Now here is the interview we have been waiting for! Hugh Jackman and Marc Guggenheim are teaming up on the latest Virgin Comics panel-to-screen project, Nowhere Man. Is it about a guy who doesn’t have a point of view and knows not where he’s going to? Not really, but he may be just a bit like me and you.

Story was being kept under wraps, but Jackson’s Seed Productions partner John Palermo said it features a protagonist reminiscent of the one Will Smith played in “I Am Legend.” The concept is a futuristic world where mankind has traded privacy for safety, a premise that sprouted with Seed, Virgin CEO Sharad Devarajan and chief creative officer Gotham Chopra.

“This is our first comic, and we feel the concept is transferable to other arenas, perhaps first as a videogame, and then a movie,” Palermo said.

You don’t’ say! According to Variety, Jackman is in love with the comic book world. “I’ve had so much fun in the graphic novel world with the ‘X-Men’ franchise that I wanted to get even more involved.”

We want you to get more involved, too, Hugh. Very very involved. We’re here to help you every step of the way. Just say the word.

Here at Stately Beat Manor we’ve been getting many holiday cards, both physical and electronic, and each and every one brightens our mailbox with tidings of joy. By far the most unusual, however, was the Virgin Comics holiday card, above. At first we thought “Kaliiiiiiiiii!” but’s it’s actually a character from VOODOO CHILD by Nicolas and Weston Cage. Not what we were expecting but here’s to diversity!

Via PR come the word that Witchblade co-creator Christina Z., long MIA from the comics scene, will be writing Virgin’s upcoming Jenna Jameson comic which is not called what you think it is, but instead SHADOW HUNTER. You can read all about it in the jump, but for the moment we’d like to suggest that the first thing Christina do is, during a story conference, buy Jenna a SANDWICH.

If Jenna resists an entire sandwich, Christina could buy a sandwich herself and perhaps offer to share it. Suggested phrases: “This turkey avocado havarti sandwich is really good. Have a bite.”

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Another massive multiplayer online role playing game is in the works, this one based on the Indian-based Ramayan universe published by Virgin Comics. The Kama Sutra has GOT to figure in there somehow.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced it is teaming up with Virgin comics to create an MMORPG based on the Indian-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book universe.

“The deal was announced today by John Smedley, President of SOE and Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder and CEO of Virgin Comics.

“Ramayan has inspired the lives of millions of people through the ages. The re-imagining of this great ancient epic through the creativity of a game platform re-affirms the fact that Ramayan is one of the greatest stories ever told,” said Deepak Chopra. “The fact that the same creative team of young Indians that created the story will be involved in working with SOE’s game development team, is a testament to the innovative and mythic minds of these gifted Indian creators who will take a new generation to new frontiers across the seas of consciousness into new realms of mystery, magic, adventure, and transformation.”

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New York filmmaker and actor, Ed Burns (Brothers McMullen, Saving Private Ryan) is creating a new series of comic books, it was announced today by Burns at Comic-Con, the industry’s annual super-festival in San Diego.

The series, entitled Dock Walloper, debuts in comic shops and online comic retailers in November. The complete 144 page Dock Walloper book will be available in May 2008 at all major book sellers. A new site, DockWalloper.com, will host additional information, previews and pre-orders of the comic art and books. The comic series will be written by Burns, along with comic book legend, Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane, Monolith). Cover and interior art for the series will be created by Virgin Comics’ in-house illustration studio and led by rising comic book star, Siju Thomas.

“As we are approaching the centennial of Prohibition in America, I wanted to re-imagine some of the characters and icons of that era with a mythic spin, in a story set in a stylized New York City of the 20’s,” said Ed Burns. “The story takes the classic American gangster tale, and transposes it to this atmospheric landscape, where the characters and inhabitants possess exaggerated strength, ability and power, capturing a modern American mythology.”

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As always, the jokes write themselves. Former porn superstar Jameson’s previous comics connections include working with Bernard Chang on illustrated portions of HOW TO MAKE LOVE LIKE A PORN STAR, the book she co-wrote with Neil Straus.

