The "Shakti" line will tap into indigenous Indian myths and history, and focus on building a new creative vocabulary and narrative style to distinguish itself from other comic book genres. While Japanese comics deal with ‘Man versus Nature’ theme and play upon the fear of upsetting man’s balance with nature as a result of the Industrial Age, American comics tend to deal with the concept of ‘Man versus Science,’ largely a result of the nuclear age. "Shakti," on the other hand, will focus its efforts in the ‘Man vs. Mythology’ genre.

For instance, the comic book "Devi" is based on the myths revolving around the rivalry between two Hindu goddesses Sita and Saraswati but it takes place in a contemporary urban setting and the plot centers on an overworked police detective and his adulterous fantasies about the heroine who keeps appearing in his life.

Chopra says, "The heroes and villains that have endured for centuries in the mythical traditions of Asia form some of the most dynamic characters that are now ripe for global consumption through an entertaining and colorful medium like comic books."

Devarajan added that the American audience was ready for something new and different. Since Indian-themed content had enjoyed success in Western fashion, music and movies, there was no reason why comic books could not make the same impact.

"Also, we are looking at really starting a cultural shift in India. The success of Japanese Manga has been its ability to make these comics mainstream reading in Japan from kids to grandparents," said Devarajan.

He said this mainstream shift was mainly due to the fact that the stories explore a multitude of genres and treat comics just as any other visual medium. Movies like Road to Perdition, Bulletproof Monk and A History of Violence have been based on comics.

Coming on board to help legitimize their goals and create a strong base for their content will be soul guru Deepak Chopra (Gotham’s father) and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. They are both part of the "Director’s Cut" and "Voices" line of comics.

Like many kids, Kapur said he also grew up reading and exchanging comic books, thereby learning about Indian gods and goddesses.

"In fact, comics – or the visual telling of stories through pictures – is what led me to film," he said in a statement. "Somehow comics in India did not develop the new art forms that they developed (say) in Japan… But my belief is that the potential in India is no less than
that of Manga in Japan. Remember that India is also culturally totally driven by Myth and mythic stories, something that so well lends itself to the Art of the Comic Book.

"And one cannot forget that comic books are driven by the youth market and India demographically has the youngest population in the world."

So with Indian kids already growing up on Spiderman, X-Men, Scooby-Doo and now, Krrish, how will they take to these new superheroes?

Deepak Chopra says it’s hard to define a superhero.

"What some western superheroes have done superbly is reveal a darker shadow of self that is actually a very spiritual and eastern characteristic," he said. "That is to say, that the eastern traditions tell us that there is no separation between sinner and saint, the
divine and the diabolical, or the sacred and the profane. They are just different sides to the same seminal state. Even our gods and goddesses are not immune to things like jealousy and rage."