Championess
Source: Legendary Comics

The original graphic novel by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas will be available in bookstores and online retailers on April 13, 2021. Championess is based on the true story of Elizabeth Wilkinson, a female bare-knuckle boxer in 18th century London. Elizabeth reimagined as half-Indian, and her sister Tess, struggle to make ends meet and cover Tess’s debts. While Elizabeth works odd jobs at the local newspaper, the only way she knows how to make enough money to help them survive is her true passion, bare-knuckle boxing. With Tess’s support, Elizabeth trains at the boxing facility of one of the most famous retired boxers and the only real fight promoter of any notoriety, James Figg. As Elizabeth trains with Figg and James Stokes, she confronts her personal demons of what destroyed her family and comes to terms with being the first half-Indian female boxer in a white male world. 

In November, it was announced that Legendary Comics’ forthcoming graphic novel, Championess, is to be adapted into a television series by new UK-based production company Watford & Essex, a joint venture between Legendary Entertainment and acclaimed showrunners Emma Frost and Matthew Graham.