6 Muthu Comics No 325 – Bruno Brazil – Saaga Marantha Suraa – The Shark Which Died Twice

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. This must be the first time ever that yours truly has posted a new post within say, 10 hours, of the previous post. As they say, there is a first time for everything, Right?

Apart from the regular CBF 2014 posts, we are going to see some introduction posts in this month. Amongst them is the one which i have been waiting for many, many years and NO, it is not Thorgal. Enter Bruno Brazil in Multi colour in Tamil language for the 1st time. Of course, Unlike Captain Bernard Prince stories which were created just couple of years back on popular demand, Bruno Brazil stories are not new stories per se. They are the coloured versions of the stories which were published earlier.

When yours truly opened the book, there was a nice surprise. To make this book truly of old times (Remember that this book was first released in May, 1967), there was a filler page from the Fleetway classic Sporty & Sydney by Reg Wootton. To know more about the history of Sporty, kindly Click here.

 As usual, the first page of the book was that of the Editorial from Group editor S.Vijayan. One wonderful change in the credits box was very much visible and TCU officially thanks fellow ComiRade Ayyampalayam Venkateswaran for that. Could you Spot the visible difference? Try and comment the answer in the comment box below the post.

 Here is the advertisement for the books which are currently on sale. The most eagerly awaited amongst is that of the one featuring Thorgal, which is 3rd from left to right. In the golden periods of the 80’s, we used to have many advertisements / promos of forthcoming issues and also current issues on stand. The reason was, we used to have 4 / 5 different comics brands from our own publication. The same is also happening now. Feels great.

This story was first published in May 1967 under French title, which could be translated as “The Shark which died twice” and the rough translation for our version is “ The Shark which forgot to Die” and after reading the story, one feels that our title is lot more closer to the story arc. Just read the story and do comment on this.

As mentioned above, the story was first published in the 60’s and at that point of time, William Vance drew the entire album in Black & White and here is a sample image for those who want to check the visible improvement in the art with the addition of colours:

 Of late, some of the notable blog posts are getting printed in the books in order to cater to those who are not that much accessible to the social media community. Here is a printed version of the post which was done on Christmas eve, about forming a grand library in the Comics HQ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are sme of the letters to the editor and do read the letter from avid reader and comics historian Mayiladuthurai Gopu Sir (Anyone remember his wonderful letter about Lion diwali special 1987?).

 Unlike Last year, we are going to have at least 2 issues in the month of February. One is from Jill Jordon and the other is the long awaited come back of Bob Morane who was re christened as Roger in Tamil. Old timers may recall the post in TCU about the publication history of Roger in Tamil. For those who came in late, Click Here

Well, that’s all for this post and  as we are going to launch 4 new titles in this CBF 2014 & We shall see another quick introduction post tonight & Our coverage will also continue for tomorrow as well. Remember that the Editor will be on stall from evening onwards.

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

16 Lion Comics 100 Rs Special Edition: Lion Come-Back Special: லயன் கம்-பேக் ஸ்பெஷல் 2012

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. It’s been a long and lengthy break for all (The Publishers, The readers and the real well wishers) related to Tamil Comics Ulagam. However, the break was a good one for all concerned as it helped to recharge and gave time to take stock of the current scenario. Hence this post.

For long, breaks was a complaint that was held against the Editor of the Lion Comics and he has come back and came back how. Here is the news that is real good news for the ComiRades: Lion Comics is making a come back in a grand scale. Yes, The next book from the publishing house is going to be a100 Rs special edition, Just like the previous special editions Mega Dream Special மெகா டிரீம் ஸ்பெஷல் in May 2004, Lion Jolly Special லயன் ஜாலி ஸ்பெஷல் in May 2006 & Lion Cow Boy Special கௌ-பாய் ஸ்பெஷல் in July 2007. The new special edition is aptly titled as “Lion Come-Back special” and here are the story details of this book:

