32 IznoGoud In India: A Comprehensive Review

Dear ComiRades,

Today was the Polling Day in the State of Tamil Nadu, India and to sync with that, TCU is Posting this. When we Look into the Elections and Polling, there are only 2 Stories worth to Talk and TCU is Posting one today and Hoping that Doctor 7 Will post the another one, Amidst his busy schedule. TCU Has one confession to Make regarding this Post. This Was Originally planned in Dec 2008 and as it Involved Poonthalir Magazine (பூந்தளிர் சிறுவர் இதழ்), It was Decided Unanimously that Ayyampalayam Sir will Make the Post in Jan 2009.

However, There were Reasons which were beyond our control and hence Sir Couldn’t do that. When he came Back, it was Discussed in Poongaavanam’s Blog as the 1st Rumour that he will make that Post in April 1st Week. Just Like the Spider Post in TCU, This too got Delayed and Hence when the right occasion came, TCU is Posting this. Hopefully Ayyampalayam Sir will not oppose this. Moreover, Am talking about Only 2 such stories in Tamil and Hopefully, Ayyampalayam Sir will do a Post on the remaining stories.

As the Election Story involves Iznogoud, We have to take a Tour on His Origins and his Tamil Introduction way back in 1985, a Good 25 Years Back. Yes, Even before Lion Comics Introduced The Character Iznogoud to Tamil ComiRades, Vandu Mama had introduced him; Unlike the way with Tin Tin's Introduction, where a similar looking character was created, in the Case of Iznogoud, There was no such Look-Alike thing. For More, Kindly read on. As we Enter The Domain of Iznogoud, Let us get introduced with 3 Major Characters so that we can enjoy the Post and the stories in a Much better way.

Name : Haroun Al Poussah (French) – The word Poussah in French is used to describe Fat Man. Named After : Haroun Al Rashid, Who ruled Baghdadh from 786 to 809. Others: Haroun Al Plassid (UK Version); Haroun Al Sa’aftti (US Version); Haroun Al Good Bhai (Tamil Version) Designation: Sultan of Baghdad.(Off Late, The Word Caliph is Avoided Not to Offend Muslim Community)  Nature: Even though Lazy and Amenable, He is a Golden man By Heart. Profile: All Haroun El Poussah cares about is eating, sleeping and having lazy fun. He spends most of his time asleep, waking only when it's time to eat, when some servant shows him a fancy western object or when his Grand Vizier Iznogoud appears to invite him to some sort of new activity, which invariably turns out to be a trap of the plot to get rid of him and get Iznogoud elected as the new Sultan.

Name : IzNoGoud (French) – The word is Pronounced as “Is No Good” with a French Accent Others: Mathiyilla Mandhiri / Na Modi Masthan (Tamil Version). Designation: Grand Vizier to the Sultan – 2nd in Command Nature: Wicked little man with one aim in life: to dispose of the Sultan and rule in his stead. Profile: The Nature of Iznogoud can be best explained by his catch phrase: "I want to be Sultan instead of the Sultan" ("je veux devenir calife a la place du calife"), which has passed into everyday French for qualifying over-ambitious people who want to become chief. Examples in French Politics : When Bruno Mégret, number two in the Front National, attempted to seize party control from Jean-Marie Le Pen, he was immediately described by Le Pen as Iznogoud—Mégret's diminutive stature and disagreeable persona. Even Nicolas Sarkozy,is referred as Iznogoud.

Name : Dilat Larath (French Original Name). Others : Wa’at aLaaf (What a Laugh in UK Version) and Na’tu Sm’aart (Not too Smart in US Version) Others: Jalraa Boy - ஜால்ரா பாய் (Tamil Version). Designation: Faithful Henchman to Iznogoud. Nature: Amenable to a fault, He follows orders faithfully from Iznogoud. Profile: This Faithful Henchman has his own Fans and often his One Liners set the tone for the Comedy situations. Watch Out for his dialogues, even though they may be few and far in between.

As we are Going to discuss about a Story which featured in Lion Comics, Let us have a look at the Number of stories which featured Iznogoud so far in Tamil Comics. Iznogoud Surprisingly Has featured in 9 Stories and the tenth story is Long advertised, Yet to see the day light.

