18 Review N3: Muthu Comics # 310 Ponnil Oru Pinam (பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம்)- Martin Mystery - Oct 2008

Dear ComiRades,

Those who are blessed with Sharp Memory can recall that the Last Muthu Comics No. 309 was On Sale from the 1st week of July 2008 (சித்திரமும் கொல்லுதடி) Featuring Nick Raider (C.I.D ராபின் in Muthu Comics). So, after 105 Days, when yours Truly received Issue No 310, the feeling was ecstatic; The Reason being that the flag-Bearer of Tamil Comics (M/s Prakash Publishers) is Alive & kicking. Yours truly received this issue a Day After Diwali (28th October 2008), contrary to many peoples belief that Yours Truly gets the Books in Advance when compared to other subscribers.

Meanwhile, My Best Friend & Fellow ComiRade Mr Rafiq has updated on the same Book with almost all the data that i wanted to share with other ComiRades.Kudos to Him. There was a Comment made by MuthuFan on the post whereby he provided the links to the English Versions of the Martin Mystery. Pity on Yours Truly who was Searching for the originals to compare for the last one week. As Rafiq has updated on Almost everything, Am moving on to the Review part of the story.

For those who came in Late, Martin Mystery is The Most Popular Comic Character Created by Alfredo Castelli in Association With Sergio Bonneli. Each story is in fact rich of news and historical,geographical, anthropological, sociological curiosities: the culture enters Bonelli's comic strip, in its widest meaning. Because of his characteristics, the series has earned a believer and attentive public.

Martin Mystery is graduate in anthropology, he has then achieved numerous other specializations (archaeology, history of the art, cybernetics). He's then shod in small culture and he likes to surprise his interlocutors with the "omniscience." But he is not at all a pedantic and arrogant academic: rich of humour and of auto-irony, he likes to joke about his own defects and to tease himself good-naturedly. He has lived for a period in a Tibetan monastery, where he has learned many esoteric secrets and where he has earned the mystical "third eye". His studies and his searches cross official streets that science usually snobs and derides.

As per the Comic-Chronology, Martin Mystery has a Date of Birth (26th June 1942) and his stories were published from 1982 when he was 40 Years Young. He must be 66 Years Young Now. For all those who ask the question that how come an Aged man can still continue to don the role of a Hero, there are 2 possible answers:

(1) For mysterious physiological reasons, comic strip characters - lucky, aren't they - grow old much more slowly than in the real world, and Good Old Uncle Marty is no exception to this rule. For instance, he didn't begin to wear reading glasses until he was already way over fifty, whereas most people with ordinary good sight become long-sighted at about forty.

(2) In the story Affari di Famiglia Martin received a gift from his long-lived uncle Paul: it was an Indian potion that slows the effects of ageing. Evidently, he's beginning to use it.

Martin Mystery lives in Number 3/a, Washington Mews, NewYork with Java (A Muscular Neanderthal Of the Different Time) and Diana (Martin's Girlfriend). Castelli Believes that They Got married in Dec 1995. Martin Deals with the Most Unusual cases, so to say. For the Indian Readers, He has appeared only in Muthu Comics / Lion Comics (Of M/s Prakash Publishers) in Tamil Language. This happens to be Martin's 6th Story that got published from this publication. And for some strange reason, all the stories that have been published are the only ones which were officially translated in English by Dark Horse Comics. For the Complete List, Click Here.

Kindly Note that the story happens in April 1992 when the Barcelona Olympics fever was so high. To catch it with the "Most-Happening-Theme-Currently" concept followed by Castelli, Martin Travels to Barcelona to solve a Mystery.

This is The story Unfolds: Way back in 1892, when Berenger Sourière (Changed in Tamil As Father François), the parish priest in the village of Rennes le Château, makes an enigmatic discovery inside a stone altar while altering the Church. Flabbergasted by the discovery, he soon embarks a Journey which paves way for the visit of Martin to Barcelona after 100 Years.

Martin Mystery's house is undergoing renovation and Martin is getting in the way. In order to get Martin out of the way, his companions Java and Diana fake a document which hints at a mystery regarding the famous Spanish church, the Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi. Little do they know, there is more mystery surrounding the Sagrada Familia than they know and what Martin discovers there may alter the course of history! Martin celebrates the tenth year of the series with an epic adventure that relates to the change in Design by Antoni Gaudi and what it has to do with Mary Magdalene. This Story was Re-Printed in Tutto Martin Mystery in May 1999, A La Comics Classics. This was Published in Dark Horse Comics in Aug 1999.