1. Lucky Luke Adventure: லக்கி லுக் சாகசம் ஒற்றர்கள் ஓராயிரம் (48 Pages in Full Colour)

2. Bernard Prince Adventure: கேப்டன் பிரின்ஸ் சாகசம் கானகத்தில் களேபரம் (48 Pages in Full Colour)

3. Steel Claw Adventure: இரும்புக்கை மாயாவி - தமிழில் இதுவரை வெளிவராத சாகசம்

4. Agent X-9 Phil Corrigan Adventure: பிலிப் காரிகன் சாகசம் சாத்தானின் தூதன் டாக்டர் செவன்

5. Steel Claw Adventure: இரும்புக்கை மாயாவி - தமிழில் இதுவரை வெளிவராத சாகசம்

All these titles will be part of the Lion Come-Back special and this book is priced at INR 100/-. This book will be available for sales from 10th Jan 2012 and it will be the real Pongal for the ComiRades. Apart from that, there is also the good news of Lion Comics books being available in the Chennai Book Fair 2012 (CBF12). More on this little bit later. Stay tuned.

Lion Comics Editor S Vijayan’s Blog: For long, It was longed by the ComiRades that there wasn’t much interaction amongst the readers and the editor. Now that will remain as a thing of the past with the entry of Our beloved editor into the blogging world. Here is the link to his own blog where he promises that the interaction through his posts will continue regularly:

http://lion-muthucomics.blogspot.com/

TCU requests all the readers to visit the above mentioned blog and record their views on the new boo and the changes happening into our comics world. It will be the numero uno blog as for as Tamil Comics is concerned and TCU is much happy on this regard.

P.S: TCU’s 100th post was planned for Jan 1st and this news was much more important than that and hence the special post is now postponed as the 101st Post.

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 Widget in the Blog.

Thanks & Regards,

King Viswa.

31 Chick Bill – A Wonderful Comics Character by Tibet aka Gilbert Gascard

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. We have an announcement to make which will be bringing joy to the comirades who read that. Yes sir, the next issue of Lion comics is ready to be shipped and will be reaching you guys in this week.

Whenever a new comics book is made available from THE comics publishers of Tamil (Prakash Publishers),it has become customary for TCU to do a complete indexing post on the lead character of the Story. However, most of the ComiRades used to feel that doing both he review and indexing in the same post increases the length of the post and exhausts the readers. When such a complaint was registered by Aiyyampalayam Sir, it becomes a must to change from the oft trodden path.

Hence, here is the index post on Chick Bill and the review post will be done either tomorrow or Wednesday (based on the time available, as the latest books has already reached TCU). The image provided over here is that of the stamp released in Belgium to honour the creator behind 2 of the most successful comic characters. And it does not surprise that both the characters were quite popular over in South India, Thanks to Mr S.Vijayan and his publishing house, Prakash publishers.

Chick Bill In India:

Circa 1986. Having tasted success with the launch of Lion Comics in 1984 and the subsequent Thigil Comics in 1986, Editor S Vijayan has just announced the launch of 2 more new comics magazines from his publishing house. Imagine a single publishing house coming out with 4 different Comics magazines every month. Now, when we say that the middle of the 80’s were the golden period of the Tamil comics, we are not really exaggerating, right?

And he went on to launch those 2 comics and they came out with blazing guns. Or to say in present day, It was like having Sehwag in both the ends as openers. Yes, the first few books of Both Mini Lion and Junior lion were stand out success’ and some of the initial books are still sought after at a premium price by the collectors. Her is a report on the 1st 10 books of both Mini Lion and Junior Lion comics: TCU Special post on 1987.

As he had to publish 4 new stories every month, The Editor went on a buying spree at that time and fortunately for him, there were some quality comics titles available and he made sure that he made the right decisions when it came to titles. Among such titles, one was Lucky Luke and another one was Chick bill. True to his taste, he is still continuing with both these characters and they happen to be the flagship brands for him as well. And hopefully they will continue in the near future with the printing set to be upgraded to multi colour.

Now, then. Here is the 1st advertisement of a Chick Bill story in India. This happened in the month of Feb 1987 and right now in Feb 2011 we have the latest issue of Chick Bill. With a 24 year gap in between the 1st issue and the latest issue, and only 23 stories in between all those years, the brand of Chick Bill is growing strong with a dedicated fan following and loyal followership for the stories.

