21 Chennai Book Fair 2014 – Day 01 Photo Updates

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome Back. Based on Popular demand from the regular readers of TCU, Yours truly is decided to blog regularly on the Chennai Book Fair 2014. There wont be much of my “writing” in these photo-posts. So, there goes the torture & you can easily go through these posts in a jiffy.

Kindly do not expect me to continue this post to go on till the very end of CBF 2014. For the better part of next week, i wouldn’t be in Chennai at all. Hence, daily updates may not be possible. However, as long as am in Chennai, you can always expect Photo Posts on CBF 2014. This is a promise that will not break. Moreover these Photo Posts are made keeping in Mind our fellow ComiRades who couldn’t make it to the event in Chennai.

Before getting into the post, Kindly do read the following posts which are made very, very recently on CBF 2014 (These posts are hyper linked & hence all you need is just to click on the titles and you’ll be redirected to those posts).

• CBF 2014 Day 0 – The day before the inauguration
• Comics Intro Post 1 – Muthu Comics Issue No 225 – Bruno Brazil Adventure

Now, The official time of starting the CBF 2014 was 06 PM only; However, there are many ComiRades who came much earlier than that. People like Shallum Fernandes, Tiruppur Blueberry and others came much, much earlier than the announced time. Yours truly had some pending works and hence could enter the YMCA ground at around 5 PM only. Here are some of the Photos of the same.

The gentleman with eyewear in the 3rd photo is the one who did the first billing in CBF 2014. The person standing next to him reminds a lot about Tiruppur CiBi Sir. Right folks? Unfortunately i couldn’t recollect their names.

ComiRade Shallum Fernandes (Standing with arm folded in the 1st Photo) is standing with another ComiRade is has got a peculiar taste. He never buys the books regularly. He buys only once in a year and reads them all in a single stretch. The one next to him is Mr Govindharaju, who is a book shop owner. The person in the 3rd photo is Mr Selvaraj who bought comics for more than 1200 Rupees.

When the official sales started, one of our office staff (Velu) was not in the stall. In fact he was yet to arrive to the venue. The gentleman in the extreme left corner in the 1st photo was helping out Radhakrishnan annachi in billing and packing the sold books. You could see Selvaraj Sir in the same photo as well.

 

The above photo is about 2 different ComiRades who are from Chennai itself. The one in the dark shirt is Mr Marimuthu who is a Doctor by profession. And when we were clicking the pics, Group editor S,Vijayan arrived and was introduced to Mr RamaDoss who requested for a change of our Tagline (Comics for everyone – from 7 to 77 years). The simple reason is that he is 78 now. Editor promied him that next time, he will change it to 8 to 88.

   

The first page of the next Chick Bill story was made into a banner and was displayed here in CBF 2014. Professor T.S.Murugesh from Chidhambaram arrived in the afternoon and went back to his hometown yesterday itself. The 3rd picture is off ComiRade Ramesh and IBH Employee Thanigai Selvan.

 

Regular and long time reader of our comics Vijayakumar arrived and so was Tiruppur Blueberry aka Nagarajan (2nd Pic). RT Murugan Sir friend Muthu came along with his friend as well.

The next Photo is Mr Shankar who happens to be a Popular Blogger and a Poet (The picture below, with specs). Next photo is off ComiRade Mansoor who is a Tamilian with Australian Roots. Editor was involved in many a discussion with ComiRades throughout the evening session.

   

This gentleman is associated with Mansoor and editor was happy to pose with Mansoor. Mr Ramadoss was tere till the very evening and left only when we were closing the shop.

  

Fellow ComiRade and popular blogger Raj Kumar and another regular visitor (Sorry, forgot the name) and ComiRade Hareesh are in the next 3 photos.

Star Clicks of CBF 2014: From today onwards, we will showcase some of the popular, well known ComiRades here in this section. First one to visit is Mr Badri Sheshadri (Founder Cricinfo, New Horizon media). Who is coming back today to our stall for a detailed discussion on Comics.

The 2nd photo is off Star animator Mr Krishnaswamy who owns an animation studio and wishes to work as an artist for any new ventures in the comics field. Here in the 3rd picture, he can be seen involved in an animated discussion.

 

The man who dons many a hat, Aganazhigai Pon Vasudevan (Writer, Poet, Publisher, Book Promoter etc) came to our stall. The 2nd photo consists (From left to right) of Pon Vasudevan, Popular Media person and writer Yuvakrishna, Dinakaran Group Magazine Editor K N Sivaraman, Our Comics Group editor S Vijayan and Junior Editor Vickram.

The 3rd photo is off Athisha (Popular critic and writer) and Baskar Shakthi (National award winning film script writer) with our editorial team.

Central government award winning designer & ComiRade Ayyampalayam venkateswaran is in the next photo. 2nd one has Athisha and PalaPattarai Shankar. Third one is Mr Bala who was an ex Journalist now turned into a man wearing many a masks. Content creator, Designer, Film Director etc.

The Highlight of Day 01: Editor, as promised, has brought some of the original paintings which were used later on into the cover images of our golden oldies. These were some of the most memorable and best works of Artist Malaiyappan Sir. Here is the complete set that was on show on day 01.

If anyone can post all the names of the these books, TCU promises to buy them some Comics very soon. Wanna jog down the memory lane, folks? Try you luck, what’s the issue in trying, right?

When myself and Animator Krishnaswamy were discussing about Phil Corrigan and Virus X, Then only editor arrived and promptly he gave the painting of the cover image of Virus X. Here are some pics with THAT image.

 

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 2nd title in 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

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