The best part on Martin Mystery's stories are that they are always bonded with the Historical Facts and hence it makes them Most Interesting for the readers, since you will always learn something from these stories; Like Yours Truly who came to know about Antoni Gaudi and what kind of an Architect he was. The most sincere Advice from Yours truly will be to read this story twice, without any hurry (As suggested by The Editor Himself).

Have a Look at the Martin Mystery Issue No 121-April 1992 Italy Cover  and the corresponding cover Martin Mystery Issue No 6 -  August 1999 - Dark Horse - English Cover wherein Dark Horse has used the cover (drawn by Alessandrini) of the "Analytical Index" of Martin, published by Glamour in 1992, with some retouches (and, above all, adding the Sagrada Familia in the Back Ground).

Brand: Muthu Comics (Prakash Publishers,Tamil Nadu, India).

Title: Ponnil Oru Pinam (பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம்).
Cover Design: Hard Cover, Laminated.
Serial Number: No. 310, 6th Story of Martin Mystery to Appear in Tamil.
On Sale: 28th Oct 2008 Onwards
Total No. of Pages: 100 (Story 94 Pages), Black & White.
Price: Priceless for Comic Fans; For others, INR 10/-
Original Script: Alfredo Castelli
Original Artwork: Giancarlo Alessandrini.

Now that the Story Part is Over, i want t start something new for all the New Comics that we receive. And This will be done in the most democratic way: Polls. Yes, starting from this review, I request all the ComiRades to Review the Comics as per the following parameters:

Based on these parameters, Kindly Do the polling and kindly let us know the results of it. I Know it is really tough for all of us to get into this; However, As The Famous Poet J.Alexander A.K.A Share Hunter Says, எவ்வளவோ செஞ்சிட்டோம்; இத செய்ய மாட்டோமா? (We Have Done Many Things - Can't we Do This?).

Well, that's all for the time being. 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 Widgets Section, Just above the followers List in the Side Bar. The next Old Review Post will be on the 4th issue of James Bond Comics.

Thanks & Regards,
King Viswa.

Note: To know more about Antonio Gaudi, Am suggesting a Website: 


https://www.artsy.net/artist/antoni-gaudi 


This page provides visitors with Gaudi's bio, some of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Gaudi exhibition listings. 

The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond Gaudi page.

P.S: From Now Onwards, TCU will Update On what Exactly Happening in Relation to The Comics Characters That we Have Read / Known / Enjoyed. To Start with, This Week The 1999 Movie Asterix & Obelix Vs Caesar will Be Shown in Tamil Language on RAJ TV (a Tamil Satellite Channel). The details are given in the Sidebar Widget. Have a Look into that as well.

P.S 2: Have a Look at the Next issue announcement from Muthu Comics. Detective Julian is Coming Back after a Very Very Long Gap. Die Hard Rani Comics Fans May Re-Collect Meeting this Gentleman Already in Rani Comics in மயக்க ஊசி, ஜனாதிபதி கொலை, கொலைகார கேப்டன் stories.

19 Review O6: James Bond Comics 03-Cheena Pudhir:சீனப் புதிர்

Dear ComiRades,

Let Me Wish Happy Diwali to All the Readers Of TCU. For those who requested - Nay, Ordered- Me to Write in Tamil, Here it is: தமிழ் காமிக்ஸ் உலகம் ரசிகர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் எனது உளம் கனிந்த மனமுவர்ந்த தீப ஒளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்.உதிப்பவை எல்லாம் உன்னதம் ஆகட்டும். விரும்பியது எல்லாம் உங்கள் வசமாகட்டும்.

Here is the 3rd edition of the James Bond Comics: Cheena Pudhir (சீனப் புதிர்). For those who came in late, this issue followed Adhiradi Ulavali and Rocket Ragasiyam. As soon as i started a Series on James Bond Comics in Tamil, the traffic to this Blog has increased and so are the controversies. Many people have voiced out their thoughts / Anger / Support on the issues relating to the Translation / Editorial work on Rani Comics, James

Bond Comics and Lion/Muthu Comics. Any way, am happy on one sense that at last, people are started to notice what an editor can do to a publication. Let us not get into anything serious on that. Here is the cover of the 3rd issue of James Bond Comics and the corresponding cover of the Semic Press issue no 17 which got published in 1985 and the English version of James Bond Comics.

The Story line is as follows: James Bond is sent to Hong Kong to meet a contact named Tsu Chai and guide for a trip into the Han-Su province in China. Mysterious things have been happening there lately and the Secret Service wants to discover precisely what is going on.James Bond Gets attacked by a Giant of a Man (Kayo). Later on, James Bond Discovers that a mysterious robot scientist (Saviz) is working on constructing a secret army of humanoid robots, inspired by the first emperor of China's terra-cotta warriors SHI HUANG Who ruled 6 States about 2, 200 Years ago and his Capital was called Chin from which the present Name China was derived. As usual, James Bond Demolishes the Plan of Saviz and Saves the World from Robot Warriors. Have a Look at some of the pages in Tamil and the corresponding pages in Full colour in English.

