Just couple of things...

If posting of the latest Muthu Cover comparing it with old Fleetway covers has conveyed the impression that I was critisizing the editor for copying, it is not the intention. It is a trivia just like the earlier covers comparison for Comics Classics. As he holds the copyright for printing the stories, I guess he holds the copyright to use the covers as well. So I do not agree with the view that it is called "Copying". By using the old fleetway covers the issue only looks Classic in all sense, just like the good old Muthu golden days. Yes, as pointed out by Chezian and BN, Devil's Secret is published as "Malai Kottai Marmam" and The Mind Machine is published under the title "Microalaivarisai 848" in Muthu respectively.

Take a look at the covers once again. The difference between the lady's costume in Muthu and Fleetway cover. This is what the editor has meant in his article in Comics World, published in 2002. In his own words "In many ways MUTHU COMICS was a trendsetter for Tamil Comics. It provided clean fun – (scantily clad women in the stories were even given a modest covering-up by staff artists!!), excellent translation in Tamil and was always low-priced. Every other comic that came on the scene after MUTHU COMICS tried imitating this style."

As we are in the covers topic, take a look at the latest CC cover and its original.

Second thing is about the inner page scans of Pudhayal Vettai. I forgot to mention that those were provided by our friend Dr Sathish(Kovai). In fact, he has also done the proof reading of the posting for logical errors(!!!), which is, of late, becoming a habit for me.

As there is one more blog(http://comicology.blogspot.com/ by Rafiq Raja) which is covering the new issue releases, I'm not too keen on reviewing the new issues, atleast for the time being. So the review for Lion 200 is not going to happen any time soon. May be, just may be possible, when the issue number 250 is due for release.:-)

With this we come to the end of this short update.

Regards,

Muthufan

No comments!!!

Pudhayal Vettai!!!

That's what we have for review in this post.

I'm talking about the first time ever Rip Kirby has appeared in Muthu, who continue(d) to thrill the Muthu comics fan many times over. Anyway their first appearance merits a special mention. We will do more than just "mention" in this post.

As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, as the the Fleetway issues featuring Maayavi, Johnny Nero and Lawrence & David were fast running out, the Muthu publishers have have turned his attention to USA for the comics sourcing. Here is what Vijayan has to say about this in his article written for the Comic World issue 2, published in 2002.

The first issue had THE STEEL CLAW – a secret agent with an artificial steel hand with extraordinary powers of invisibility. Dubbed “Irumbukkai Mayavi” – he was a smash hit and to this day remains “Numero Uno” for the Tamil comics fan. Numerous indigenous creations on the lines of THE STEEL CLAW flooded the market – because putting a guy with a hand of iron on your comic’s cover page seemed to be a recipe for instant success! Such was the popularity of the THE STEEL CLAW!!!

Several more action heroes from Fleetway’s stable followed with equal success. A dashing pair of secret agents BARRACUDDA & FROLLO, a James Bond like JOHNNY NERO with a pretty secretary, were prominent hits.

Some popular heroes from King Features Syndicate in America – in the form of PHANTOM, MANDRAKE, RIP KIRBY, BUZ SAWYER, SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN, CISCO KID joined the fray.

However basically all the stories that MUTHU COMICS published dished up detective stories laced with action (PHANTOM & MANDRAKE being exceptions). So once Fleetway’s popular detective stories were exhausted - MUTHU COMICS found itself in a vacuum of sorts. War stories, western cowboy action, cartoons, sci-fi stories were hardly tried and naturally there was an ebb of interest.

First non-fleetway hero to appear in Muthu was Rip Kirby. It was issue number 28 Pudhayal Vettai, in Jul 1974. Rip Kirby was no stranger to Comics fan in India/Tamil Nadu by then. He was appearing regularly in Malaimathi Comics and in Indrajal Comics. So it was sort of "Plug & Play" him into Muthu without much problems. And he was a instant hit with many readers.

Here is the cover of this memorable issue.



And here is the back cover.