No	Issue	Date	Lion Comics Issue Title	Story Title	English Title	Story Title	Year
1	147	Feb 99	Malaiyodu Malyutham-மலையோடு மல்யுத்தம்	Comedy Galatta-காமெடி கலாட்டா	Magic Computer	The Caliph’s Sceptre	1978
2	152	Aug 99	Cartoon Kolaigal-கார்டூன் கொலைகள்	Vendhanukku Vidumurai-வேந்தனுக்கு விடுமுறை	Caliph’s Vocation	Summer Vocation	1982
3	155	Nov 99	Ratha Nagaram-ரத்த நகரம்	Karaippar Karaiththal-கரைப்பார் கரைத்தால்	The Infamous	Sinister Liquidator	1980
4	160	Apr 00	Thalaikeezhai Oru Dinam-தலைகீழாய் ஒரு தினம்	Thalaikeezhai Oru Dinam-தலைகீழாய் ஒரு தினம்	Day of Misrule	Day of Misrule	1979
5	168	Jun 01	Thangap Padhai-தங்கப்பாதை	Vairam venumaa Vairam?-வைரம் வேணுமா வைரம்?	The Infamous	Unlucky Diamond	1980
6	175	Nov 02	Dolton Nagaram-டால்டன் நகரம்	Vinnil Oru Mandhiri-விண்ணில் ஒரு மந்திரி	Carrot for Iznogoud	Magic Fiction	1982
7	186	May 04	Mega Dream Special-மெகா டிரீம் ஸ்பெஷல்	Baghdhadhil Therdhal-பாக்தாதில் தேர்தல்	Day of Misrule	Elections in Caliphate	1979
8	189	Dec 04	Sultanukkoru Savaal-சுல்தானுக்கொரு சவால்	Sultanukkoru Savaal-சுல்தானுக்கொரு சவால்	Day of Misrule	The Challenge	1979
9	189	Dec 04	Sultanukkoru Savaal-சுல்தானுக்கொரு சவால்	Kannamoochi Re Re-கண்ணாமூச்சி ரே ரே	Day of Misrule	The Labyrinth	1979

As a Tradition in TCU, Let us Have a Comparative look at the first pages of all the 9 Tamil version stories and their respective English versions (TCU Wouldn’t mind posting the French ones also). As Usual TCU Possesses Most of the Original Stories of the Comics’ which published in Tamil.

Lion Comics Issue No 147 Dated Feb 1999 Chick Bill Malaiyodu Malyutham Iznogoud 1st page	EgMontDaragud-1978-IznoGoud & the Magic Computer 3rd Story-Page 28-The Caliphs Sceptre
Lion Comics Issue 152-Aug 99-Cartoon Kolaigal IznoGoud-Vendhanukku Vidumurai	EgMont Daragud 1982 Edition IznoGoud The Caliphs Vocation 1st Story Page 3
Lion Comics Issue No 155 Nov 1999 Ratha Nagaram  IzNoGud Story-Karaippar Karaithaal	EgMont Daragud 1980 Edition IznoGoud The Infamous 1st Story Page 3 Sinister Liquidator
Lion Comics Issue No 160 Dated Apr 2000 Iznogoud Thalaikeezhai Oru Dinam 1st Page	EgMont Daragud 1979 Edition IznoGoud The Infamous 1st Story Page 3 The Day of MisRule
Lion Comics Issue 168-Jun 2001-Thangap Padhai-Iznogoud Vairam venumaa vairam 1st Page	EgMont Daragud 1980 Edition IznoGoud The Infmous 1st Story Page 3 Unlucky Diamond
Lion Comics-Issue No 175-Nov 2002 Doltan Ngaram-Iznogoud Vinnil Oru Mandhiri 1st Page	EgMont Daragud 1982 Edition A Carrot for IznoGoud – The Magic Fiction
Lion Comics Issue No 186-Mega Dream Special-May 2004-IzNoGud Baghdhadhil Therdhal	EgMont Daragud-1979 Edition-The Infamous-4th Story-Page 39-Elections in the Caliphate
Lion Comics Issue No 189-Dec 2004-IzNoGud Sultanukkoru Savaal-1st Page	EgMont Daragud 1979 Edition IznoGoud The Infamous 1st Story Page 3 TheChallenge
Lion Comics Issue189-Dec 2004-IzNoGud Sultanukkoru Savaal-Kannamoochi Rey Rey-1st Page	EgMont Daragud 1979 Edition IznoGoud The Infamous 3rd Story Page 31 The Labyrinth

Now, As mentioned in the beginning of the post, Iznogoud has appeared in different versions. Mostly Translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (All the 8 Stories which were translated Pre-80) were cherished as the Best Ones by The ComiRades & Only one Book Translated By Beatrice Soss in the US Edition and also the uncredited Versions of CineBook versions. Read for yourself as which one is better translated. As Usual, TCU Possesses all these editions.(The CineBook edition’s Introduction page may seem different altogether, Still they used the Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge Translated versions only).

