Mumbai, March 15 Having delighted millions of his fans, ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will now be available as a comic superhero.

The monthly comic magazine, which is being published by Virgin Comics, Total Multimedia Ltd in collaboration with Tendulkar, is expected to hit newsstands this year.

The superhero character will be known as 'Sachin The Master Blaster' for comic books, animation and games.

'Sachin Tendulkar is well recognised as an achiever globally, and it works best to have him as the hero for our comic, gaming and animation series,' said Suresh Seetharaman, president of Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation.

'As we continue to expand our animation facilities in Mumbai and London, we are proud to partner with Virgin Comics to create this exciting new character and story that will surely live beyond the pages of the comic book,' said Arif Morbiwalla, founder of Total Multimedia.