And the story line is simple. Desmond, Kirby's butler takes a daring bet with him in the game of Golf, though he doesn't know anything about Golf. And surprisingly he wins the game, with minor hiccups. Kirby learns that it was due to a band(Thayathu) Desmond got when he went for diving. The girl, Tommy, who gave the band to Desmond tries to chase anyone who comes near her diving site. Kirby learns that she is looking for a sunken treasure based on a map. She was closely watched by Muttai Kannan James(villain, of course you need one in every adventure story right?). When Tommy finally manages to get the bounty, which is nothing but drugs hidden in the sunken boat's life buoy, James moves-in to take hold of the catch. However a hurricane destroys James' boat as well as Kirby's boat. Kirby manages to survive along with his companions, where as the villains minus his girl friend get killed. Bad people gets punished, and good people live happily ever after!!!!

Sample pages from the story are given below.












The main story was only 101 pages long. As all the earlier Fleetway issues had minimum 122 pages, I guess the editor has decided to maintain the same length with lot of filler pages(in fact with 20 filler pages). Take a look at couple of filler pages.






To know more about Rip Kirby, follow the Wikipedia link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Kirby

Surprisingly, none of the stories featuring Rip Kirby appeared in the Top Ten list of the Editor in his article in Muthu issue 300. Roja Maaligai Ragasiyam, Moondru Thoon Marmam, Vazhipari Kollai are some of his best stroies.

And tips on preservation for those who are new to Comics Collection.
1. Never alter the state of the book in anyway.
2. Do not tear the price from the cover(tell this to the book shops from where you buy the back issues regularly)
3. Do not bind the book
4. Do not paste cello tape on the cover(however damaged the book is).
5. Do no use glue to paste any pages.

Here is the list of do's on preservation.
1. Keep the comics in a plastic cover, if possible with a card board back up and store them vertically(never horizondally, as the book tends to curl up when stored this way). Do not remove from book from the plastic cover unless required.
2. Store the comics away from Sun light or bright light.
3. Use book marks when reading, instead of folding the corners.

For the nth time this blog is behind schedule. Sorry guys, tied up with work and personal matters.

As usual please post your comments or mail me muthufan@yahoo.com.

Regards,
Muthufan

As we are waiting for the arrival of the Cowboy special, which also will be the issue number 200 of Lion Comics, I think it is appropriate to recollect a Hot Line published in the 50th Lion issue Dragon Nagaram. Particularly read the letter from R Amutha(also known as Chinnanchiru Gopu). As per schedule, 200th issue would have got released sometime in 2000. However we are in 2007 and still waiting for the 200th issue. Better late than never.

Take a look at the hot line and the cover of the 50th issue.





Let us recall one more landmark issue. Take a look at the hot line of the issue number 150 and cover of the issue.





Though the issue number 200 was not released in 2000, issue number 157 will remain as a milestone of this period. Titled as the Millenium special, this was the highlight of the year 2000 as far as Tamil comics is concerned. I'm not going deep into this issues as most of the readers would have read the book very recently. So only the cover scan of this landmark issue is posted here.



I'll do a review of issue number 200 as and when it is released.

Regards,
Muthufan

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

A star is born... Literally...!!!!

I mean, Star Comics is born!!!!

Time will only tell whether it is just a shooting star, or a Super Star... I hope it is the later...

When I heard about the idea of a new Tamil comics, first thing that came to my my mind was 'Hmmmmm... Another comics!!!. How long it will survive? What is the quality of the issue? Whether it will be acceptable to the fans? What stories? Periodicity?"

