Dear ComiRades,
Republic Day Wishes to One and all on the day in Which Mother India Celebrates Her adaptation from British Dominion to a Republic of her Own in 1950. After a Long and Strenuous Week, Yours truly got one more Holiday as this happens to be one among the three national Holidays in India. TCU Wishes all the readers from Australia on their National Day, even though they have lost yet another series to South Africa today. Hopefully a Series against New Zeland will make them feel better to gain confidence.
TCU received information from reliable sources that those who do not do a Comi-Post on Pongal Day will be called as “Non-Tamilians” and those who do Not post on Republic Day will be branded as “Anti-National Elements”. Just to escape from the accusations like this, TCU Made this post in a Hurry, In Spite of the fact that TCU’s System got crashed twice in Last week. Here is The Post which i should have done at least 10 days back.
When we Talk about Prakash Publishers, We Have to mention the fact that they are the pioneers in introducing many wonderful characters to Tamil Language for the first time. The Fact that They Launched a Comics Series Just for Laughter Element (Mini Lion Comics) is a Proof that they have much more than a mere profit element in mind. Hats Off to Them & just Like Josh, i will buy another Hat. Jokes apart, The Sad part is that Mini Lion Comics Couldn’t continue after 40 Wonderful issues, in spite of the fact that they had an array of Comic Super Stars like Lucky Luke, Chick Bill, Suskey + Wiskey, Uncle Scrooge, Ali Baba + Mustafa, Col. Clifton, Herlock Sholmes etc. Does it Reflect on the readers or the publishers? Reply Through Comment, As TCU is eager to know.
However, there are occasions in which One-Stop Stories have appeared in Mini Lion Comics. Even though, the reception was good, The Publishers Didn’t continue them for reasons known to themselves. One of the Gems among such stories was “Kollaikara Car - கொள்ளைகார கார் – The Car That Steals”. When we rate the entire 40 Books from Mini Lion Comics, TCU believes that This one will be in the top 5 Stories to be published under the Mini Lion Comics Banner.
| Yours Truly has fond memories of this Book As this was the 1st Mini Lion Comics That he bought in News Paper Stand in 1991. At that Time Yours Truly was in 7th Standard and Had to travel for more than One Hour to reach School. Those were the days in which the new editions of Lion/Muthu/Mini Lion were bought when we visit to our Home Town. On the ides of July, Yours Truly had to Buy a Graph Note Book before the scjool starts and visited the New Shop near Bus Stand in a Hurry and Voila…Mini Lion Comics in News Stand. Yours Truly had no other option other than Buying this Book and the detention that i received on that morning was happily spent reading This wonderful Story which still holds a Special Place in TCU’s Memorabilia. The Story is set in Liverpool, U.K. Our Hero Chutty becomes frustrated with the noise pollution around him (Just Like TCU) and plans to buy a Peaceful Home in a Village far from the maddening crowd and the Noise Pollution that is happening in and around The City. Are we looking at similarities Between our own Comics Doctor here? After making the decision, they plan to visit a Real Estate Promoter who has a Wonderfully Edited comics Name – Savadaal Johnson சவடால் ஜான்சன்.In the Original Version he has a equally Funny comic name as well – Ernie Easy Money.
The Real Estate Promoter Gives them various options and after finding out that none of them fits into Chutty’s Budget, He Cons them by selling a Village House which goes by the name HardNut Hall. The truth in this case is, HardNut Hall is Suggested to Demolition by the previous Owner, Savadaal Johnson Dupes Chutty into Buying it. He Plays around the details he informs that the House has a Swimming Pool as well. When the Dynamic Duo Visits the Village, everyone is surprised by the fact that someone has ACTUALLY bought that house. When they enter the house, there was a Monumental Construction inside the Gate. Nutty Discovers what it is and couldn’t stop from Laughing it out and then explains that that construction is actually the “Swimming Pool” that they were supposed to have it in the house. This particular piece of Dialogue, (எண்டா, பல்லு சுளுக்கிகிற மாதிரி சிரிக்கிற?) has become the part and parcel of TCU’s Vocabulary since then.
out many Amazing things: One such being the staircase without Steps. and the Fact that Chutty Keeps on forgetting that simple thing: that this particular staircase has no steps at all and falls many-a-times. One Such Discovery being a “Food-ordering” System which fetches all the requirements, A La Cornucopia. After That, they find out that the Car Shed is Occupied by a Car and by Logic, they Come to the Conclusion that as the home belongs to them, so is the vehicle as well. Then they get on it and then
discover that something is fundamentally wrong as they are no longer in control of the vehicle. The Car (Named as Flow) then moves towards the nearby town making his own travel path. Upon reaching the town, they soon discover the fact that the professor who lives opposite to HardNut Hall has fixed an Electronic Brain in the vehicle which enables The Car – Flow- To think on it’s own.
