30 News 16: The Hindu (Disney’s Back), Deccan Chronicle (Gen X) & TOI (Graphic Pick)

Dear ComiRades,

In the Last Blog Post, TCU has forgotten to Give due credits for Muthu Fan for providing the Physical Scans of the Fleetway Group Publications. It was a Mere Oversight and As usual, TCU acknowledges the Help from the Pioneer of Comics Blogging in Tamil Comics Ulagam and also takes this opportunity for acquiring the Official Site.

TCU is Back with yet another Comics News Post. Of Late, TCU has not compiled one such and hence is the need for this post. Starting with The Times Of India Article on the Graphic Pick section which they Update once in a Month. This time it featured Our Beloved Steve Holland. Now, As mentioned in his latest mail to TCU, Steve is quite busy in his Latest Work (Which will be Updated in TCU) and hence was Spared for Comments on this Post.

Times Of India – Chennai Times – Dated 17th April 2009 – Page No 6 : Graphic Pick – Rick Random – Edited By Steve Holland – Prion Books

Instead of TCU Commenting on this,Let us get someone from the UK Comics Domain itself.  This is What Renowned Comics Creator Lew Stringer has to say on this wonderful collection:

Lew Stringer: “With all the many books on classic UK comics appearing these days (from Commando to Modesty Blaise) people can't afford to buy everything. However, if you're trying to choose between Rick Random and the other Fleetway library reprints I'd suggest this is the best one to get.

Over 600 pages of artwork by Ron Turner makes it well worth the price. He proves here to be a master of black and white composition and his retro-future designs are fantastic. The stories are solidly crafted well-told tales and are more sophisticated than those of the Fleetway weeklies of the period.

The only faults are that, because the pages are scanned from the old comics and not the long-lost original art, some of the finer lines in some pages have "dropped out". (Everything is still legible though.) On the whole reproduction is very good and the best one can expect. Try this book, - it's a British classic”.

This Digest Consists of 10 Wonderful Stories from the 1950’s. Here is the List:

No	Story Title	1st Appeared	Author	Artist
1	Kidnappers from Mars	Super Detective Library 44, Dec 1954	Edward Homes	Bill Lacey
2	Emperor of the Moon	Super Detective Library 49, Mar 1955	Unknown	Ron Turner
3	Planet of Terror	Super Detective Library 123, Mar 1958	Bob Kesten	Ron Turner
4	Space Pirates	Super Detective Library 127, May 1958	Harry Harrison	Ron Turner
5	Perilous Mission	Super Detective Library 129, Jun 1958	Harry Harrison	Ron Turner
6	Mystery of the Frozen World	Super Detective Library 133, Aug 1958	Bob Kesten	Ron Turner
7	Mystery of the Robot World	Super Detective Library 137, Oct 1958	Barry Coker	Ron Turner
8	Killer in Space	Super Detective Library 37, Sep 1954	Edward Homes	Ron Turner
9	Threat from Space	Super Detective Library 153, Jun 1959	Bob Kesten	Ron Turner
10	Kidnapped Planet	Super Detective Library 163, Dec 1959	Bob Kesten	Ron Turner

Now, When Lew Comments like that, it has to be Bought and it is Available in Chennai Landmark for the Last 3 Months. Apart from the Fact that the General Editor is Steve Holland, what forced Yours Truly to buy this wonderful edition was the Artists Involved in the Stories. 1st Story Features Bill Lacey about whom Tamil ComiRades need no introduction as they have tasted his Trademark Artwork in series such as John Steel (Muthu Comics) ஜான் ஸ்டீல் (முத்து காமிக்ஸ்), No 13 Marvel Street (Lion / Mini Lion) துப்பறியும் கம்ப்யுட்டர் (லயன் காமிக்ஸ், மினி லயன்), Rat Pack (Lion Comics) பெருச்சாளிப் பட்டாளம் லயன் காமிக்ஸ், Man Who Searched for Fear (Thigil Comics) ஆபத்தை தேடி (திகில் காமிக்ஸ்) etc. Another Wonderful News is TCU is on the Verge of Completing the full collection of all the above mentioned series of UK Golden Oldies.