Well, I do not have the answer for the first one, but I do have the answer for the remaining questions now. Quality - You have to see it to believe it. I have not seen anything like this in Tamil. I prefer to call the quality as "First and best in Tamil", rather than calling it as a "Tamil comics in European standard". It is a bound book in A4 size with 48 pages. It costs Rs 100 and it will be available quarterly. I'm sure Tamil readers will be overjoyed by the quality, but I cannot say the same will be their reaction about price. Naturally a comic reader from a small town will start making comparision with the issues available in the market now. He may think in the lines of "For Rs 100, I can get a book of same size with 350 pages, with 5/6 stories(MDS, Jolly Special and Cowboy Special). Why should I go for something which is less page-wise and stories-wise for the same Rs 100. So what, if the paper is good and all pages are in color". A very genuine concern indeed. However we need to benchmark this book from the quality point of view alone. Once we were happy to travel in trains with just second class compartments. Then we moved to First class, then we were introduced the comforts on AC in 2-Tier and to enjoy the same comfort at an affordable price, AC 3-Tier was introduced. Now people prefer to fly in budget airlines than travelling by train. However each type caters for specific market segment. Same way, Star comics is meant for a specific clientele. This is to satisy the thirst of quality seeking readers, who can afford the quality. Till date they did not have the means to quench their thirst. This does not mean that it is not targetted for the poor reader from a small town. He is welcome to buy this book, but it will not be available through the normal distribution channels(read, petty shop in the main road). Not yet, anyway. The way, those who travel in II class aspires to travel by AC/Air, I expect/want the reader to migrate/support from reading normal issues at low price to premium editions. Nothing wrong in seeking for better things in life, right? This will make the Tamil comics industry to make inroads to the larger middle class segment which now frowns upon their kids reading Tamil comics, but happy to buy any of those sleek colourful English issues.

Coming to the current issue, the story is same as the Thihil issue number 11, Pani Mandala Kottai, published about 20 years ago. Captain Prince is the hero of this issue, ably assisted by his side kick Barne. Podiyan Jinn has very limited role to play in this story as Prince and Barne leave him with the ship to climb the misty mountains. Normally most of the Prince stories were, some way or the other, linked to sea. However to add variety, the editors have sometimes moved away from typical sea-scene. This story is one of them. It's a thriller in high altitude. Well, nothing much needs to be said about the story line, as it is well known to many of you.

I have attended two meetings in Mid-March 2007, one in Chennai and one in Salem, where the advance copies were shown to few fans. They have never expected that a Tamil comic book can be so attractive. Most of them were stunned to see the quality of the book. They were clearly running out of words to express their surprise and joy. They were unanimous in their opinion, that Star should continue indefinitely for the benefit of all Tamil fans, with the same quality.

You can see the other details, like preview page, cover page, coming soon issues, message board etc in the official web site of the comics. It is http://www.starcomics.in

You can see the back cover scan and the editor's forward for this issue below(this scans are not available in the Star Comics site):







Last words before signing off. A premium copy(better quality paper) of the same issue is available for Rs 500, on request. Please drop a line to the editor for further details.

Congrats to Raghulan, the editor of Star Comics. Many of us have dreamt of publishing Comics in Tamil, but only you had the courage to take the next step and make it a reality.

Welcome Star, my Super Star!!!

Regards,
Muthufan

Rip Kirby, Buz Sawyer, Cisco Kid, Phantom, Mandrake - you know them and you love them. What about Dr Gildare? Heard of him before?

Well, for the uninitiated, he was the hero of the first unusual (common man as hero) comic from Muthu. When Muthu finished most of the Maayavi(Steel Claw), Johnny Nero, Lawrence & David(Barracuda) stories from Fleetway, UK, they have moved to US based strips, starting with Rip Kirby, followed by Wing Commander George(Johnny Hazard), Charlie(Buz Sawyer), Corrigan and Cisco(Kid). Surprise package came out in issue number 48, titled "Visithira Vendhan". This was released in Mar 1976. One-off hero Dr Gildare was the hero in this story. Not sure whether he has appeared in any other strip again. Not able to trace the origin of this story as well. Take a look at the front and back cover.



