16 Comic Cuts 56-News 56: Dinakaran Diwali Special Issue – Special Article on Lion Muthu Comics

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome Back to TCU. And it is a real welcome that we are promising. Yes, from now onwards, TCU is going to be really, really active in terms of blogging over here and that is going to be in 2 different styles.

The book review, book introduction will continue and also the comic cuts segment will be divided into 2 and a new segment will be introduced from tomorrow onwards. Kindly do wait for it.

And beginning this post, the comic cuts segment may not have much of my blabbering. They will be self explanatory and hence minimalistic approach is chosen over here.

Dinakaran Diwali Special Issue – Special Article on Tamil Comics & it’s Present state:

Dinakaran is Tamil’s 2nd highest selling daily news paper and they have a custom of issuing a special giant sized book for the special occasions like Pongal, Diwali etc. And most of the time they do cover almost all the topics in that book. The latest special book from Dinakaran has ticked all the boxes and also a special box with tha name being Tamil comics. And who Better than our old ComiRade YuvaKrishna than to write it?

Yes, the latest Diwali special contains a 5 page special article on Lion Muthu comics and the next phase of it. Have a read:

Here, we take this opportunity to thank the Printer & Publisher of Dinakaran Mr R.M.R Ramesh, The editor of Dinakaran Diwali Special Mr Murugan and the writer of this wonderful article Mr Yuva krishna.

Thank You, Sirs. Thanks a Ton for taking Tamil comics a little bit forward with your effort.

Well, that’s all for this post and  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.

33 Comic Cuts 53 – News 53: A Discussion on Tamil Comics & Latest Advertisement

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. Though the first 100 Posts were in the language of our earlier masters, It’s been Almost 2 years since we blogged in English. May be this is the right time to come back to that in order to cater to a larger audience. When we say larger audience, what we mean by that is the comics reading community from places like UK, France, USA, Singapore and Sri Lanka etc etc.

For a blog like this, language can be a double edged sword. Ideally it should be in the regional language or the language of the content (That is, Tamil, since we talk mostly about Tamil comics only). However, when we sculpt articles on characters that cut the national and linguistic barriers, people want to know more about that and Google is not helping in that area as Language converter from Tamil Language to others is only in the initial stage.

When Yours truly wrote an article on Modesty Blaise some time back, it reached many researchers and they are still in contact through mail and update on their front whenever there is a news about Modesty Blaise. That was made possible because the article was penned in English language and hence it catered a wider target group. Later on, when we did a similar post on Chick Bill , we did it in Tamil Language and the reason being our change in blogging style, Some of our fellow ComiRades mailed me stating the fact that though they could enjoy the Pictures in the Post, they were unable to comprehend the post with language being the barrier. One ComiRade went to a level saying that seeing the post & unable to read is like getting nectar and realising that your mouth is sealed, thereby preventing you from drinking it.

Throughout our visits during the Comic con in Mumbai, Delhi etc, people started sort of complaining about the language barrier. To start a new blog and trying to translate the same content in Tamil language was one of the ideas suggested to yours truly. However, such a task will be not only improbable at the moment but humanly not possible as well. So, from now onwards, you’ll find our posts being in English only. Apologies to my Tamil Reading friends.

Deccan Chronicle – Chennai Chronicle Cover Story: Today’s Deccan Chronicle news paper (Chennai edition) has a wonderful cover story in the Chennai Chronicle supplement. Thanks to Kedar Koushik, Reporter / Sub Editor, we have this news article on Tamil Comics. Yours truly Thanks the Editor and the management of DC for such a honour. Here is the cover page of Chennai Chronicle. You can click on the image to enlarge it or go to this link to see it online.  Here is the detailed cover story with fantastic interviews from Artist / Creator Gaman and Mr S.Vijayan, Editor / Publisher of Lion & Muthu Comics, Sivakasi. To read it, You can click on the image to enlarge it or go to this link to see it online. For those who came in late, Here is the link to Editor S.Vijayan’s Official Home page and his Blog.

Without sounding like promoting myself, which will be tough for a third person to realise the difficulties, i’ve been trying to paint a sketch and pave a small way for Tamil Comics’ awareness. Under such circumstances, articles like these do really Help. A Big Hug, Brother Kedar, Thanks a Ton.

Comics Advertisements: Last paragraph was about non promotion and this one is about promotion. Though the idea was to create awareness about the re launch of Tamil comics, the write ups in magazines, interviews in TV and more than 60 blogs to promote Tamil comics, we felt that the sum is not equal to the individual parts. Hence the idea to give advertisements in print media. With that in our mind, the 1st comeback advertisement of Tamil comics was published in last Saturday (27th September 2013) in Junior Vikatan, Tamil’s No.1 Political investigative Bi weekly magazine.

The logic behind choosing Junior vikatan was simple. The Kid who was reading comics in the 80’s would have graduated to reading Novels (Both Tamil & English) in the 90’s and by this time he would have been in his mid-to-late thirties or 40’s. So the gradual reading curve would have taken him to this type of reading habit and hence the choice of Junior vikatan as our advertising medium. Here is the initial design of the advertisement.

