Saturday, April 28, 2007

Sirai Meetiya Siththira Kathai!!!

I'm sure many of the old timers have very fond memories about this story.

This was the second ever Buz Sawyer(Charlie) story to appear in Muthu. Issue number is 42 and the book was released in September 1975. First Buz story was Kurangu Thediya Koolaiyar Pudhayal(issue number 39, Jun 1975).

This is one of the top ten stories of Mr Vijayan, Editor, Lion Comics. In the Muthu issue 300, he has the following to say about this issue.



In my opinion the cover is one of the best that has ever been published by Muthu. Take a look at the front and back cover of this memorable issue.





The story unfolds in Asia. Assuming that Muthu has used the original names as used in the English original, the country is something like Nepal. In the story it is called Malya, (people refer Nepal as HiMALAYAn Kingdom). And the capital of Malya is Singmodu in the story (capital of Nepal is Kathmandu) and the news paper which is used for drawing strips is called as Bangkok Post(capital of Thailand). After escaping from Malya they reach Calcutta(Kolkata now) in India. And most of the characters look like chinese. So we can assume that the setting is somewhere near India.

Americans Kelly and Booby visit Malya as tourists. When Kelly sits on a statue to take a photo,(without realising that it is their most respected king) she gets arrested and thrown in the jail. Kelly's father, who wants to please his artist son, so that he can join him in the family business, hires Charlie to rescue Booby from jail. Charlie takes the help of a circus family who reside next to the jail. The plan was to make a rope link from the jail complex and carry Booby out of the jail. To explain the plan to Booby, Kelly draws the entire escape sequence in a news paper which is delivered to the jail warden, which is also read by Booby. How they manage to escape from the jail and the country is the rest of the story. A gripping story.

This issue was reprinted in Muthu number 192. This time, with a different cover. This cover does not have anything to do with the story. If the cover was a let-down, size is even bigger disappointment. The reprint was printed in less than pocket size. Gross injustice to one of the golden oldies.



I don't have a clue about the English original of this issue. I guess this was printed some time between 1956 and 1975.

Some sample scans from this golden issue.







Well, regarding my previous post about Visithira Vendhan and my goof-up about not mentioning "Kal Nenjan" as Kildare issue, my brave defense is "SORRY". No excuses for the goof-up, but please hear my part of the story. Though I have the sample scans from Kal Nenjan, it never occurred to me to cross refer them before posting. As I have not read the full story so far, the story never got registered in my mind. Nevertheless, I'm not an official historian about Comics, but just an avid fan who wants to share his knowledge and joy with fellow fans, that's all. So please forgive me for the no-balls and wide balls. As my middle aged friends will surely agree, age really blunts one's memory :-).

Sorry Viswa. Couldn't post earlier than this. Belated Birthday Wishes(Apr 13).

Well, that's all for now guys. As usual, feel free to post your comments and suggestions in this blog using the Comments link below my sign or send mail to muthufan@yahoo.com.

Enjoy reading!!!

Regards,
Muthufan

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Muthufan! After a long time I enjoyed reading your blog. I wonder if this was a daily or a sunday strip.

Good news about Star comics. I wish Raghu and Viswa the best of luck in their venture.

Anonymous said...

Viswa Nathan.D

Great To See Muthu Fan Back After a Long Hiatus. Nice Posting As usual. Clearly, This particular story touches everyone with a simple storyline & Makes you involved. When the old man carries the Girl on his shoulders, strangely, i felt the weight. Thats what a frat story does to you. it makes you to Gel with the story. By the way, in Indrajal comics, Buzz Sawyer has starred in many stories. However, there is one particular story (Arundha Narambugal) which, i feel, is the best Story of The lot. Hope you would have read it. Thanks for your posting.

prince_viswa@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Viswa Nathan.D

Dear Muthu Fan,

There is a Small Clarification. My Birthday Falls on April 14th (Tamil New Year Day). Any way, you made day by posting 2 now. Whenever, i read your postings, i have the nostalgia about my Best days in Life (The Mid 80'S to Early 90's). Then i get the memories about the book, where i bought, How i bought, etc all these comes to my mind & its a kind of feeling that i just cannot describe in words. As you said, it has to be felt to enjoy.

Thank you, Sir.

prince_viwsa@yahoo.com

vethalan said...

Hi MuthuFan,
I saw your nice post.
I have read this story long time ago.
There is a story published in Muthu Comics long time ago.
It is about a group of kids lost in a maze in a park. A beautiful story.

Is there a way to get the scans of the comics, because I started collecting the tamil comic scans, so far I got only one from Comic Project.

The reason behind that is most (90 %) of my books were damaged/lost due to aging.

If you wish to do that please let me know. My e-mail is vethalan@gmail.com.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I am sure a lot of fans have been eagerly waiting for an article on this wonderful story and the wait has been worthwhile. Thank you for the excellent article and the wonderful scans. I am surprised at how nicely you have preserved this old issue. The front and back covers look so clean, made me think about the day I bought this issue. I keep thinking that Muthu comics issue number 30 kadathal ragasiyam is a charlie story. Issue number 20 kadathal mudhalaigal is a Johnny Nero issue. I keep thinking charlie is the second non fleetway hero introduced by Muthu comics (after Rip Kirby in Pudhayal vettai, issue number 28). I hope you can do an article on pudhayal vettai soon. Thank you once again for this gem.

முத்து விசிறி said...

Viswa : You have mentioned that your birthday will be on the next day on 12th Apr. So i assumed that it would be on 13th Apr. However I realise now, that you have actually posted on 13th Apr(of India time), but the server time and the time stamp in the blog posting is showing 12th. So this confusion. Sorry.:-)

Vethalan : Sorry, scanning entire books is not possible as I do not have copyright to do so. Even the pages I'm posting is meant only for review. If the publishers object to this, I'll remove them as well. Try to buy the available back issue from the publishers directly and try your luck in the platform shops, if you are living in India.

Sorry, I don't remember the story you have mentioned.

Saleem : hehehe!!! You are correct. The first ever Charlie story is Kadaththal Ragasiyam. Sirai Meetiya is the third Charlie story.

Do not believe what you see. The condition of the book is not what you see in my site. It was not so good. I have done some touch-up work before posting. Anyway I do not have the original with me, it was a scan from another friend. I have only the reprint issue with cover and original without covers.

Yes, you can expect a write-up about Pudhayal Vettai soon.

Mahesh kumar S said...

Hi Muthufan,

How are you doing? We are waiting for your next post. Keep the good work going on...

With warm regards,
Mahesh kumar

Rafiq Raja said...

Don't remember, how I missed commenting on this article. Eventhough, I am Comics Reader only from the Late 80's, I can barely recollect the old stories. But, still remember holding the reprint version of Chithirakathai story.

Again pity I don't have that anymore. good to see the cover scans and few glimpse of the books. Brings back Old Memories. thanks Muthufan.