Story line was very interesting. One world famous surgeon Dr Gildare was kidnapped to a kingdom called Paklas to treat the ailing ruler(Prince Vassini) of that country, who was suffering from "Mudakku Mootu Viyadhi(Rheumatoid Arthritis)" a disease Dr Gildare specialises. But this disease does not sound very life threatening as mentioned in the story(Uyirai Parikkum Kodiya Viyadhi). After realising the purpose, the doctor refuses to treat the ruler despite threats to his life. When sama, pedham, dhanam & dhandam methods did not work, the ruler changes his mind and decides to come to America with Dr Gildare for the treatment. A very different story line, compared to other stories Muthu has handled thus far, which were basically adventure and detective stories. Though this story has its share of fights, action, kidnapping etc, the level is not upto the mark that of a Buz or Kirby or Cisco story. Muthu followed up with two more stories of this type. Issue number 50, titled "Theevai Meetiya Theeran" and issue number 54, titled "Kal Nenjan". I guess the response was just luke warm to these stories, as they have not ventured to one-off heroes again for a very, very long time. Cover scans of both, Theevai Meetiya Theeran and Kal Nenjan are below.



The art work looks like typical American art work, however the hero Dr Gildare's features are more like a cross between Corrigan and Johnny Nero, as if Corrigan artist Al Williamson was asked to work in a Johnny Nero story. Take a look at the few pages from the story.












As were the norm in those days, this one also had 132 pages. The main story was just 93 pages, so two Kapish strips were used as fillers for the remaining pages. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this blog, Kapish is one of my favorites. I liked these two stories, than the main story. The Kapish story in this issue was part 2 and 3. Don't know about the part 1, most probably it would have appeared in the issue number 47, Rayil Kollai(first ever Cisco Kid story in Muthu). Few pages from the Kapish story.











Inside front cover has the ad for the next issue "Kaanamal Pona Kalai Pokkisham" featuring Philip Corrigan.



Inside back cover has the ad for the Muthu Mini "Thapal Thalai Marmam" featuring Puthaka Priyan Prabhu.



Also take a look at the list of books available at that time. One from Page number 93 and another from page number 130.



All the sample scans used in this post are from ERB and a big thanks to him.

As usual, post your comments and feelings in this page by clicking the Comments link below my signature, or through mail(muthufan@yahoo.com).

Regards,
Muthufan

What do we have in this posting???

We have a guest posting by Dr Sathish about "Mayavi-Ripoffs".

For those who missed it, on 02 Oct 2006 a new 3-D tele-serial called "Maayavi" was started in Jaya TV. It's aired every Saturday. I'm not sure about the response, guess it is not very bad. If this serial is very successful, we may end up seeing even Lawrence David, Johnny Nero, Mandrake in Tamil!!!

Here is what our guest says about the serial. I haven't seen the serial so far, so no-comments from my side.

Ripping-off other people's success isn't new to India or the world for that matter. Stan-Lee, creator of "Spiderman" has himself admitted that he created the character as a parody on "Superman". He deliberately changed a few things like putting a hyphen between spider & man(Spider-Man), made him crawl walls as opposed to Superman who leapt tall buildings in a single bound, etc. I can keep the list going on forever. The earliest version of Peter Parker was looking a lot like Clark Kent for that matter, before Stan realized that since Spiderman wore a mask, he need not hide under a pair of goggles!

In India TV & movies have shamelessly ripped-off success formulas from abroad. Most notable are "Shaktiman-Superman", "Aryaman-Star Wars", "Hatim-Lord of the Rings",etc…But the recent "Jaya TV" serial "Mayavi" has pained me the most. Perhaps it is due to the fact that "Mayavi" is closest to my heart. These guys make tons of money through advertising revenue, while people like our editor are working for peanuts as profit.

I watched the first episode on "Vijayadasami" & was completely taken aback! The hero "Vikram" works for a secret organization called "President's XI" & of course he has a steel hand. He goes to investigate an illegal firearms factory & lets all hell loose. He emits noxious fumes off his fingers, fires shurikens (those star shaped razors you often see in Jet-Li movies) from the steel claw, fires bullets from his index finger, & when things get tough, he unscrews a 40w bulb & inserts two fingers into the socket. Need I say what happens next? He even emits electricity & destroys the factory after that!

