Holy Cow Entertainment, Mumbai-based Publishing Company is in the midst of publishing their own 3 new titles- Aghori, Serengeti Stripes, Skull Rosary. These 3 new titles are all different formats- Skull Rosary is a Graphic novel, Aghori will be a multi-issue comic series and Serengeti Stripes is being made into a 5 issue miniseries to be published bi-monthly.
The Skull Rosary is a retelling of five ancient myths of Rudra, the name Shiva wielded before civilisation. This 100 pages Graphic novel tells the story of Shiva beheading 5 people. The book will take you through five different worlds of demi-gods, avatars, demons, monsters and beings that cannot be named, much less understood.
The Aghori is a multi issue comic series written by Ram Iyer and illustrated by Vivek Goel and Gaurav Shrivastav. It follows the journey of a man to the depths of hell, to save that which he holds dear. The Aghori is a comic in the supernatural / horror and dark fantasy genre. Interestingly the IP of Aghori is shared by Ram Iyer and Holy Cow Entertainment as it’s their 1st flagship character.
Explaining the concept of Aghouri, Ram Iyer said, “Through Aghori we have tried to reason the way ‘Aghouris’ behave and the practices that they follow. Aghoris also praise Lord Shiva for Power but they use it for different purposes. Indian culture has always respected the good side of mythology but in Aghori we have tried to show the different side of it but keeping the facts intact.”
Serengeti Stripes is about a journey of 2 Bengal tiger cubs from the forests of Ranthambore to Africa’s Serengeti plains. It will be a 5 part miniseries.
The company started a year back has already published 6 books- ‘Were house’, black & white graphic novel and 5 parts of Ravanayan. Ravananyan consists of 10 chapters spread in 7 parts series with each part consisting of either 1 or 2 chapters.
Talking to AnimationXpress.com Vivel Goel, Founder, Holy Cow Entertainment shared, “The reason that Ravanayan has parts with 1 or 2 chapters is because we have decided to publish 1 part of the series every 2 months. So based on the work and its completion we published 2 chapters if they are ready or published 1 chapter if we are lagging behind. But then we have priced it accordingly.”
‘Ravanayan’ is a bold new comic book series that retells Valmiki’s classic epic from the point of view of its antagonist — Ravana, King of Lanka, Leader of the rakshasa nation. The series actually deals with the good side of Ravana who is the great grandson of Lord Brahma himself.
“Brahma had several mind-borns including Pulatsya. Pulatsya had a son named Maharshi Visharva and Ravana “was” the son of Visharva and demon princess “Kaikesi” thus making him a perfect hybrid between a sage and a demon. This account of Ravana’s life re-imagines much of what is held to be true about one of India’s most loved tales and in the process, takes the reader on an enchanting quest for the very meanings of right and wrong, good and evil, dharma and adharma”, Vivek explained.
The series is created by Vijayendra Mohanty and Vivek Goel who explored the values inherent in the Ramayana and retells the immortal story as something more than a simple tale of good triumphing over evil. The price of Ravanayan parts ranges between INR 40-80. Vivek is planning to release the finale of Ravanayan in the month of August.
Holy Cow Entertainment has 1 penciller, 1 colorist and 1 inker as the core employees. The work after going through each employee goes to a letterer, proof reader and then finally goes for publishing. Also Vivek keep hiring interns for the different projects as he believes that by doing that he is helping someone to better the art of comics that he has struggled a lot to learn. Every 6 months he hires 2 interns.
Were-house is a 60 page Black and White horror Graphic Novel Anthology featuring three bone-chilling stories written by Akshay Dhar, Soumya Das and Shweta Taneja is priced at INR 80. Drawn by Vivek Goel (Background assists by Ankur Amre), Were-House is a wide screen horror novel developed and published by Holy Cow Entertainment and has ‘attained decent response from the audiences’.
All the published titles of Holy Cow Entertainment are available online on flipkart.com andinfibeam.com.