Daragaud UK Egmont 1978 Edition Introduction	Daragaud Publishing US 1982 Edition Introduction	CineBook UK 2008 Edition Introduction

Even though there are 28 titles of Iznogoud, Only 8 were translated to English till date. TCU Has all but the last 2 issues. Actually, of the 28 books, 14 of them were written by Goscinny before he passed away. After which Tabary himself started to write the stories (A La Uderzo – Asterix). Now, Tabary has passed on the mantle to his children.

Iznogoud 1 - 1977	Iznogoud 2 - 1977	Iznogoud 3 - 1978	Iznogoud 4 - 1978	Iznogoud 5 - 1979	Iznogoud 6 - 1979	Iznogoud 7 - 1980	Iznogoud 8 - 1980

 

The Latest Books to Feature Iznogoud on Cover are the 2 Issues of Lion Comics and the 2 issues of Cine Book. Now, Cine book has also advertised the 3rd Book in the Iznogoud series. The second issue had a Coming soon advertisement in the back wrapper and the title is None other than “The day of Misrule” and as of today, TCU is yet to receive that book. Here are the Covers:

Lion Comics Issue No 160–Apr 2000	Lion Comics Issue No 189–Dec 2004	Cine Book Issue 1 – Year 2008	Cine Book Issue 2 – Year 2008	Cine Book Issue 3 – Year 2009

Now, Iznogoud is the kind of Theme which will inspire many to start their own series on same plotlines. In India, There were 4 at least of such kind. Let us have a closer 20-20 Look at them (Based on the KISS Theory – Keep it Simple, Stupid).

Character : Iznogoud Script : Morris Art Work : Tabary Language : French / Translated Total Books : 28 Appeared in: Record/Albums/Lion Translators: Anthea Bell & Derek H	Character : Vaseer Izba Khan Script : Vandu Mama Art Work : Touch work By Designer Language : Tamil Total Stories: 3+ Appeared in : Poonthalir	Character : Tantri the Mantri Script : Dev/ Nadkarni Adil R/Alok M Art Work : Ashok Dongre, Anand Mande / Seema Mande/ Savio Mascarenhas / Ajit Vasaikar Language : English / Hindi/Others Total Stories: 250+	Character : Mandiriyin Thandhiram Translation : Vandumama Art Work : Ashok Dongre, Anand Mande / Seema Mande/ Savio Mascarenhas / Ajit Vasaikar Language : Tamil Total Stories: 50+	Character : Banke Lal Script : Tarun Kumar Wahi Art Work : Prem / Bedi Ji Language : Hindi Total Stories: 70+ Appeared in : Raj Comics Type: Full Length Stories

Now, then. As mentioned in the beginning of the Post, Lion Comics is Not the first One who has Brought Iznogoud to India. Long Before in Mid-80’s itself, Kolkatta Based Govarson’s Has Published Not Only Iznogoud, but also the more popular titles such as Asterix and Lucky Luke in Hindi. When the Comics Publishing Bug was on the High for Yours Truly in 2007, That resulted in the visit to Kolkatta and as it was the Time of Durga Pooja, All yours truly did was to enjoy many Mishti Dohi and come back empty handed.Though the Trip was memorable for other reasons, which i will post some time later. Here are the Covers of them (Thanks to Our Munna Bhai Prabhat for the quick approval).

Goverson Comics Asterix and the Big Fight Cover	Goverson Comics Lucky Luke Dolton City Cover	Goverson Comics Iznogoud Day Of Misrule Cover

Now, As mentioned in the Beginning, Lion Comics was not the first one to bring iznogoud to Tamil ComiRades. That honour (even though it is unofficial) belongs to Mr Vandu Mama. Now, Vandu mama is known to bring many characters to Tamil language and Tin Tin is One Of them. Unlike with the Tin Tin Case, Here Iznogoud is translated literally and only the names are altered and to avoid copyright issues, The Artwork is re-touched a little bit. This is the Story of Unlucky Diamond and for those who can read Tamil, Here is a Bonus for you. Full story available to read and enjoy.