When the 1st advertisement hit the print, many of the readers would have wondered who or what in the blazes is Chick Bill. Not much of an intro was given in both the advertisement and in the story. The constraint with the number of pages being a hindrance, the Editor has a logical answer for it. However, only later on in the 4th story onwards only he put up the regular introduction panels and little bit of back ground information for the characters and the place of happening.

As these information was not provided, even now, the 1st ever story of Chick bill scores very less marks when it is compared with the rest of the stories, though it is off multi colour which was not the case with many of the following full stories. Here is the traditional introduction page from the comics (Aberrations such as Gun-Smoke, Wood City and Inspector-Sheriff can be forgiven for the long term continuity):

Here is the complete index of all the hick Bill stories which have been published so far. The thing that need to be noted in statistical point of view is that, it has appeared in 3 different magazines over a period of 24 years in 23 titles. You will also notice that Chick bill happens to be the last ever story that was published in the 2 Comics magazines (Junior Lion comics and Mini Lion Comics). 13 of the 23 books are still available with the publisher and you can purchase them by calling 04562-272649 immediately. Those 13 books will cost you less than 100 Rs and give you a joy that cannot be measured in any scale.

Chick Bill – Information about the Creators: Here is the regular creator’s corner in TCU. Al most all the relevant links pertaining to these creators are provided here. The only person missing in this list is our Editor and we all know that he does not like to be featured in anywhere. All he wants is his books to be promoted and not him.

Description	Creator of Chick Bill & Ric Hochet (ரிப்போர்டர் ஜானி) (Author – Artist for most of the Chick Bill Stories)	Author of Chick Bill (19), Bernard Prince (17) கேப்டன் பிரின்ஸ், Bruno Brazil (11), Clifton (03) காமெடி கர்னல்	Author of Chick Bill & Ric Hochet (ரிப்போர்டர் ஜானி)	Creator of Lucky Luke, IznoGoud, Asterix & Oumpah Pah Wrote 1 Story for Chick Bill
Pseudonym, If Any	Tibet (Gilbert – Ti Bet)	Greg	Michel Vasseur
Name	Gilbert Gascard	Michel Regnier	Andre Paul Duchateau	Rene Gossiciny
Nationality	French	Belgian, French	Belgian	Dual: French and Polish
Age / Time Line	78 Years (29th Oct 1931 – 02nd Jan 2010)	68 (05th May 1931 – 29th Oct 1999)	85* (08th may 1925)	51 (14th Aug 1926 – 05th Nov 1977)
Info Links	WikiPedia, Lambiek, BD, Chick Bill Albums	WikiPedia, Lambiek, Dupuis, Web Page, Herman	WikiPedia, Lambiek, Web page	WikiPedia, Lambiek & Official Site
Works	Tin Tin Magazine	Spirou, Pilote & TinTin	Spirou & Tin Tin	Pilote & TinTin

Chick Bill in India – Cover Gallery: Here comes the most fascinating part of this post – The cover gallery. Only a handful of Comics collectors has the complete set of comics of Chick bill. Here is the check list and see how many you have.  These images look fantastic because they have been touched by Photoshop and they are made to look good. Time and temperature has taken it’s toll in these books and hence the most important thing when it comes to comics collection is not about collecting the rare books. It is about maintaining them in the same condition for over a period of time. here i request Mr Muthu fan to write a post on the maintenance of the comics.