Have a Look at the same pages in full colour (Done By the Everest Publications Themselves). The translation was Good; However, the same cannot be said about the colouring work by the Publishers. Anyway, what has to be appreciated was the fact that someone has taken the effort to pave way for a new era in Tamil Comics world.

Here are the final pages of the story. Now, when yours truly was doing research work on the cover, the original cover from which the covers got inspired were found. Have a look at the cover. Sometimes, i do feel, that our editors have a tendency to go overboard on the covers and they tend to ignore the original covers from the official publisher. I Have noticed the same from M/s Prakash publishers when they have ignored the original / official cover work and changed it with another cover. Anyway, in this particular case, the changed cover looks much better than the official cover, even though it bears no relation with the story or the inside panels. By the way, have look into the covers of the Tamil and English versions and you will see a minute change.

For the Un-initiated, the Tamil version cover is a replica of the above cover. Whereas the English version was modified and the length of the dress was increased till the knee. For those who crave for statistics, here is something: Even though the 1st issue of Tamil James Bond Comics came in May 1988, the English version of the same appeared only in August 1988. In the meantime, the cover artist became more conscious towards the society (Forced by the Editor?!?) and covered her thighs. Have a Look at the editorial and the comments section. Note the change in the titles from English version to the Tamil Version. This is where a Editor plays a Major role. Yours truly agrees completely with both the titles as they convey the story line to the readers. By the way, Give another reading on the Editorial and you will find that the editor was having thoughts on changing the book to Pocket size (Readers Request).

Here are the announcements for the next issue of the Secret Agent James Bond Comics:

The Regular feature in all the 3 issues was the Story By Gnani with fabulous art work by the Greatest Tamil Artist ever (No Arguments - Judgement Arrived) Mr Chellam.

However, the English version carried out a Picture of the Indiana Jones of Indian Cricket - Dashing Opening Batsman Kris Srikkanth. Any Guesses on why so? The Publication was celebrating the appointment of Him as the National Cricket Team Captain for the toughest Tour: Pakistan. 

 

Title: சீனப் புதிர் (Chinese Riddle)

Cover Design: Art By V.Chinnaiah

Cover: Soft Cover, Non-Laminated.

Serial Number: No. 3.

On Sale From: 1st July 1988 Onwards.

Total No. of Pages: 16cmx24cm, 36 Pages (Story 24 Pages), Black & White in Tamil & Colour in English.

Price: Priceless for Comic Fans; For others, INR 2/- for Tamil Version and INR 4/- for English Version.

Partner in Crime: Kovai Dr Sathish.

Story: Bill Harrington

Artwork: Sarompas

As a Pattern, Yours Truly will Be Introducing / Highlighting Couple of Comics Houses in the cyberspace. Here are they:

Aa.Ko.Thee.Ka: This is a Very Recently Created Blog on Tamil Comics where the feel will be entirely different from the rest of the blogs. This one was created for the Tamil Comics fans craving for quality writing in Tamil about Comics that they loved and are still loving. The person who is in charge of Tamil blog is None other than the Doctor Himself. Join the Gang by clicking here.

Srini's TriPod: Mr Srini who is currently in Bangalore is from TN only (From Kovai to be precise). He has created a nice Tri-Pod site for the Comics.Even though it is yet to be Updated for the last so many months, it still worth a visit. Srini, My Dear Friend, Kindly Update your wonderful site. Have a Look into it by Clicking here.

Well, that's all for the time being. 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 Widgets Section, Just above the glossary. The next post on this blog will be the review of Muthu Comics Issue No 310 (பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம் - Martin Mystery Adventure). However, the next Old Review Post will be on the 4th issue of James Bond Comics.

Post Script: The Same concept of Using the Ancient Soldiers to conquer the world was used in the recently released Film The Mummy - 3rd Part as mentioned by Mr Shankar ViswaLingam.

Thanks & Regards,

King Viswa.

20 News 7: Drona Hindi Film Comics- Deccan Chronicle

Dear ComiRades,

Am posting this topic very delayed because of Personal and Professional commitments took their toll on yours truly. Apologies for that. This post may look very odd in our blog. As a Group we are totally on comics and information blog about Comics in Tamil Language only (So Sar). However, the following topic was so interesting that i couldn't resist posting this.

