Gamekeeper Creator Guy Ritchie to Direct Sherlock Holmes Film

Guy Ritchie is making the leap from gamekeepers to detectives. According to Variety, the creator of Virgin Comics’ GAMEKEEPER will direct SHERLOCK HOLMES for Warner Brothers. The drama, which stars Robert Downy, Jr. in the titular role, will begin shooting in October.

Guy Ritchie is also set to direct a feature film adaptation of GAMEKEEPER for Warner Brothers with producer Joel Silver. The latest issue of GUY RITCHIE’S GAMEKEEPER Series 2 (issue #5) is available now at comic stores. Look for it on our Virgin Comics Store soon, and in the meantime check out issue #4.

The First Ever Virgin Comics/Comic Book Gazette Sweepstakes!

Virgin Comics has teamed up with the nice folks over at the Comic Book Gazette — the Internet’s premiere comic book newspaper — to create a sweepstakes celebrating the recent release of two thrilling comic series: Deepak Chopra’s Beyond and Project: Kalki.

To enter, go to the contest site, sign up to receive newsletters from Virgin Comics and the Comic Book Gazette, and answer a trivia question based on the Beyond trailer. It’s really that simple. The five prize packs include Beyond #1($3), Project: Kalki #1 ($3), Ramayan 3392 AD Reloaded TPB ($15), Deepak Chopra Presents India Authentic Volume 1 and Volume 2 TPBs ($30), and Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Volume 1 Hardcover ($30).

81 dollars in value. 5 engrossing comics. 3 minutes to enter. 0 reasons not to!

Mukesh Singh Nominated for Prestigious Russ Manning Award

Congratulations to our very own breakthrough artist Mukesh Singh on being nominated for the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award. With his incredible work on Jenna Jameson’s Shadow Hunter, Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper, and Devi, Mukesh is quickly building an astounding resume. And the industry is taking notice!

The Russ Manning award is given to a comic book artist “who, early in his career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.” The winner will be announced on July 25th at the Eisner Awards Ceremony at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. To see samples of Singh’s gorgeous artwork on Shadow Hunter check out our free widescreen digital comic. For a complete list of the nominees click here.

Guy Ritchie’s “Next Level” Nike Advert

Premiering today is the “Next Level” Nike commercial directed by Guy Ritchie, creator of Virgin Comics’ Gamekeeper series.

According to Ritchie, “This ad is essentially following the journey, the rise of a soccer superstar. It’s all done through the point of view of the player and is actually the largest advert I have ever filmed.”

Read the full story here and check out the preview below.

Put Virgin Comics In Your FCBD Video And Get A Free Gamekeeper Hardcover Book!

Free Comic Book Day is inviting comic book fans to create their own mini commercials on why they love comic books and Free Comic Book Day, with the most creative commercial winning a $250 gift certificate to their favorite comic book store. Check out http://www.youtube.com/user/FCBD08 for more info.

We at Virgin Comics are already proud sponsors of FCBD, but we want to take our involvement one step further. For anyone that features any Virgin Comics title in their video, we’ll send you free copy of the limited edition Hardcover collection of Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Vol. 1 ($30 value, only 1,500 were printed). All you have you do is send a link to your YouTube video to win@virgincomics.com with “FCBD” in the subject. Please include your mailing address. This is not a random drawing. EVERYONE that sends us a video which showcases a Virgin Comics title will win a free book. We do have limited supplies, so if we get an overwhelming response and run out of Gamekeeper books, you will get a prize of comparable value.

Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. Free Comic Book Day is being held on Saturday May 3rd this year. For more information go to www.freecomicbookday.com and be sure to pick up Virgin Comics’ Dan Dare/The Stranded flip-book. Get a preview here.

MySpaceTV Showcases Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Trailer on Homepage

The animated trailer for Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper has been selected as featured content on MySpaceTV, the viral video community of MySpace. Concurrently, the trailer is also the Featured Video of the social networking site’s comic book community, MySpace Comic Books.

Guy Ritchie’s GAMEKEEPER Series 2 #1 ON SALE TODAY!

You’ve read the 6 page preview on Ain’t it Cool News or Comixology, now you can get Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Series 2 issue #1 at comic shops or avail the free shipping offer from VirginComicsStore.com

Mukesh Singh cover
Dean Ormston cover

Get Ready for Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Series 2 Launch: Featured Item of the Week!

Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper is back with a new story arc, bringing together fan-favorite writer Jeff Parker (X-Men: First Class, Walk-In) and artists Ron Randall (Star Wars, Star Trek) and Ron Chan (Flytrap, A Dummy’s Guide to Danger). Issue #1 goes on sale tomorrow (3/12) but you can head over to Comixology now to check out a 6-page preview and hear the podcast with Jeff, Ron R. and Ron C.