And the 2nd Artist who is predominant over the rest of the 9 stories is None other than Ron Turner, Who unfortunately has made limited appearance in Tamil Comics. Old Timers may recall The Formative issues of Thigil Comics in which Jet Ace Logan ஜெட் வீரர் லோகன் (திகில் காமிக்ஸ்) featured in a Single story. However, This is a chance for all those ComiRades to Own a Piece of Collectors Edition from the maestro who is known for his Unique Artwork. Yes, Turner is the one who made the style of Chiaroscuro his own. Not only in Black and White, But also in Colour (See, THIS Example).

Rick Random Space Detective Digest Cover	Ron Turner–Example for Chiaroscuro	Cover & Back Wrapper Of Rick Random

Amazon Link (For those Who Want to Buy Online): Rick Random

Steve Holland’s Blog Post: Rick Random Digest

Artist Ron Turner Details: Home Page Link

Artist Bill Lacey Details: Lambiek Link

Now, What are you waiting for? Go Grab it before it is too late. Remember, Steve Lays his Hands only on Quality Compilation and hence this one is a Masterpiece not to be missed.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Second Article to be discussed was about the growing interest of Youngsters on Graphic Novels and this fact is confirmed by the Number of copies sold over the last 6 months across various Book Shops. And, Madhurima Chatterjee (Whom i believe is covering this segment for the 1st time) has done a wonderful Article on Graphic novels. Hopefully we can expect many more such articles from madhurima in future.

Deccan Chronicle – Chennai Chronicle – Dated 24th April 2009 – Page No 25 – Growing Awareness About Graphic Novels Among Youth & Gen X

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Last week TCU received a Surprise mail which contained links to a Forum in which ComiRade Rathnagiri of Sivakasi ரத்தினகிரி (சிவகாசி) has done a wonderful job of Translating 1941 Comic Series into Tamil in such a Professional manner that Kanavugalin Kathalan has admired this Piece of Work. Hopefully this will be loved by ComiRades such as Hollywood Bala, Sureஷ், Pula Sulaki etc.

Now, Some ComiRades may question the Legality of such Translation. Kindly read what Rathnagiri has to say on this. There are 5 Stories translated by him and the good news is, all of them are available for Download. Have a Look at the Quality work.

Here is the Link: Kazhugu Veeran - கழுகு வீரன்

Enjoy this stuff and write in a Word of appreciation for such dedicated work to satisfy our hunger for Quality Tamil Comics. Strangely, this kind of translation was the Bone of Contention in a Lengthy Conversation TCU Had with MuthuFan couple of weeks ago. Well, Muthu Fan, what do you say?

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Another Piece of Comic News that is Making waves across India is the return of Walt Disney to India Through the Distribution of Diamond Group. When the News Broke about the Launch of Disney in India in the 2nd week of April, TCU had a Lengthy Chat about the Characters and the Copyright with Doctor 7 & Muthu Fan. The Bone of Contention was the 6 Stories that Fleetway has published somewhere in their publications. More on that in a Later post. The same is Updated by ComiRade Rafiq and hence TCU will not get into much into this, as of right now.

The Hindu – Metro Plus – Chennai Edition – Dated 23rd April 2009 – Page 1 – Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck Back

Well, After the Conversation TCU Had with the Senior Management official with the Diamond Group, TCU has got updated on many issues and they will be discussed in detail in the remaining posts in future.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It is to be noted that From now onwards TCU will update on News Articles only once in a Month.TCU, Of Late, has been criticised for posting Comic-Related Posts such as This Post and This Post. Hence, when there was another such thing happened, TCU, As usual was waiting to post this at the end of the month with a Dilemma. Voila, another Blogger (Shiva from Madippakkam, Chennai – Artist By Profession and ComiRade By Nature) has updated about this in his own Blog over here: கே.வி.ஆனந்த் காமிக்ஸ் படித்தார்.

On Personal account, TCU has not met him for the last six or seven years. He happens to be a Family associate of TCU’s Ex Colleague and TCU has followed him right from the days of his association with Super Novel of Mr Ramu (Another Publisher friend of TCU). Old ComiRades may remember them as the Father of Mr Ramu Was the man behind many a Comics Book in Tamil and the Elder Brother is the Publisher of James Bond Comics.

Well, enough of this now and TCU Will be Back with a May Day Special Post which will be in Contrast with the Blog Post to be Crafted by Doctor 7.As usual, post your comments in the comments section. For those who want to Pen their thoughts in Tamil, Kindly Use the Option Provided in the Widget in the sidebar or Click Here.

Thanks & Regards,
King Viswa.