor of that because I love the idea of molding Indian mythology into superhero mode, and Devi is the first book to hit the marketplace.

This issue opens in the second century of man’s existence where a battle escalates quickly between the Durapasya (warriors of light) and Bala (a fallen god). The Durapasya have managed to push their way to Bala’s fortress and that is in large part credited to the powerful woman warrior known as Devi. She’s been granted unlimited power from the pantheon of gods to vanquish Bala, and in short order she successfully manages to break into his private chambers and challenge him to a fight. It doesn’t take long when Devi struts triumphantly after defeating Bala, and then receives a surprise visit from Lord Bodha himself. It seems the pantheon of gods is pleased with Devi’s accomplishments, despite the persisting doubts the woman warrior still harbors in the back of her mind.

Now that is just the set-up and much of the issue reads like backstory mostly before flipping into the present. There’s nothing bad about that and in fact I found the mythology crafted here insightful and a real joy to read through. The writer responsible for this was Siddarth Kotian and he displayed a strong passion for the material by successfully blending action/adventure and Indian mythology. There were a number of story beats hit upon in the right spots and there was also enough intrigue (plot-wise) to keep me coming back for the second issue.

The art was handled by Mukesh Singh. He’s extremely gifted and you can tell by the strong design sense he used to create all the characters involved. Every panel stood out and there was indeed freshness in terms of tone and pacing carried throughout all the pages. I don’t know if this is an accurate assessment on my part, but if I could draw a comparison to another artist I would say his work reminded me of Mark Texeira. Maybe it was just in the way he drew the faces and at times he also used several facial close-ups that brought that comparison to mind. Overall, his work here is solid and it will only get better in subsequent issues.

I think this is a solid debut from Virgin, and judging upon the material presented here I am really looking forward to other projects like Snakwoman and The Saddhu. Both of these books are slated for release later this month, and I am curious to see what type of fanfare will develop from the birth of these new and culturally diverse characters. Only time will tell, but in the meantime check out Devi and marvel at the power she possesses. You won’t be disappointed.