This initial design was later on changed to this final design with the addition of the evergreen super star of Tamil comics, Steel Claw and the latest entry in to the ever growing world of Tamil comics heroes, Kid Lucky. The re launch concept was highlighted with “Comics in Full Colour” being the Tag line of the advertisement.

Response for the Advertisement: Though initial response for such an advertisement will be tough to analyse, the number of phone calls and new enquiries to the publishers office indicate that the investment was really worth it. Keeping with this in mind, the next few advertisements will be released in this month and early part of next month, with Diwali festival being the  focal point of our advertisements.

 

Well, that’s all for this post and TCU will be back with another post on Monday (Comics Time 3) and will try to be as regular as possible from here 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.

42 CBF 2011: Chennai Book Fair – 4th Jan to 17th Jan 2011: ComiRade’s View

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. Yours truly is back in Chennai well in time for the inauguration of the 34th edition of the Chennai Book Fair (in short, CBF) which was on 04th Jan 2011 (Tuesday). For those who came in late, here is the Wikipedia entry about the CBF. Though yours truly was in touch with the BAPASI Secretary even before the lots of the stalls, the formal invitation was finalised and received just before Christmas. Traffic and security were also eased a bit Once it was made sure that the CM of TN is not going to attend the inaugural function, a decision which he made later.

The visit to the CBF has become such an annual event for most of the people that they plan their visits to Chennai in concurrence with the dates of the event. Even for the die hard Comirades, a visit to the CBF becomes inevitable as most of the Graphic novels which he may not get in the usual shops will be made available over here. Bearing all this in mind, TCU is presenting the MUST BUY’s (or at least MUST VISIT’s) in this latest edition of CBF. Kindly take notice of the fact that TCU visited the CBF on the day of inauguration and most of the shops were not yet fully functional on day one (Which is the usual case) and hence if there is any miss, let me know on that through the comments section and they will be added in the video post of CBF next week.

CBF 34: Book Stall List in Alphabetical order – Four Stall

CBF 34: Book Stall List in Alphabetical Order – Media Stalls

CBF 34: BAPASI Official Site

All these photographs were taken in Hi-Resolution and hence for a bigger and better view, kindly click on the image. This is how the entrance of CBF looks like and the inaugural function was almost over by the time TCU made it’s presence felt.

Prema Publications (பிரேமா பிரசுரம்) is a well known name in the world of Pulp fiction in the early 60’s till the 80’s and Pulp fiction being the latest interest of TCU, Here is a look into their stall.

TCU Info: Stall No 463.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Not much.

Vanathi Publications (வானதி பதிப்பகம்) has been THE publication for the ComiRades for the simple reason that they are the people who are publishing VanduMama’s Books. Had the opportunity to meet the publisher as well. Being the simple man that he is, He refused to come in limelight, again. So, here are some of the snaps of the stall.

TCU Info: Stall No 13 & 14.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Anything and everything by Vandumama. Here is the complete list of Books (Books Available). Specifically (Comics stories)

• Marma Maligaiyil Bale Balu (மர்ம மாளிகையில் பலே பாலு)
• Chithirak Kadhaigal 1 (சித்திரக் கதைகள் 1), Chithirak Kadhaigal 2 (சித்திரக் கதைகள் 2)
• Bale Baluvum Parakkum drayarum (பலே பாலுவும் பறக்கும் டிராயரும்) etc.

Non-Comic stories include the following: They are also amongst the must-have’s for the ComiRades.

• C.I.D Singaram (C.I.D சிங்காரம்)
• Maaya Modhiram (மாய மோதிரம்)
• Kannadi Manidhan (கண்ணாடி மனிதன்)
• Marma Manidhan (மர்ம மனிதன்)
• Puli Valartha Pillai (புலி வளர்த்த பிள்ளை) etc.

Mathi Nilayam (மதி நிலையம்): Old timers may fondly recall the fact that Mathi nilayam played a vital part in the development of the Tamil Comics and how Mr Valar Mathi Ramu actively encouraged Mullai Thangarasan to write more and more stories for the Amazing “Siruvar Rathina Kuviyal - சிறுவர் இரத்தின குவியல்” series. Though they are not into the Comics-Graphic novel genre any longer, here is a snap which is for the records. The man in the 1st picture is THE Publisher for Tamil Comics and Children’s literature in particular. A Detailed interview of him will appear in TCU’s book some time in the next year.

TCU Info: Stall No 19.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Not much, sadly.

Book world – Bangalore: They have most of the English books like Asterix, Tin Tin, Lucky Luke etc and also the old stocks of Gotham comics specials. Some of the tinkle specials were also available here.

TCU Info: Stall No 20.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Lots of English comics. Not much, as for as Tamil comics are concerned.

