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

8 Chennai Book Fair 2014 – The Count Down Begins

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back to TCU. Let me take this opportunity to thank one and all a warm and wonderful 2014. For those who are in the southern India, Advance wishes for Happy Pongal and Sankaranthi.

It’s been a long Very Long time since Yours sincerely blogged in these parts of the world. So, here is what you will be getting in the next fortnight or so.

• Lots of updates on the Chennai Book Fair 2014 (in Short CBF 2014).
• Lots and Lots of Updates on CBF 2014.
• Even More updates on CBF 2014.

For those who came in Late, here is a brief history on how & Why CBF was formed, Others who are not interested, kindly skip this section without mercy.

• About 37 Years ago, Mr Mathew (of B.I. Publications) wanted an organised community for the Publishers and Book Sellers of Southern part of India.
• So, along with some of the publishers and friends, he formed and officially started the 1st CBF on 24th Aug 1976.
• Since the inception, CBF was held in the same campus of the initial Fair (Quaid E Millath Govt College for Woman) for 28 Years. i.e. From 1979 to 2006
• From 2007 onwards, the venue was shifted to St George Anglo Indian Higher Sec School
• In 2013, the venue was again shifted for Traffic and parking related reasons to YMCA Ground in Nandanam,
• This year, CBF is organised with a space of 2, 00, 000 square feet.
• The dates are: 10th Jan 2014 to 22nd Jan 2014 (Weekdays 2 PM – 8.30 PM & Weekends/Holiday: 11 AM – 8.30 PM).

Here is the detailed map of this years Book fair. Our Comics stall is indicated with Yellow coloured route.

 

Now, Every year people complain of certain things in CBF. This particular year, an young and dynamic team has taken charge of CBF very recently and they have promised the following (Thanks to Badri):

# வாசலிலிருந்து கண்காட்சி இடம் வரை செல்ல இலவச வாகன வசதி

# கணினி டிக்கெட் வசதி

# மொபைல் எண் கொடுத்தால், தினமும் அந்தந்த நாள் நிகழ்ச்சி குறித்த தகவல்கள் தரப்படும் (Link)

# புத்தகக் கண்காட்சி அரங்கில் பொதுமக்கள் உட்கார்ந்துகொள்ள இடவசதி

# கண்காட்சி வளாகத்தின் உள்ளேயே ஒரு ஏ.டி.எம் வைக்கப்படும். அதில் பணத்தை எடுத்துக்கொள்ளலாம்

# ஸ்டால் அலோகேஷன் கணினிமூலம் செய்யப்பட்டது

# சிறுகதைப் போட்டியில் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படும் கதைகளை பபாசியே பதிப்பிக்கும்

# 1500 கார்கள் நிறுத்த இடம் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. அருகில் உள்ள மிலிடரி மைதானத்திலும் கார்களை நிறுத்திக்கொள்ளலாம்.

# நம்ம ஆட்டோவுடன் இணைந்து உள்ளேயே மீட்டர் கட்டணத்தில் ஆட்டோ எடுத்துக்கொள்ளலாம்

# கழிப்பறை வசதிகள் அதிகம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன

# கழிப்பறை வசதிக்காகக் கிட்டத்தட்ட 3 லட்சம் ரூபாய் செலவழிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

# உள்ளரங்கில் எழுத்தாளர்-வாசகர் சந்திப்புக்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது

# ஏழு லட்சம் இலவச டிக்கெட்டுகள் பள்ளி மாணவர்களுக்குத் தரப்பட்டுள்ளது

# சென்னை புத்தகக் காட்சிக்கு ஆப்பிள் ஐ ஓஎஸ், ஆண்டிராய்ட் ஆப் உருவாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன

# மருத்துவ வசதி உள்ளேயே ஏற்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது

# மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்கு சக்கர இருக்கை ஏற்பாடு செய்துள்ளார்கள்

# புத்தகக் கண்காட்சி தொடக்க விழாவுக்கு அமைச்சர்கள் வருகிறார்கள்.

# நுழைவுக் கட்டணம் ரூ. 10. பன்னிரண்டு வயதுக்கு உட்பட்டோருக்கு டிக்கெட் கிடையாது

# சென்ற ஆண்டு சுமார் 3.5 லட்சம் டிக்கெட்டுகள் விற்கப்பட்டுள்ளன

# இம்முறை, சென்ற ஆண்டைவிட 50% அதிகம் பேர் வருவார்கள் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கிறோம்

# வேலை நாட்களில் 2-9, விடுமுறை நாட்களில் 11-9 நேரம்

# சென்ற ஆண்டு 10 கோடி ரூபாய் விற்பனை நடந்துள்ளது, இந்த ஆண்டு 15 கோடி ரூபாய் விற்பனை ஆகும் என்று எதிர்பார்ப்பு

# 800 அரங்குகள், 400 பங்கேற்பாளர்கள், தமிழ், ஆங்கிலம், மலையாளம், தெலுங்கு, வட மாநிலங்களிலிருந்து பதிப்பாளர்கள் பங்கேற்பு. இரண்டு லட்சம் சதுர அடி.

