Tintin in Tamil!!!

I'm sure many of you are surprised to see this topic!!!

Well, because of the popularity of the character created by Herge, there were many attempts all over the world, to translate/imitate/copy the character in the hope that they can also hit the jackpot. Tintin even appeared in a erotic comic book called "Tintin in Thailand". How is that!!!

Though most of the translations are legally done, that is, after obtaining the permission from the original copy right holders, many were done illegally. Those who do not want to get into legal hassles, do smart copying. That is, keep the original story line in-tact, but re-draw the whole art work. This is something similar to what T-Series recording company has done in the 80s/90s in the Hindi film music industry. If the print-run is small and non-profitable for the original copy right owner to take legal action, the copycats go scot-free.

I do not want to categorise this particular issue in to any of the above, I'll let you draw your own conclusions!!!

Let's move on. The issue under discussion is the fifth book in the Parvathi Chithira Kathaigal series, titled "Ankathan Kottai Athisayam", published in Apr 94 and "The Black Island" featuring Tintin. Take a look at the cover below:



This story featues Balae Baalu, a character created by Vaandumaama, a well known children story writer. I guess he created many more stories based on Balae Baalu. But I'm not sure whether the other stories featuring the same character were also based on Tintin stories. See the introduction for this story below:



Some minor changes were made in the story. For example, in the opening pages, Tintin was shot by someone from a stary aircraft. In the Tamil version, Baalu was shot by someone from a stray boat. Well, you can't expect a plane flying in the east coast of India right? It would sound too fictional and absurd, even to this day. See the pages from the Tintin issue and Tamil issue.






Also take a look at the next few pages from the Tamil issue and the corresponding Tintin issue.





And few pages from the middle of the issue.







And finally the last page from the Tamil issue and the equivalent Tintin page.





Thought the story continues for few more pages in English, the story was cut short in the Tamil version.

The idea of this post is not to ridicule the efforts of Vaandumaama, who wrote many stories for children in Tamil. I still enjoy reading his stories, text as well as comic stories. This is just to highlight that, something like this has happended in Tamil comics industry, that's all. Sort of a trivia!!!!

My sincere thanks to Mr RT Murugan, Chennai for the Parvathi issue. In fact, he is the one who informed me about the similarities between these two stories. My part in this particular blog post is very limited, scanning and posting. The original input is really from him.

Hope you have enjoyed this post.

Let me know what you feel about this post.

Regards,
Muthufan

Goscinny!!!

I would have lived without the knowledge of this genius writer, had he not been introduced by Prakash Publishers.

One of the biggest contribution of Prakash Publishers to the Tamil comics industry is the introduction of European comics. Till mid-80s, the comics printed in Tamil were mainly from the English originals. However, once Lion family entered Eurpean market to bring the non-English speaking heroes, we had choice like never before. Characters like Iznogoud(Mathi Illa Manthiri), Bruno Brazil, Bob Morane(Roger & Bill), Paul Foran(CID Marshall), Ric Hocket(Reporter Johnny), XIII have become household names among Tamil comics fans. They have also become familiar with the names of their creators, Goscinny, Greg, Van Hamme, William Vance etc.

First in the series of European characters is Lucky Luke created by Goscinny, who also created Asterix, Ompa-pa, Iznogoud (Mathi Illa Manthiri in Tamil). Illustrations were done by Morris for this issue.

He entered the Tamil comics scene like a super star. First issue itself is a special issue, that too in color and for just Rs 2/-. Wow!!! What a grand entry!!! He never looked back since then. Even today he remains the No:1 cartoon character among Tamil comics fans. He is as popular as the other cow-boys, Tex Willer and Captain Tiger(Blueberry).

The editor has selected a very lively comedy story as the first story of this super star. Titled "Super Circus", this was released under the Junior Lion banner on 01 Jan 1987. Take a look at the cover and the editor's forward for this issue below:



Note, the editor wrongly mentions, that the artist name is Goscinny Morris, in fact they are two different persons. Goscinny is the writer and Morris is the artist.

The story starts with an introduction about Lucky Luke and his horse & campanion Jolly Jumper. He can shoot faster than his own shadow. Hmmm!!!That is too fast, even for a comic book hero.







A very simple and comical story line. Lucky Luke comes across a circus which was moving to the next town through Indian infested territory. Looking at the condition of the owner Lucky Luke decides to accompany them to the next town, where they would be safe. However problem was awaiting them, as soon as they enter the next town. Mr Regan, who owns almost everything in the town does not like the circus to become the attraction during his rodeo competition. He tries his level best, not to let them perform in the town. The story revolves around how Lukcy Luke manages to thwart all his attempts against the circus and how Mr Regan finally becomes a part of the circus. Ever drinking gambler owner Morris, his wife and Trapeze artist Vanessa, his son-in-law and jestor, and horse riding daughter all play their part in making this a lively story. Even the elephant Jumbo and Lion play a major role in the story.Each time Luke punches Mr Regan, his diamond tooth falls down somewhere. In one scene he asks Lucky Luke to wait to remove his diamond tooth, before hitting him.