Junior Lion Issue No 3 Chick Bill Adhiradi Mannan	Junior Lion Issue No 4 Chick Bill Ordinn Maranam	Junior Lion Issue 9 Chick Bill Virpanaikku oru Sheriff
Mini Lion Issue No 17 Chick Bill Neelap Pei Marmam	Mini Lion Issue No 20 Chick Bill Vinveliyil oru Eli	Mini Lion Issue No 27 Chick Bill Thevai Oru Mottai
Mini Lion Issue No 31 Chick Bill Kolaikara Kadhali	Mini Lion Issue No 34 Chick Bill Irumbu CowBoy	Mini Lion Comics Issue No 40 Chick Bill Visithira Hero
Lion Comics Issue133 Mr Maharaja Chick Bill No 23	Lion Comics Issue138 Mr Mugamoodi Chick Bill No 23	Lion Comics No 147 Malaiyodu Malyudham Chick Bill
Lion Comics Issue No 151 Thalai Vangum Desam Chick Bill No 19	Lion Comics Issue No 156 Thedi Vandha Thanga Surangam Chick Bill No 33	Lion Comics Issue No 157 Millennium Super Special Pisasu Bungalow Chick Bill No 16 Front Cover
Lion Comics Issue No 157 Millennium Super Special Pisasu Bungalow Chick Bill No 16 Back Cover	Lion Comics Issue No 159 Natpukku Niramillai Chick Bill No 50	Lion Comics Issue No 165 Nizhal 1 Nijam 2 Chick Bill No 48
Lion Comics Issue No 177 Mandhiriyum Nane Mannavanum Nane Chick Bill No 43	Lion Comics issue No 188 Marma Maina Chick Bill No 28	Lion Comics Issue No 189 Oru Ethanum Oru Yemaliyum Chick Bill No 43 2nd Story Cover
Lion Comics Issue No 189 Oru Ethanum Oru Yemaliyum Chick Bill No 43 2nd Story	Lion Comics Issue No 197 Maraiyilla Mannar Chick Bill No 56	Lion Comics Issue No 199 Manjalai Oru Asuran Chick Bill No 57

Chick Bill Paintings:  Some 2 years ago when yours truly was interacting with the Editor, he told a fantastic anecdote about the strengths of human mind.  Can you believe that the artist who is drawing all those lovely cover images is not only vocally challenged, but also with listening capabilities?  Yes sir he is Aurally Challenged. TCU has got in touch and here are some of the lovely paintings which were later on converted to cover images of the respective stories. Remember that these are exclusive images.

Advertisement Corner: The most interesting thing on any comics book is the advertisements about the forthcoming issues (Apart from the Editor’s note, of course). So, here are some interesting advertisements which proclaimed that Chick Bill will be part of the Lion Jolly Special and Cow Boy Special and dropping out in the final moment in both the issues. The 1st announced story is yet to appear and here we have the 2nd story waiting in the Wings.

Lion Comics Issue No 193 Ad for Lion Jolly Special Chick Bill Story	Lion Comics Issue No 199 Manjalai Oru Asuran Chick Bill No 53 Ad for Next Chick Bill Story	Lion Comics # 207 - Kolai Seyya Virumbu - Next Issue Advertisement of Chick Bill Story

Coming Next: At the end of the post, here is the info about the next issue of the Lion Comics. This issue is already shipped last week to Yours truly and will reach the other subscribers within this week and middle of the next week. Most probably this issue will be available in the stands some time in the later part of the month. However, this needs to be confirmed.

Chick Bill No 58 Lion Comics Issue No 209 Vellaiyai oru Vedhalam Cover	Chick Bill No 58 Lion Comics Issue No 209 Vellaiyai oru Vedhalam 1st Page	Lion Comics Issue No 209 Chick Bill Vellaiyai oru Vedhaalam Cover

New Comics Bloggers: Some time back, TCU used to introduce lots of new Comics bloggers under this section. However, nothing much of that sort is happening of late and hence this section was shelved. Now, here is two interesting blogs which will enthuse the ComiRades.

VimalaHaran: He comes with a strong comics background of being a publisher of a comics. Yes sir, he is the younger brother of Nisha Haran who gave us the wonderful IceBerg Comics. VimalaHaran too has a keen eye for details and he blogs over here: VimalaHaran’s Blog. By the way, he has 198 friends in Facebook and requires only 2 more to become another double centurion, just like Sachin Tendulkar.

SoundraPandian: Soundar hails from the same place as that of the publisher and is a young reader with lots of interest towards Tamil Comics. He blogs over here: Soundar’s Blog. Have a look to his blog as well.

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 Widget in the Blog.

Thanks & Regards,

King Viswa.