Being An ardent Movie Fan, i keep myself up-to-date with most of the happenings in the tinsel town.So, i knew that Abishek Bachchan's Next movie Drona (Directed By Goldie Behl) was a Mega Project, not only on monetary terms; But on concept as well. However, when i came to know that the producers of the movie have tied up with Euro Books India to make a comics book on the Origin of Drona, i jumped in Joy. Here is something new in Indian Movie / Comics industry whereby two domains are merging to a common cause.

So, i called up Sameer of Euro Books India, Corporate Office-Mumbai and enquired about the Book. He said that the comics is already available on shops in Mumbai, Delhi and other places and not available in Chennai / T.N. As a Special Case, he immediately sent copies of this comics book to chennai for yours truly. A Special vote of Thanks to Mr Om Prakash, who, came all the way to Yours Truly's Office and inspite of knowing that am not available in office handed over to My chauffeur. A Big Thanks for the efforts of Sameer and Om Prakash. 

Here is the Chronological order of the scans that are appearing in this post: The Cover scan of the Origin of Drona (Prequel) book and the relative article on Deccan Chronicle News Paper dated 30th September 2008 Followed by the credits page. Have a Look at the 1st Page of the Book where the Poetical words "When Time itself was Young" provoked the poet inside yours Truly (?!?).That Scan was followed with Scans of Pages 31, 32 33 (Back Inner Wrapper) and 34 (Back Wrapper).

This particular Movie is About the Nectar Of Youth, The One Which Gives Immoratality to those who Drink it, The Royal Legacy to Protect the Nectar (The Drona Legacy), The Evil Powers that want to Acquire that Nectar (The Asuar's). The Foces to Be Make The King of Pratapgarh as the Man Who Protects the Nectar, they hand him over a Great Job to do; Not only By Him, But also by his Legacy (A La Phantom). However, The Anti-Power comes in the form of Riz Raizada who Kills the Phantom, Oops, Drona by deceit, The Mother of the Next Drona (Jaya Bachchan) Burns the Palace thereby creating an illusion that the Drona Legacy is over with the Death of Young Drona in the Fire Accident. However, The Kid is sent to a Distant place where he is Kept Unaware of his legacy. His Past catches him one day & the rest, as they say, is History.

The Best part of the film is that the Origin of Drona is Told in Comics Style & That part only is published by Euro Books as the Prequel to Drona. The Art Work are done by Bimal Poddar, Sangeeta Choudhry, Prashant Sarpate and the writer credited is Jayadeep Sarkar. The art work is very much similar to the pattern followed in the Post 2000 Gotham Comics. However, the way the Book is presented is wonderful & eventhough the movie turned out to be a Not-So-Great Hit film, this particular concept was something that needs to be encouraged. Ace Director Mr Mysskin (Of Anjaathey & Chithiram Pesudhadi) has a Plan to make a SuperMan Kind of a Story in the next year. The best part is that, he plans to make a comics book on the same story and lets pray for the day to get nearer because the perfectionist that he is, Mysskin will leave no stone unturned to make the movie-Comics much better than anything that we have seen or heard.

Post Script 1: There is a Wonderful Wordpress site / Blog where Share Hunter discusses the Day-in, Day-Out changes of the Indian and International Sharemarket very analytically. However, what many ComiRades may not know was that The Share Hunter is a Great Comics Fan As Well. Have a Look at his 1st Post on Tamil Comics By Clicking Here.

Post Script 2: The Another Blog that i have to mention in this part is that of Mr Siv's. What i Have to Really appreicate about that was he took the effort to make a start on Tamil Comics when none of us were willing to do. Eventhough, he started only with Ponni Comics, Yesterday he updated with Desa Malar Comics. Even that Effort is really worth its weight in gold. Congrats Siv. Keep it Up. For the Un-Initiated, Click Here.

Kindly do encourage these 2 fellow Bloggers by commenting on their blog about the +'s and -'s of their work.They are spending their quality time to feed your hobby. Understand that first & then boost their morale.  By the way, am totally against TOTALLY USELESS One Liners such as "Wonderful post / Nice One / Really Great / Good Post /Nice Blog / All the Best / Congradulations" etc.

Any comment on Comics Blogs should be constructive (On the topic / Post / Blog / Improvement towards the Blog / Suggestions / etc). Or it could be like their nostalgia / Memories / Experiences towards the topic posted.

At the same time, i hate Anony's as my Partner in crime Dr Sathish thinks that all the anony comments are masked by yours truly.

Anyway, Bloggers welcome to the Comics Klan & herewith i Pronounce both of you as ComiRades & Kindly keep up the great work you have started & don't give up. Any Help that you want, Remember, TCU is Just a Mail Away from You.