The first and last page of the story is below:




Also take a look at the ad for the forthcoming issues.



See what the editor has to say about this issue, in his article about Tamil comics in the magazine "World's Comic" issue 2, published in Spring 2002.

In Jan 1987 – JUNIOR LION COMICS, a new comic exclusively for cartoons and MINI-LION a pint sized mag for short action tales were introduced.

The first issue of JUNIOR LION COMICS had the international favorite LUCKY LUKE in full color at a price of Rupees Two!!. One daresay this will stand as an unsurpassed feat because virtually nobody can ever again do a multicolor issue at this price. This was the first taste of a full length cartoon story for Tamil readers and the response was overwhelming. This was a period in which Tamil readers had a choice like never before to savor the very best of world comics.

This story was released under the title "Western Circus" in the Orignal French and in English. Take a look at the English cover. This issue is one of the few English Lucky Luke titles you can get in the market now.



The write up for this issue at the Amazon site is given below:

In this tale, he joins a circus at risk of going out of business, and takes on the bigwig who "owns" a town and doesn't want an alternative entertainment to his annual rodeo. You get bandits, hitmen, "injuns", elephants, lions, drunks, all leading up to the final climax at the rodeo.

Recently I watched the cartoon VCD of this issue. Needless to say, I have enjoyed the whole episode. 26 minutes of non-stop fun. Even my three year daughter can identify Lucky Luke now, thanks to this VCD.

Those who watch Star One in India, don't miss out this episode of Lucky Luke for anything.

Thats all for now guys. Do let me know, what you feel about this post.

See you soon!!!.

Regards,
MF

I'm back after a long break!!!

As suggested by Saleem, I'll take one issue at a time and write about it, the story, background information, release date and any other related info. Also my opinion, when I have read it, what I feel about it etc. Hope this is OK with you guys. Drop a line as to what you feel about this new approach.

First in this series is the 72nd issue of Muthu. Title is Aaviyin Geetham. See the cover scan below.



This issue was released in April 1978, which can be seen in the page 3 scan of this issue.



I have read this issue sometime in early 80s, when I was in Mettur. This must be the fourth or fifth Muthu issue I have read in my life. This is the first ever Cisco Kid I have read, and my first double color issue as well. The name Cisco impressed me very much, Panjo as well. I thought I'll change my name to Cisco, when I have read this book. :-) Couldn't tolerate when I saw the name of the character changed to Disco in Rani comics. Funny guys!!!

The story goes like this. Some one is trying to murder Randy, a popular singer in a small American town. Cisco, friend of Randy, thwarts the first attempt just in time. Even Randy does not know who the enemy is, as he is such a simpleton. One more indirect attempt was made to kill Randy, by spreading the rumour that Randy carries all his money in the Guitar he carries. And this time Cisco manages to trace the culprit. The originator of the rumour turns out to be Mr Alex, a local banker, who wants to marry Randy's wealthy sweetheart Lisa. Alex is more interested in wealth, which he can inherit by marrying Lisa, that any love for Lisa.As Alex knows that Lisa will never agree to marry him, as long as Randy is alive, he tries to remove Randy from the equation. However Cisco manages to terrorise Alex with Randy's music and songs, who Alex believes was killed for the money in the guitar. He was caught when he tries to escape the supposedly dead Randy, after looting his own bank(of course the money belongs to the public).

The scene I have enjoyed very much is in 29, where Alex runs scared to death, thinking that Randy's ghost is after him.



Very interesting story line. For a long time I was under the impression that this was the only Cisco story in Muthu, as Cisco stories were no longer published in 80s, the time when I have started reading comics seriously. Old issues were rare to come by, even in those times in the town of Mettur, because this was the only entertainment for the kids, when TV transmission was unheard of. You have to go to "Pattanam" (Chennai) to see the idiot box, in those days. Cricket coverage was only through, Akashvani, which will alternate between English and Indhi(as pronounced), except for the test matches in Madras. The copies I have bought from the news stand were mostly the repints of early Muthu issues featuring Mayavi, Johnny Nero, Lawrence & David (issue numbers 140+). I felt very happy when I got some issues of Muthu Comics and Malai Mathi Comics featuring Cisco Kid recently. Luis Jose Salinas, who drew Cisco Kid from 1952 to 1968, remains my favorite strip artist. So I never pass an oppurtuniy to acquire Salinas art work. Few years back I have bought some Dell Cisco Kid issues from Milehigh comics at exhorbitant prices, thinking that they were drawn by Salinas. However I was disappointed, as they turned out to be pre-Salinas issues, with very average artwork.

Take a look at the other non-story pages from this issue.

Front cover inner


Back cover



Back cover inner



This story was reprinted in Rani comics under the title "Pei Manithan" in issue number 125 dated Sep 1-15, 1989. Translation stadard is nowhere near Muthu, apart from Cisco being called Disco. Grrrrrrrr!. Take a look at the cover page and first page of this Rani comics reprint. Compare the translation of Rani with its corresponding Muthu page. I would love to see the original of this issue in English to check, why the translation varies so different between Muthu and Rani.