He also cautions them not to confront the traffic policeman who once booked Flow for violation of Traffic Rule. The Incidents that follow on meeting the Traffic Police man Andrew is really funny. The Next scenario is when they return back to their new Home in their new Vehicle Flow. Suddenly Flow stops and the reason is Amazing: To save a snail which is crossing the Path. When Yours Truly first met The Visionary Author Ayyampalayam Venki Sir, the first set of dialogues mentioned during the discussion were this.ஆஹா, என்ன ஒரு மனிதாபிமானம். இல்லை, இல்லை காராபிமானம். It shows that these dialogues are not mere “Ulta” of the originals and this is where The Editor scores over the rest of the comics Publications – The Usage of Language in a Flowing style.
After the Dynamic Duo reach their new House, they are captured by the Professor who lives in the opposite House. On regaining consciousness, they get to know the truth behind HardNut Hall and the Mystery behind Flow, the wonder car which was designed to Rob a Car without any Human Assistance. Chutty and Nutty are Shocked to know about the intentions of the Professor. While Telling other facts, Professor reveals that he has, in fact, removed the Electronic Brain from Flow and fixed it in his Modified Vehicle. Upon hearing this, Chutty’s anger Waxes to the limit and he quarrels with the Evil Professor. He is Joined by Nutty in the fight with Professor. The Professor’s Able Allies, Ted and Set join in the Big Fight and nobody exactly knows who is hitting whom. When the fight reaches the climax, the Evil professor’s Cat Looks for safety and jumps in the Modified Car with the brain and starts a journey of it’s own.
The Professor’s Car reaches the town causing Havoc in the way. To avoid the damages, The professor agrees to Install another Electronic Brain in the Body of Flow. Chutty and Nutty get on Flow and chase the Professor’s Car. The climax is really a nice piece of Comics History and those who read it wouls definitely agree with TCU. The scans of these pages are not included in the post considering the fact TCU will not violate Any Copy right violation. Kindly Beg / Borrow / Steal (From The Big Collection of The Comics Doctor) this Mini Lion Comics and read it first, if you have not done it earlier. Those who have it, kindly read it again to understand the subtle Comedy and other visionary things such as Noise pollution for which Yours Truly is a Vehement supporter. The Corresponding Scans of the Original issues are Posted here along with other relevant scans. This particular character is called as Whac and Mac in English and Starter in the creators language. This Particular Story Appeared Champion Magazine in U.K. (Courtesy:The Great Editor Steve Holland) from 11th June 1966 as per the data available in Comics UK.
The Concept of Starter was a Novel Idea.He was originally developed as a character to explain the nuances of the Cars in the Mid 60’s. As his popularity grew, He began to appear on the covers of Spirou Magazine as well. Later on, a series of stories featuring Starter alone came to limelight.
The Artwork for this wonderful book that appeared in a Single story in Mini Lion is by Jideham, the Belgian Comics Artist of the “Marcinelle School” Tradition of artwork. For those who want a piece of History, The term "Marcinelle school" (in French, École de Marcinelle) refers to a group of Belgian cartoonists formed by Joseph Gillain (Jijé) following World War II. Marcinelle school cartoonists were all associated with the weekly magazine, Spirou, whose offices in the 1940s were located in the town of Marcinelle, near Charleroi in Belgium. Stylistically, the Marcinelle school is a mix of cartoonish and realist. It is often cited in books in opposition to Hergé's ligne claire style. Though both styles have much in common, Marcinelle school is all about conveying the impression of movement, while ligne claire tends to be more schematic. From Now Onwards, TCU will Try to find out the origins of the comic Books that are reviewed over here and the first step on that is to let the readers know about the creators behind this masterpiece:
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. Thanks & Regards, |
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