16 Review 07: James Bond Comics 04 - Marma Kottai (மர்ம கோட்டை)

Dear ComiRades,

This is the fourth Instalment in the James Bond Comics Series Started By Mr Rama Jayam. Regular Visitors to TCU May Recollect Posts on Issue No 1, Issue No 2 & Issue No 3 and the subsequent controversies regarding the Right to change the storyline & content so As to Make it more suitable to the children. Anyway, all said and done, Rani Comics have done it & let us not dwell on it so as to Be-Little the efforts made by them towards the Tamil Comics Ulagam. 

Moving On to this Post, Marma Kottai (மர்ம கோட்டை - Secret Castle) is the last issue to get printed in the A4 Size as the next issue was of the same size as that of Rani Comics & Present Day Lion Comics, thus depriving us the charm of Reading a Comics Book in Tamil in that size. ComiRades may remember that Even Mr Vijayan has once described about the dismal sales and the Number of returns they have to take the next month when they were printing XIII Series issues No 6, 7, 8. This may be the curse of Tamil comics that any magazine, from the late 80's till now, which gets printed in Bigger size doesn't has a Longer run.

Yours truly had the privilege of Meeting couple of Comics Publishers (Still continuing to publish, but not Comics) who echoed the same feelings. One Publisher very copulatively said that "The size of a Tamil Comics Book is Inversely proportional to the sale of the book". Which literally means, the bigger the book is, the lesser the sales will be & the smaller the Book is, the better the sales is. The same was noted by Mr Vijayan way back in 1984 when he shifted to Pocket size. As a Matter of Fact, many of the first set Comics Classics issues were not available now-a-days & the same period Comics of Lion/Muthu are available even with the publisher themselves. Amazing Huh? But this is true only. Remember the Tagline for the Hollywood movie Godzilla: Size does matter. It matters, infact.

Enough of the size Talks, This particular issue's story was written by Jack Sutter (Who has a Penchant for Robotic/Unusual Villains) and was published originally in the semic press under the title "Operation - Little" in 1984 as the eighth installment of their series on James Bond Stories. Have a Look at the Tamil James Bond cover and the original cover for the same story: Operation little and the cover from which this Tamil James Bond cover was inspired. These editors - My Oh My- they do really have some kind of a Sense to catch the attention of the ComiRades. Have a Look at these covers and judge for yourself: Which Cover looks more attractive - The Tamil James Bond Comics Cover (Even though this itself is Inspired from) or the Semic issue cover?

The story line is as follows: The worlds best assassin is a dwarf who goes by the name 'Little' (Very aptly Named by Sutter), he lives in an impregnable castle in Switzerland, where he drives around underground on a large toy train, and he kills any intruders by remotely controlled flying saucers, and various other fancy gadgets. But now someone is trying to kill him and Bond is sent in to discover who it is. Bond also is Captured By Mr Little who informs that the reason why many countries try to kill him is an Identity crisis & he gives some tips towards un-Locking this mystery.

Bond, As usual romances with the Russian Army officer (She was the tip - Come On Ya, this is a James Bond Story and we have to get some female character) and gets to a Video tape which shows that somebody looking like Mr Little Assassinating the Russian Top-Guy. Based on the video Tape only the Russian and other Governments (They also have a similar tape) try to eliminate Mr Little.  Bond Discusses this with Mr Little, who discovers that the Identical personality in the Video Tape is in fact an Ape.  Later on They discover the secret about one Mad Scientist Named Dr Kurth who is bent on to Rule the world with his Animal soldiers who were transformed with serum into an Intellectual level superior to that of Human Beings (So Typical of Jack Sutter). 

Bond and Mr Little get into Dr Kurth's Place and destroy everything & in that process, Mr Little is changed into another Animal-Soldier and Bond, Taking a Tough Call, Kills Mr Little. He was to be visited by Felix (Remember him in old Rani Comics Stories as Another Secret agent who loses his Hand in Rani Issue No 9 - Mandhira Theevu மந்திர தீவு). ComiRades can have a look into the Editors Write Up on the censorship about the Panels by an ardent fan from Ambur. Look into the part where the editor announces about the English edition of the James bond Comics from this particular month (August 1988) onwards. moving on to the letters to editor page, you can see that many of the Readers were inspired by the cover art work & someone went to the level of saying that the Cost of the book is worth for the wonderful cover itself.

Look at the Original Semic Panel and the corresponding panel in Page No 11 (2nd Page)

Finally, the Back wrapper of the book where the ever-present Night visit Vivek with the wonderful art work of the Immortal Great Artist of Tamil Comics Ulagam, Mr Chellam.