Rani Cover



Rani Title Page



Compare the translations:




A very big thanks to Dr Sathish(Kovai) for his valuable scans. All the Muthu scans in this post are provided by him.

Hope you have enjoyed this posting. Drop me a line, if you like this approach and for any feedback.

See you soon guys.

MF

What do we have for this week? Its all about the Muthu/Lion's English editions!!!

Prakash Publishers(or should I say Muthu Comics' publishers) made another attempt to get established in the Indian English comics market in the 90s(First issue was released in Aug 92). They have tried their hand briefly with English comics in India in 70s with the publication of Steel Claw(Maayavi). However apart from the Tamil market they were not able to penetrate the other Indian language markets.I do not have the Steel Claw published in 70s with me, but the proof that there was indeed an English edition, is available in the back pages of the Muthu comics released in late 70s, which shows that the English edition is for sale at Rs 1.50. Take a look at one such ad, which appeared in issue number 94, dated 15 May 1979.



I believe this story is same as the Fleetway Super Library issue number : 1 (original Fleetway cover is shown below, story is titled "The Raiders of the FEAR"):



When I have met Mr Vijayan in Dec'04, he mentioned that, they have tried out in other South Indian languages as well. However due to distribution problems, they couldn't continue. I do not have any further info about this language editions, except this reference in wikipedia, which mentions that it was published in Malayalam by Regal Comics. If you have any more info about the Indian English editions and other language editions please let me know. Lets now get back to the original discussion!!!

In late 90s Prakash Publishers came out with the English edition of the Lion Comics, featuring the characters appeared in the Tamil edition of Lion Comics. It was started as a single story issue, following the popular Fleetway Super Library format of 132 pages. First issue featured Spider, under the title "Child's Play" in Aug'92.




This one was originally published in Fleetway Super Library issue number 26, in Jan 1968.



The same cover was used when it got published in Tamil under the title "Sirupillai Vilayattu", issue number 54.



However a different cover, similar to the cover of Fleetway Super Library number 2 was used for this Indian edition. Fleetway Super Library cover number 2 is shown below:



This issue has an ad for the forthcoming Steel Claw issue. Look at the similarities of this ad and the ad in the back cover of Fletway Super Library issue number 2.



This Steel Claw story never got published, however Steel Claw made a brief appearence in issue no:4.

Second issue featured Robot Archie, released in Sep'92, titled "Robot Archie inthe Island of Death".



Robot Archie was not published by Fleetway in the Super Library format, but there are some references about Robot Archie published in Lion Picture Library as a single story. Follow this LINK, if you want to know more about Lion Picture Library. The cover design used was same as the Lion Annual cover of 74. Take a look at the cover.



The story featured in this issue was already published in Tamil edition under the title "Marma Theevu"(Lion issue number : 13).Back cover of the Tamil edition is below:



This story was originally published in Lion Annual 73 in United Kingdom. Cover of the Lion Annual 73 and the first page of the story are below:



Third issue featured a Spider story, titled "The Chessman". This was originally published as Fleetway Super Library number 10 in May 1967 in UK. Take a look at the cover of the Indian edition and the Fleetway cover.



This story appeared in Lion under the title "Sathuranga Veriyan", issue number 12.



From issue number 4, publishers have moved to multiple(small) stories. And in my opinion this made the English edition stories less interesting, though many of these pages were in full color. Number of pages is also reduced. Fourth issue featured about 10 stories, including one Steel Claw story, which featured as "Vibathil Sikkiya Vimanam" in Muthu(issue number 117). This story also featured in the CC edition number 17. Cover scan of the issue 4 is below.



First page of the steel claw story from this issue is below:



If you want to have the complete story(in English) drop me a mail and I'll let you know, how to get the scan of the complete story.

Fifth and final issue featured about 10 stories. Many of the characters appeared in issue 4 and 5, also featured in the Mini Lion & Junior Lion published by Prakash Publishers. Some of them are, Billy Bunter(Gundan Billy in Tamil), Sporty(Vichu Kichu in Tamil), Zip Nolan(Nolanodu Thuppariyungal), Phil the Fluter(Kuzhaludhum Kannan), Tatty Mane(Parattai Thalai Raja). And it even had a story of Johnny - Thupparium Computer(originally known as Number 13 Marvel Street).



Sadly it ended with issue number 5 and with that, the hope of seeing Maayavi in single Indian English edition also died. With this short run, it will remain as a small chapter in the history of Muthu Comics.

Size of these issues were similar to the current size of Muthu/Lion.

You would have notied, that, I use lot of scans. I do this deliberately, because visuals have got a better way to convey a message strongly, than words and also it has the power to bring the nostaltic memories. And in any case, looking at the scans is better than what I blabber about them. Right?

Post your comments or send mail about this article.

MF