# பேச்சுப்போட்டி, கட்டுரைப்போட்டி, ஓவியப்போட்டி, சிறுகதைப்போட்டி.

So, all the more reasons to get yourself to CBF 2014. Here are some of our posters and banners which we are going to place in the stall. Here is the main Banner designed by our in house designer Mr Ponnan, Sivakasi.

 

This one is for the Side, i.e. On the right hand side of the stall we are placing this. Lucky luke is the lucky mascot for us and he will be guarding our Collection table.

And facing head to head against Lucky luke is our own vicious Iznougoud with his crooked smile. this one is an original art piece from the maestro Tabary.

And finally, the one that we are going to place in our table: The man who stormed into the hearts of ComiRades in 2012 – Danger Diabolik.

 

Now, these are the images which are clicked with my Nokia Mobile and do consider the fact that when the images were clicked, the lights were not switched on and hence the lesser level of clarity.

 

The same main poster in another click. Hopefully i’ll get a better camera tomorrow and click some nice images to present you folks.

 

Iznogoud looks really crooked with his vicious smile and ‘that’ trademark expression of his. Really awesome work.

 

An finally, the lonesome cowboy who is the real hero not only in the Franco-Belgian comic circles, but also in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu where he has huge fan following.

Well, that’s all for this post and  as we are going to launch 4 new titles in this CBF 2014 & We shall see a quick review of one of those 4 books tomorrow here in TCU & 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 Danger Diabolik – Operation Tornado Lion Comics No 223 Dec 2013

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome back after a long, long sabbatical from yours Truly. This particular post is warranted because we have received a bunch of 4 books for the second time in the year. Considering the comics drought we had couple of years back, this is not only a welcome change but also making the ComiRades choking for space with such array of breath taking titles.

Incidentally, the previous time we have received a set of 4 different books was in the month of June 2013, when this Smiling assassin from Italy made his re appearance in Tamil Language in India. For those who came in late, here is a small intro of Danger Diabolik (This introduction was published in Lion Comics Issue No 219, Issue Dated June 2013 Title: Kutra Thiru Vizha – Crime Carnival).

The Most amazing stat about this particular character created by the Guissani sisters is the sales figures. Including the Re print sales (Which constitutes about 15 lakh copies a year), the total sales for these wonderfully scripted comics books is a Mind boggling 55 lakhs per annum.An we are talking only about the Italian market alone. Imagine what could be the sales figure if this series is published again in English?

Danger Diabolik – A Small Introduction: Just like Yours Truly, the Co creator of Diabolik Angella Guissani used to  commute a lot in Train. Her thought process got tuned a lot on the reading habits of the train commuters and she planned to launch a character based on the mystery Genre. Train also played a part in the The size of these books. Yes, The size was designed based on an abandoned pocket mystery novel in train. Thus the super villain Diabolik was actually born in Train and saw the daylight in 1st Nov 1962.

Forget about the readers, Even Diabolik doesn’t know his original name. He was raised as an orphan in a secret island by a crime syndicate. He grew up to become the criminal mastermind that he is now. Initially his character was that of a typical villain. Later on, to tone down the amorality of the character, he was shaded as a later day robin hood, never ever killing the police or the innocent. Diabolik is aided with a Mask with which he can disguise as, Practically, anybody. This particular mask is Diabolik’s USP.

No Hero is complete without a Heroin (After which he is completed ot Finished – This punch dialogue is dedicated to Our beloved MF) and this concept forced the creators to launch a new character in the series in March 1963. From then onwards this character, Eva Kant, has gone on to become a more and more dominant partner and aide.

If the hero is actually a villain, then the series requires a honest cop who always ends up as the second best. This is the unwritten rule in script writing. Without violating any such, the characters created Inspector Ginko. He doesn’t have a surname to go with. But has a girl friend named Altea.

Danger Diabolik in India: This month’s edition is actually the 3rd book to be published in Tamil, rather in India. Also in Asia & in Asia Pacific. Here are the images of the previous two issues:

1. Danger Diabolik – Lion Comics Issue No 44 – Dec 1987

 2. Kutra Thiru Vizha – Crime Carnival – Lion Comics Issue No 219 – June 2013

 3. Operation Sooravali – Operation Tornado – Lion Comics Issue No 223 – Issue Dated Dec 2013

The cover image of this book was first made available in a Fan club page of Diabolik in Italy. Then only it was revealed to the Indian readers. Such is the interest for this character and the respect shown by the editor to send it to Italy first and then later on to be revealed in India. 

This Book also has some other interesting features. Particularly the glowing intro by the editor about the fan club of Diabolik in Italy and their enthusiasm to order this book, in spite of the fact that this is published in Tamil Language. Click on the image to read / see the scans in a larger format.

 Though this character was published only once before this june, the name is quite popular in South India. Ace film comedian Vivek used to promote this character through his film dialogues. In fact i have seen in couple of films where he names the villains as Danger Diabolik.

 Danger Diabolik is all set re appear in 2014 Summer in Lion Comics. Watch out for this space for the official announcement.

Well, that’s all for this post and TCU will be back with another post on Monday 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