World-famous entrepreneur, adult entertainment icon and New York Times best-selling author Jenna Jameson is creating and staring in her own series of comic books, it was announced today by Virgin Comics CEO, Sharad Devarajan, at Comic-Con, the industry’s annual super-festival in San Diego. The series, titled Shadow Hunter, debuts in comic shops and online comic retailers in December. The complete 144 page Shadow Hunter book will be available in June 2008 at all major book sellers. A new site, JennaComix.com will host additional information, previews and pre-orders of the comic art and books.

Shadow Hunter is the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul. Cover art for the first issue has been created by Greg Horn, a top illustrator of comic books and video games. The story, while provocative and sexy, contains no nudity and is intended for a mainstream audience.

“Jenna Jameson is a cultural force,” said Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan. “She is an entrepreneur who is taking the taboo to the mainstream and has built an industry around her brand.”

“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Virgin to bring this story to life, first as comics and eventually in film and other formats,” said Jenna Jameson. “Working with comics is creatively liberating – everything is possible. My character is sultry, sexy and kicks ass!’

“Jenna brings a defiance and edge to everything she does, said Gotham Chopra, Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Comics. “She’s a provocateur and there’s no doubt that our creative team at Virgin is going to have a blast collaborating with her. I can assure you every artist we have in our studio is vying to get assigned to this project!”

San Diego Comic-Con is preparing for record crowds when Jenna makes her very first appearance at this event that attracts more than 100,000 fans. Jenna will be speaking about Shadow Hunter and signing autographs for fans on Saturday afternoon, July 28 at 4:30 PM. Images from the series will be available from the Virgin Comics booth at the San Diego Convention Center.

MySpace’s influence on the comcis industry seems to be growing and growing, as Virgin is the latest entity to pact with the social networking giant. This time it’s bringing reader participation to a new level. Read on.

Virgin Comics and MySpace have teamed up to launch Coalition Comix (http://www.myspace.com/coalitioncomix), a new online comic book platform, allowing thousands of participants to work with leading comic book creators in the development and creation of new characters and stories.

Coalition Comix will open up the role of comic book writer to the world at large, allowing participants to providing artistic direction for the comic by voting on the plot twists and turns at each step of the way.

Coalition Comix will commission some of the comic book industry’s leading creators to collaborate with users as virtual “Story Masters.” Leading creators will guide participants to collectively craft new story properties for comics and subsequent development into film, games and animations.

“Coalition Comix will allow readers to collaborate artistically with both a leading comics professional as well as thousands of like-minded MySpace users all over the world,” said Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Virgin Comics. “It opens the door to a new world of interactions and collaborations, taking an exciting step into the creative possibilities of the internet, and a new form of collaborative art without borders, barriers, or limits.”

“MySpace is about self-expression and the interactive format of Coalition Comix will allow the MySpace community to make themselves part of the story,” said Shawn Gold, senior vice president of marketing for MySpace.

Each digital issue will have a real time creation period of two weeks, with sketches, artwork and scripts continuously uploaded for interactivity with the community. The first comic planned will be guided by leading comic book author, Mike Carey (Voodoo Child, X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four).

Carey will dialogue with readers and guide the development of the plot at each step along the way by reviewing feedback from readers, and posing questions with five or six choices for the Coalition Comix community to choose from. During this time the Story Master will evaluate progress at timed intervals to give feedback to the community. Their ideas and votes will determine the final plot, generating a final work of sequential art that was created and influenced by hundreds or even thousands of contributors.

Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comic’s Chief Creative Officer added, “Creativity and innovation our the core ingredients to everything we try and do at Virgin Comics. So when we decided we wanted to experiment online and do something different, there was only one partner that made sense to work with - MySpace. What are we gonna create together? No one knows, but it will be cool. That’s the point.”

Users can join up to participate in Coalition Comix on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/coalitioncomix.

Comic book fans can also learn more by visiting the official MySpace Comic Books profile (www.myspace.com/comicbooks). This profile is the official community for manga, graphic novels and comic books on MySpace, where fans and friends of MySpace Comic Books can find the latest comic book news, interviews, special features, contests, exclusives and more. MySpace Comic Books spotlights the most exciting projects, creators and events in the industry including user generated comics by MySpace members themselves.