Comic Critique: Year In Review Awards

Comic Critique recently released their Year In Review awards, and we’re proud to announce that Virgin Comics was well represented. We’re especially excited about winning the Rookie Juggernaut Award!

Rookie Juggernaut Award: Virgin Comics

If we’re nearing an Indian Century then a Virgin Age of Comics will fit right in. Grounded in the culture of the country the world is watching and wise to the essence of comics quality, the folkloric goldmine and pantheon of talent this company had to draw on positioned it well for an extensive young line of non-spandex adventures that feel both rooted and refreshing. Few imprints have offered so much diversity so fast, from the Val Lewton-esque ancient-curse tragedy Snake Woman and the metaphysical martial-arts saga The Sadhu to the resourceful comedic Matrix variation Walk In, the vampire war-comic Virulents, the geopolitical thrillers 7 Brothers and Gamekeeper, the Prohibition melodrama Dock Walloper and more. Started by badboy billionaire Richard Branson and heavily involving maverick mystic Deepak Chopra, the company’s got a compelling story to tell behind the scenes too.

Colorist of the Year: Mukesh Singh

We’re in a golden age of comics colorists — the ease and capacity of computers allow for a lot of automatic and anonymous perfection, but innovators like Dave Stewart, Lee Loughridge, Michelle Madsen and Laura Allred have harnessed high technology for true personality and possibility. Even in this company artist-colorist Mukesh Singh took a leap in a clearly new direction on Virgin Comics’ Gamekeeper. Painted comics typically don’t escape the single-image stasis of the old pulp and paperback covers they seem to homage, but if, as has rightly been said, Gene Colan “paints with a pencil,” Singh drew with a paintbrush, fully working up his line with a rare kinetic fluidity and suffusing scenes with cinematic color fields which materialized moods and transported characters (and readers) in ways that made the most of the medium’s devices while never seeming to manipulate their effects.

And the multi-talented writer of Dock Walloper won the Inker of the Year…

Inker of the Year: Jimmy Palmiotti

There’s all the artists who ink themselves, or digitally reproduce their pencils and paints. Then there’s Palmiotti, period. No inker has ever preserved and reinforced the strengths of so diverse a range of artists’ styles, at such volume and quality. Why do we even have the category anymore?

This was the icing on the cake for what was a tremendous year for Virgin Comics. We launched a joint imprint with SCI FI Channel (The Stranded was the first release), Guy Ritchie’s Game Keeper and Virulents are now in development with Warner Brothers and Fox, respectively, and Sony Online Entertainment is turning our Ramayan 3392AD franchise into a massive multiplayer online video game. All in all, a good year!

We have a lot of exciting plans for 2008. Stay tuned… you’re not going to want to miss this!!!

Jeff Parker on Gamekeeper Series 2

 

Jeff Parker, writer of Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper Series 2 (Issue #1 on stands 03/12/08), previews the new arc on Newsarama:

Newsarama: Jeff, for those unfamiliar with Gamekeeper, tell us a little about the concept and characters.

Jeff Parker: For real consistency, let me introduce assistant editor Charlie Beckerman, who has been with this book longer than me. Charlie?

Charlie Beckerman: What Guy wanted from the start was a kind of anti-hero. Picture James Bond in all his slickness and suaveness and then think about the exact opposite… a rough-around-the-edges guy who personifies the phrase “still waters run deep.” That’s our Brock.

Originally from Chechnya, Brock works as gamekeeper on the estate of Jonah Morgan, who he met ten years earlier during a skirmish in the Chechen mountains the Russian FSB (more or less, the post-Soviet KGB). Brock’s a dark, quiet man, owing largely to the loss of his young son during that same encounter, but there’s an animalistic quality inside of him that comes out when it is needed most.

Jonah Morgan, Brock’s friend and employer, was a scientific publisher before he was killed by mercenaries during a raid on his estate. He took Brock in after the loss of his son, but had also been harboring the secret of the Draganov equation, a secret Jonah died protecting.

Amanda Morgan is Jonah’s widow, a tough old bird who values her family above all else. It was Amanda that implored Brock to find Jonah’s killer.

Krista Morgan is Jonah and Amanda’s only daughter. After Brock tracked Jonah’s killer to a carbon broker in Amsterdam by the name of Van Allan, he discovered Krista dating him. It was Krista who unwittingly spilled the secret of the Draganov equation to Van Allan, who had commissioned the mercenaries to extract it.

In the fight during which Brock lost his son those many years ago in Chechnya, we met Sadic, who led the operation to capture and extract the Draganov equation from the scientist. In the battle that followed, Sadic surrendered an eye to Brock’s rage, and that’s a hard thing to forgive.

And then, lastly, new in this arc, you’re going to see the Soccer Club, a team of mercenaries led by a man named Volkes. They’re a rough-and-tumble crew, but they’re efficient. Their star player: a young sharpshooter named the Raven.

Click here to continue reading.