Poonthalir Cover Dated Dec 1st 1985 -Vaseerum Vairamum Lion Comics Issue No 168 Vairam Venumaa Vairam – Iznogoud The Infamous - Unlucky Diamond

Poonthalir Cover Dated Mar 1985 –Sadhuppu Nila Boodham- Lion Comics Issue No 155 Karaippar Karaiththal – Iznogoud The Infamous – Sinister Liquidator

Now, Tantri the Mantri was a Hugely successful series in Tinkle Magazine and the formula was simple: The Mantri wanted to dethrone the King Hooja and wanted to be the King himself. the storylines were normally of 3-5 pages in length. The stories had many authors such as Dev Nadkarni, Adil Rangoonwaala, Alok Mathur etc and later on readers were invited to pen their own stories and many of them were published as well.

Typical Story Line of Tantri the Mantri in Tinkle Magazine - Story By Dev Nadkarni Art by Ashok Dongre (Usually 3-5 Pages in Length and Often Ends With King Hooja Praising Tantri)

Now, Poonthalir magazine had a Tie Up with India Book House and hence they used to translate the stories in Tamil and even in Tamil he was popular. The Translation was done by Vandu mama Himself. The other interesting note is that After the Re-Launch of the Magazine in 1990, The Title of the series was reversed and called as Thandirakkara Mandhiri. Now, Here is a Sample story in Tamil.

Poonthalir Tamil Fortnightly Magazine Dated 1st Oct 1987- Mandhiriyin Thandhiram Story-Dev Nadkarni Illustration Ashok Dongre Translation-Vandu Mama

Iznogoud was so hugely popular that it becomes inevitable to feature in other media of Entertainment and here are some of the interesting information on him:

Comics – Audio Records / LP’s	Video Games of Iznogoud	Animated TV Series of Iznogoud	Full Length Live Movie of Iznogoud
* Available in Audio Form Only in Germany * 1st Audio Record Was Made in 1975 by PEG * 7 Albums are available in Total. * Last Album was released in 1997 by OHHO * Info Link: Here	* Created By InfoGrams in 1987 in france * Still Available to Download HERE * Microid Created Saban’s Iznogoud in 1997 * Launched as a 2-D Platform Game. * Was Unsuccessful & Discontinued Later On.	* Created By Saban – Now SIP Animation * 52 Episodes of 13 Minutes Each in French. * Was Translated in Many Languages (Eng) * Was Aired in BBC Also. * Info Link: Here	* Released in 2005 in French Language * Was Not Up to the Mark & Not Successful * Movie Review in Tamil HERE * Official Site in French: Link * Download Link: HERE

 Now, Usually TCU Will update with the creator info of the characters, as it was the first one to introduce such a concept in Tamil Comics Blogs. Here is the short notes with Info Link for each one of them. A Detailed write up on Goscinny will be done when we do a Comprehensive Lucky Luke Review Next week.

Description	Script Writer for Iznogoud	Artist & Later On Script Writer for Iznogoud
Pseudonym	Goscinny	Tabary
Full Name	Rene Goscinny	Jean Tabary (Seen above with his heirs)
Nationality	French, Polish	French
Age	51 (14 August 1926 - 5 November 1977)	79 (March 5th, 1930 – Stockholm, Sweden)
Info Links (Iznogoud)	Wiki Link, Lambiek Link,  Asterix Link, Official Site, Top 50 Most Translated Authors	Wiki Link, Lambiek, Official Site
Works	Asterix, Iznogoud, Lucky Luke, Oumpah Pah	Richard & Charlie, Totoche, Valentine Le Vagabond, Corinne & Jeannot
Famous For	Asterix & Lucky Luke	Iznogoud

Now, Anyone who is doing a Comprehensive story on Either Asterix, Lucky Luke or Iznogoud has to include Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge in their write up as they are the ones who bring the Liveliness of the original stories from French to English help us to enjoy this.Here is a Short note on the translators involved in Iznogoud. It is a Pity that Not much importance is given to the translators (Mr Dondu, Are you reading?) as they are the one who bring all these tough to translate works to English. Hopefully in the future the publishers will give them their due importance. Even in Prakash Publishers, Only twice was the Translation credits were published. One was when the Jesse James Story got published and the answer for the other will be our special Sunday post.