My comments : Not sure whether these guys have bought the copyrights to telecast the serial. May be Vijayan/Fleetway will be interested to make some money by taking these guys to court, if they have not paid for the copyrights. Those who are watching the serial, can you tell me whether they mention Muthu Comics/Fleetway in the titles.

I'll write in detail about "Mathi Comics" mostly concentrating on how they ripped-off not only "Mayavi", but other "Classic Muthu Comics" as well. I don't have any back ground information on the comics, as to how, when & why they were published. Hence I'm just giving a review of each comic.

Besides these "Ponni Comics" also had a "Mayavi" of some sorts. I don't remember exactly what his name was & I don't have any books. I'll post the relevant info as soon as I get hold of a comic.

Mathi Comics was published some time around 1979-80. The stories werewritten by Mullai Thangarasan and the art-work is by Chellam, by far thegreatest Tamil comic artist. I've 3 issues with me. We'll take a lookat them one by one.

1. Irumbukkai Maya Mayavan:

Except for the title "Irumbukkai" is nowhere to be seen. Guess anything branded "Irumbukkai" sold those days. Take a look at the cover.



This story was supposedly published in 1979. I wasn't even born then!

The hero is called "Irumbukkai Maya Mayavan" because his fist is so powerful & he appears in crime scenes as if by magic (mayam) & captures the villains! Maayavan is his name, by the way. Confused? You will be! Take a look at the scan of page 20.



Simple story. 3 prisoners are rescued by a mad scientist called Dr.RaiChand. He is working for "Sarvadesa SadhigararKazhgam". Never heard of anything like this, have we? He promises to turn them intoyoung & strong people with different facial features so that they cango out into the world and lead a free life. Only, he turns them intoweird bat-men, who would carry out his evil designs. He also wants toresearch the hero's brain because his is the sharpest one in theworld! Therefore he kidnaps Mayavan as well, though only after some "Dishyum! Dishyum!" sequences. Predictably the bat-creatures get outof control. The rest of the story says how Maayavan stops them. Thestyle of art, layouts & story telling are strikingly similar to all theclassic Muthu issues. Take a look for yourself. Sample pages from the story are below:

2. Minnal Mayavi:

A Mayavi rip-off if there was ever one. The hero Prabhu is a secretagent of the agency called "Mark Bureau". His code name is "Mark–8".Sounds familiar? He is sent on a secret mission 2 spy on their archenemies "Sarvadesa Mosadi Gumbal" whose secret base is at Aanamalai.

The first few pages highlight the hero's so called 'sharp brain'. Brace yourself. This is right out of any "M.G.R." or "Jai Shanker" movie. For the younger readers it's a bit like the "Vijayakanth" cop flicks. Someone comes calling at the hero's home. He is Sukhdev, a colleague. The hero immediately guesses that the mission is something important & when he meets the chief, he immediately states the objective of the mission. "Enna? Sarvadesa Mosadi Kumbalai pidikka vaendum, avvalodhaanae?" Worse! He is praised for his intuition, both by his chief & colleague. He comes out of the secret office & is shot at, ran down by a car, chased by thugs & finally captured when he gets into a taxi driven by the villains. He is taken 2 the secret lair at Aanamali, where the villains are busy printingcounterfeit currencies of smaller countries. Don't ask which countries!

This story must have been published some time around 1979-80, but there is no sign of it. Both the author & artist seem to be caught in some sort of a time-warp. No bell-bottoms, no Rajini-style long hair, no long drooping mustaches, ancient telephones in a sophisticated organization, henchmen who seem to pop right out of an old Sean Connery "James Bond" movie, & most strikingly the hero wears a "Elvis Presley spit-curl", the type Jaishanker used to sport. To cap it all, the henchmen have names like Thalaivetti Rangan, Vettukili, Pal Pandian, Pattakathi, Vettu Karuppan, etc…Nambiar used to have thugs named like these in movies! Guess they were still caught in 1960. Or maybe it's due to the fact that all Muthu originals were published in the 60's.