Info Maps (இன்போ மேப்ஸ்): They were the most sought after shop last year as they were selling Tamil comics such as Lion Comics, Muthu Comics and Comics classics. While looking into the shop, TCU ran into one of the old friend from Euro Books. Mr Om prakash (Man with the latest issue of Commando in the 3rd picture) has already helped TCU in THIS post. Expect some interesting news on Euro books in the future in TCU.

TCU Info: Stall No 05.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: All Euro Books publications such as Iznogoud (1st edition sold out, 2nd edition available now), Lucky Luke, Commando (all new versions, Laminated cover, compact size, affordable price), Herge’ books etc.

Scholastic India (ஸ்கோலாஸ்டிக்   இந்தியா): They were the ones who published Bone and BenQ series. Here is their complete catalogue: Official Website

TCU Info: Stall No 26.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Lots of English comics such as Bone, BenQ, Fabulous adventures of Rocket Kumar and other Indian super heroes etc.

Spider Books (Stall No 37), Punnagai Ulagam (Stall No 414) & New Century Book House (Stall No 07): Here is an assembly of photos (for the convenience of posting in 3x3 Matrix). Punnagai Ulagam (Official Website) is a wonderful children’s magazine (The Editor of that magazine is an old friend of Yours truly). Also some of the books available in NCBH.

New Horizon Media (கிழக்கு பதிப்பகம்): Kizhakku is a well known name in Publishing and now that they have ventured into comics (Yes Sir, Kindly wait till Saturday's Year End review post from TCU for more information), they have become the favourite publishing house of Yours truly. With People like Badri and Pa.Ra, Sky is the only limit for them in the forthcoming years. Those who visit their corporate office in Chennai, Have a look into the sign board to know more about their intention.

TCU Info: Stall No 13, 14 & 15.                                                                  

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Comics

• 24 Titles of Amar Chitra Katha’s in Tamil (Excellent Translation, INR 35/- each)
• 03 Titles of Graphic novels on Tamil Literature (Excellent narration, INR 25/- each)

Other books of interest for the ComiRades:

• 09 Books on Feluda Series (Sathyajith Ray)
• 01 Book on Sherlock Holmes Series

Publications Division – Govt of India: Govt of India’s own publications division also has some nice books meant for children between the ages 06-14. The other books are also of interesting topic. Worth a visit to the stall to have a look at the old books (Yes, very old).

TCU Info: Stall No 401.                                                              

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Many children's books at very nominal price.

Abirami Recording Company: This is for the DVD and VCD of the Children’s collection. Nice collection they have got Have a look and try something, especially the Ramayanam DVD.

Palaniappa Brothers (பழனியப்பா பிரதர்ஸ்): Once the celebrated publication for children’s literature, even now they boast a very sound batting order with stalwarts like Thumilan, Azha. Valliyappa, Revathy etc in their ranks.

TCU Info: Stall No 301.                                                              

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Many children's books at very nominal price. C.I.D Siruvargal is a must buy.

Manimegalai Publications (மணிமேகலை பிரசுரம்): Again, another legendary publication. They still sell those wonderful books by Tamil Vanan on the sankarlal series, and they are their best sellers. There are lots of books over here and officially, they should have included in the Guinness world of records for publishing the maximum number of titles. However, knowing the working style of the people behind Guinness records first hand, Yours truly has reservations on that thought.

TCU Info: Stall No F 30.                                                                

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Comics

• Thirumbi Varavillai by Tamil Vanan தமிழ் வாணனின் திரும்பி வரவில்லை (Siv’s Post)
• Dharavum Kugai Manidhargalum தாராவும் குகை மனிதர்களும் (Siv’s Post)
• Appusamiyum, Colour Teeviyum அப்புசாமியும் கலர் டிவியும் (Siv’s Post)

Other books of interest for the ComiRades:

• Many books on the Sankar Lal Series
• Many Books on Tamil Vanan Detective stories (Where Tamil Vanan over took as the hero).

Sri RamaKrishna Math (ராமகிருஷ்ண மடம்): The Kadhai Malar series is well know amongst ComiRades (Thanks to Siv’s posts on them: Post 1 & Post 2). This time also they have have launched about 4 new titles prior to the CBF. Though these books were made available some 4 months ago, they are not that easy to get in the shops and you have buy from the Math themselves. Here are they. They are a must to have for the collectors.

TCU Info: Stall No 223.                                                           

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Comics

• Kadhai Malar Set 1 – Volume 1 to 15 (INR 300/- Per set of 15 Books)
• Kadhai Malar Set 2 – Volume 16 to 21 (INR 190/- Per set of 6 Books)
• Kadhai Malar Set 3 (Latest) – Volume 22 to 25 (INR 140/- Per set of 4 Books)

Children’s Book Trust: Children’s book trust has a wide array of books for the younger readers. For the kids in the range of 6-14 years, here are some wonderful books to read.

TCU Info: Stall No 106.                                                           

Books of Interest for ComiRades: Many children's books.

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.

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