Description	Translator from French to English	Translator from French to English	Translator from French to English	Translator from English to Tamil
Full Name	Anthea Bell	Derek Hockridge	Beatrice Soss	S.Vijayan
Nationality	U.K	U.K (Not Welsh)	Britain	Indian
Age	75	75	70	44
Info Links	Wiki Link, Interview, Books Link	Wiki, IMDB, JacketFlap, TV Rage	Official Site News	Wiki Link for His Publishing
Works	Iznogoud, Lucky Luke, Blueberry	Iznogoud, Lucky Luke, Blueberry	Not much is Known	Many to be listed here
Famous For	Asterix Translation	Asterix Translation	Iznogoud Translation	Lucky Luke, Blueberry, Ric Hochet

Now, As we mentioned way earlier in this posting that this is a Election day special Posting, Here is the review of Elections in the Caliphate story’s Tamil Translated version: Baghdhadil Therdhal.

Scene 1:Result Announcement By S FM	Scene 2: Magician Getting Egg from Rabbit	Scene 3:IznoGoud Teaming Up with Magician	Scene 4: Fakir’s Forming Opposition

Scene 5: Fakir’s Teaming Up with Genie

Scene 6: S FM Getting Confused By Reports

The Story’s 1st Page is posted up and Read that and come back to this section again, TCU Will wait for you folks. Now, As Iznogoud is Planning to Outsmart the Sultan yet another time and this time the Election is the Name of the Game that he has chosen to play.

In the 1st Scene, Look at the FM’s Name: Su. FM is the short form of Sultan FM and in English it is Funnily called as C.B.C (Caliphate Broadcasting Corporation – Making Pun at BBC). When Iznogoud is looking out for ways, he sees the Magician who has the powers of persuasion to make a Rabbit to believe itself as a Hen and Makes it to Lay an Egg.

Seeing this, Iznogoud is convinced that he is the man who can persuade the Sultan to Vote for Iznogoud (As the Only person who can Vote in the Baghdadh election is the Sultan Himself and No one else has the rights to Vote). A Dejected Fakir notices all this and He calls all his group and wants to make sure that the Magicians (Who are competitors to the Fakirs) do not get up in the social ladder by helping the Iznogoud to win the election and thus securing valuable post in the New Government.

The Fakir Call for Genie for further help to counter the magical powers & offer them Good Housing schemes instead of the lamps in which they are currently staying. The Genie agrees for this and a New Coalition is formed. Because of the Magical powers involved, people seem to follow both the parties and even the Reliable S FM is also confused by the Predictions. Finally when the 2 parties come face to face, Iznogoud asks the Magician to Change all of the people into worms without realising that he is one among them. So, the Magic works and Except the Fakir and the Magician, everyone else is turned into worm and the next day Sultan Does his National duty by Voting and this time there is no one to disturb him.

Scene 7: Wa’at ALaaf Reporting Chaos in City	Scene 8:Magician Turns Opponents to Kooja’s	Scene 9: Fakir’s Angry & Iznogoud’s Wish	Scene 10: Sultan Votes Without Any Trouble

Post Script: As mentioned Above, There are only 8 Books of Iznogoud which were translated to English and it will be pretty tough for a Normal ComiRade to get now as they were printed for the last time in 1982. However, there was a News in 2007 that the Delhi Based Tara Press is about to launch Iznogoud series in India.

However, That Didn’t Happen and Now the Rights have been shifted to Euro Books and they are on the verge of Coming out with a Bonanza of 12 Issues of Iznogoud (Which means 4 new Books in English for the 1st time ever) and they have quite some package for these books:

• Single Book with 1 Story Normal Bound – INR 195.00
• 3 in 1 Book with 3 Stories & Hard Bound – INR 450.00

Apart from the Iznogoud series, Lucky Luke series is also will be released simultaneously. Here is the Phone Number of Sameer (022-66924707) and the Mail ID (sameer.momin@eurokidsindia.com) for further enquiries. TCU will vouch for the dedicative work both Sameer and Om Prakash in Chennai Euro for the services rendered earlier to TCU.

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 section or Click Here.

Thanks & Regards,
King Viswa.