Back to the story, the hero meets the villain "Dhigambaran" (who had aname like this in 1980? I was born in 1980 & had a decent name likeSathish), the leader of "Sarvadesa Mosadi Kazhagam". The hero escapesfrom him. The villain punishes two of his henchmen for letting thehero escape. The hero saves them. The thugs are converted. Plenty ofaction!

Now this is where the story takes a weird twist! An alien space-shipcalled "Sotaang" lands right where the villains are standing, for repairs. Out of it comes "Saamrang, the scientist", a native of "Minnal Graham". Bullets can't harm him when he has electricity running through him. Take a look at the scan of page 34; it is too weird to explain.

This alien is a peace loving fellow, who doesn't want to share his power with earthlings because they would misuse them. The villain cons him into having a cup of tea with him & imprisons him when the electricity running through him is drained & he's vulnerable. The hero tries to save him, but is again captured by the villains who cut of his fingers. Predictable! Something has to happen to get your fingers replaced with steel ones. Note! Fingers, not hand! That's original! The alien scientist saves the day by unleashing his robots on the villains. He gives the hero steel fingers.

Not only that. Take a look at the scans, you'll understand better. Especially the last page(given below). Remember seeing it somewhere?

3. Viral Manidhargal:

This story is on the lines of Lawrence & David classics like "ManjalPoo Maramam" & "Formula X-13" where a novel terror is unleashed upon the people, & governments are held at ransom. The threat this time though is more of a nuisance, than terror. There isn't any life threatening danger. A villain called Ranjan Bose, another mad scientist, who declares himself "Emperor" on the lines of "Nadunisi Kalvan". He calls himself a "Silent Revolutionist" on the lines of Buddhar, Aesu & Gandhi! Viral Manidhargal are his invention. He manufactures them in a machine! They're indestructible and cause a lot of nuisance. A bit like, 'what if a million flies attack you?', actually! How Minnal Mayavi defeats him forms the story.

The story begins in Kovai, my town! Take a look at the first page,especially the owner of "Anjaneya Café". Classic Chellam.

Take a look at the pages 4, 5, 7, 8, 12 &13. Reminiscent of Lawrence &David stories, aren't they?

Take a look at these pages for "Mayavi" type sequences. 20, 30, 53, 54and of course the last page.

As a complement 2 the article on "Mayavi Rip-Offs", here's a very short write-up on "Irumbukkai Agent".

IRUMBUKKAI AGENT:

He appeared in only a couple of issues in Thihil. Take a look at the scans.

Thihil #17: Thihil Kodai Malar – Thihil Payanam
(Ad for this issue and the back cover scan of this issue are below-sorry, no front cover scan available as of now)

First page of the first story is below:

Thihil #18: Kadarkottai Marmam + Vinnil Maraindha Vin Kalangal

He was originally published under the title "Agent Iron Hand" in "D.C.Thompson" during the 1970s. He was a toned down version of the "Steel Claw". His hand was made of iron & the similarities end almost there. It was more of a gadget rather than an integral part of the body mechanism like "Mayavi's Steel Claw". He didn't turn invisible at all. But the hand had some cool gadgets, mostly non-lethal. Like for instance he had the index finger doing all the stuff like emitting noxious fumes, laser beams, oil slick, etc…He could even turn the hand into a powerful electromagnet. The hand was strong anyway even without the gadgets. Mostly his stories were of a lighter tone compared 2 Mayavi's grim settings! You could almost say he was a kiddy version of Mayavi. I still wonder whether he merited a place in Thihil. Lion would've suited him better. But maybe our editor felt he was cramped for space already in Lion & filled the vacant slots in Thihil with him. Internet searches about him were fruitless. Only the international superheroes site offers something about him. Not much though. It features all the British comic characters which were published in all forms of Tamil comics.

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/u/uk.htm

Well, That's all in this post guys. You can expect the next one very soon.

As usual post your comments and suggestions, by clicking the Comments link below my sign or through email to muthufan@yahoo.com.

Regards,
Muthufan