Title:Marma Kottai (மர்ம கோட்டை - Secret Castle)

Cover Design: Art By V.Chinnaiah

Cover: Soft Cover, Non-Laminated. 

Serial Number: No. 4. 

On Sale From: 1st August 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: Jack Sutter

Original Artwork: Sarompas.

and the next issue announcement.

As a Pattern, Yours Truly will Be sharing the Happenings of Comics Houses in the cyberspace. Here are they:

(1) The New Blog Comics Pookal - காமிக்ஸ் பூக்கள் by Ayyampalayam Venkateshwaran has been completely revamped with better designs. Worth a Visit & Kindly park in your thoughts over there.

(2) Our Own Comics Doctor Has Woken & Posted a New Blog Topic which was Long pending in a Blog which was very recently started. As usual, Doctor has done deep research on the topic & come out with flying colours. So Enthralled was the Readers, that they have Best-Owed the Title "Captain VijayaKanth of Comics" for his style of presenting the facts.

(3) Our Beloved Poet Mr Josh (Of the Share Hunter Series) has started a New Series on the western style where 3 Cowboys which is quite innovative & there is a Surprise Element in the characterisation of the Lead Roles in that story. Read it to find out. Click here to read that.

(4) Going by the popularity of the 2011's Comics Chief Minister Dr Sathish's Blog, There is another Blog (க.கொ.க.கூ = கடத்தல் கொலை கலகக் கூட்டமைப்பு) which is very similar to that in Title of the Blog & Post of the same. However, the similarity ends there itself as the Pretender has a long way to reach the heights of Comic Doctor. Anyway, it is so nice to know that the Blogging interest is now on with reference to Tamil Comics which was not the same case some 2 Months back when yours truly started TCU, Wherein Muthu Fan & Rafiq were the only entrants in Tamil Comics Cyberspace.

Coming Back to Yours Truly, the Non-Appearance of Myself over the last 2 Weeks in the Tamil Comics Blog's in any form (Be it Comments, Visits, Reply's, Posts etc) was for the fact that Our Beloved Pet Dog Browny was Admitted in Hospital for the last One week & Has passed away on 15th Nov 2008 (Saturday evening 4 PM). This particular post was ready by last week itself & could not be posted because of the Mental Agonies we, as a Close Knit Family, were going through. The best Part about Browny was that,within 22 months, it has become such a close part of our Family that even a Person Like My Father (Participated in 2 Wars for India in His career with Indian Army) broke down when he saw Browny on Saturday Morning.

Browny had so much affection towards My father, that it started crying and so was my Dad. In My lifetime, this is the first time am Seeing My Father Crying. Words really, REALLY cannot describe the impact left by Browny with our family. Kindly excuse me if i do not reply to your personal mails, or Comments on the Blogs for the next few weeks as i have to take care of both my "Patient" Parents after the loss of Browny.

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 sidebar. The next New Comics Review post on this blog will be the review of Lion Comics Issue No 205 (எமனின் எல்லையில் - Tex Willer Adventure). However, the next Old Review Post will be on the 5th issue of James Bond Comics. The Next Actual post will be on a News Paper article about the 60 Years of Comics in Tamil.

Thanks & Regards,

King Viswa.

20 Review O4: James Bond Comics 1-Adhiradi Ulavali

Dear ComiRades,

In This Post, we are going to discuss about The Ever Green Spy - 007 James Bond. What More appropriate time than now when we are eagerly awaiting the theatrical Release of "Quantum of Solace"?. The moment i say James Bond in Tamil Comics, ComiRades would have jumped in Joy hoping that am going to start a Series on Rani Comics (An Indian Publisher of 007 Stories in Tamil Language). Excuse me, Gentlemen. There are other comics also which have printed James Bond in Tamil (Rani Comics' Sister Concern Devi'n Kanmani Comics etc); However, am not talking about them over here. Am Referring about a Comics started just for James bond stories itself in Tamil, from Chennai titled as Secret Agent James Bond Comics. Here, Have a Look at the Front cover of the 1st issue & first page of the Rare Book.

Amazing, isn't it? Unbelievable, But true. Mr.S.Rama Jayam was the editor for the above mentioned Rani Comics till issue no 92. After which, he started his own comics named James Bond Comics. However, he didn't use the Regular newspaper strip stories of James Bond that were the norm of the early Rani Comics. The Background Story is Quite interesting; However, i will brief it Shortly. After the demise of Ian Fleming's Widow in 1981, Swedish Publisher Semic Press was allowed to start their own comic series based on the Character (ComiRades may recall that at this same time, British Writer John Gardner started James Bond Novels). The English rights of these were given to Bulls Press, Sweden - And Glidrose Publications, London. Mr Rama Jayam acquired the Official Rights & this can be referred by the credits in the last page of the book itself. Here is the scan:

 The 1st issue of this series was Adhiradi Ulavaali (Loosely Translated as The Dare Devil Spy). This was published sometime in 1987 as part of the Semic Series of James Bond Stories as The Spy Trap (This Publication House were as notorious as some of our own Home-Brewn Publishers in not maintaining Issue Numbers, Delays and Regular Releases). Movie Buffs should no way confuse this title with the 1992 Arthur Sherman Directed Hollywood Film.The story was penned by Jack Sutter (Famous for His Super Villains Against Bond & One-to-One Combat Storylines) and was illustrated by Sarompas. Be a Judge & rate these Sketches of Page No 4, 10 & 23:

Well, the story line in Tamil is something like this (Hey what do you mean by Tamil Story Line? Wait till the end of this post): A Scientist is kept as a prisoner in Alps Mountain & a mysterious man 'saves' him from there by indulging in Daredevil activities only to Hand over him to the Chinese. Meanwhile, Bond is Resting with his new Flavour Anna in Greece. Both of them receive individual Telegrams making them to separate from each other. Bond collects a video tape in which he receives Instructions from Mr M about the new Chinese Spy whose image was captured by an American in a camera Film which got destroyed while flying.

Bond has to recover that Film to identify the new Super Spy. Bond Gets in to the sunken Flight underwater and hands it to the Consulate only to lose it to the Chinese Super Spy who destroys the embassy to recover it. Then begins the chase which Takes Bond in Land (Bikes), Water (Swimming), Land Again (Car), Sky (Flights), Land Again (Walk, Cycle & Truck), Sky Again (Helicopter).

Take a look at Page 23, where you can Almost hear Bond saying "எப்படி இருந்த நான் இப்படி ஆயிட்டேன்!" as he rides the bicycle. Finally Bond destroys the film as the Super Spy escapes from the clutches of Bond. The story ends with Bond meeting Anna Again to tell the truth that he indeed is a Spy & left her only to capture the Chinese Super Spy;

Anna in Turn says that she is an American Spy who was ordered to capture the same Chinese Super Spy. Both of them decide to Capture the super spy.

This is the last page of the Story. This is How the Tamil story line was. Actually, the original story by Jack Sutter was something like this: It was the Russian Super Spy who Took the Scientist & James Bond's New Found Interest Anna is Actually the Russian Super Spy (Look at the Bruises and Bandage that she has in the last page).

Many ComiRades will not accept that Bond is Outsmarted by a Lady & Because of this, the change in the storyline for the Tamil Version. Am Planning to meet the Tamil Publisher to clear the air.

Title: Adhiradi Ulavali (The Spy Trap)

Cover Design: Art By V.Chinnaiah,

Cover Type: Soft Cover, Non-Laminated.

Serial Number: No. 1.

On Sale From: 1st May 1988 Onwards.

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

Price: Priceless for Comic Fans; For others, INR 2/-

Partner in Crime: Kovai Dr Sathish.

This is Editor's Corner where Mr Rama Jayam Expresses his view on Tamil Comics (Series on the First ever Single Hero. Correct Me if am Wrong).There were other gift announcements like HMT Watch prize, Rs 50/- prize for the best comment (a la Rani Comics). The story Amma Aasai iravugal By Chithra Manalan started from where it got ended abruptly in Rani Comics.Many a ComiRade will recall the fact that the Next story Rocket Ragasiyam got published in Rani Comics Later.

The next thing in the book was a pleasant surprise for all the avid readers of Tamil Comics. It featured two Legends of the Tamil Comics Industry, Namely Mullai Thanga Rasan and Chellam.

For those who came late, Mullai Thanga Rasan was associated with many a Tamil Comics Publication and Chellam is the Greatest Tamil Comics artist. Period. No more questions on the authenticity of these Legends. These two combined to give a Series named Vengala Silai Marmam.

Here are the scans of the 3 pages from the 1st issue of James Bond Comics.

The inner covers of the issue carried out another Surprise for us. Judge Dredd as Judge George. ComiRades must note that Judge Dredd was published in another Tamil comics Publisher more than a decade after this. Who is that? that's for me to know & you to guess and comment in the comments section.

The back wrapper featured Night Visit Vivek (Story by Gnani and art work by Chellam). Have a Look at these.

Well, That's all for the time being. The next posting will be on the 2nd issue of James Bond Comics itself. As usual, post your comments in the comments section using the link just below my Signature.

P.S: Kindly do not send any mails regarding the Old issues Scanned copies, Book sales, exchange etc. As for as Scanning is considered, am doing it for promotional purpose only & have no intention in violating the Copyright law.

Thanks & Regards,
King Viswa.