Oct 29, 2008

Muthu Comics #310 - Martin Mystery | Oct '08

Muthu #310 – Martin Mystery
Muthu 310 - Martin Mystery Cover  
100 Pgs | INR 10 | B6 | B/W Laminated/Paperback

Muthu Comics makes its comeback after 3 months, with the edition of Martin Mystery (christened in Tamil as Marma Manidhan Martin-மர்ம மனிதன் மார்ட்டின்) starring, Ponnil Oru Pinam (பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம்), 'Golden Carcass'. This time the delay is for all the valid reasons.

The compulsory power shedding for residential and commercial establishments, by the state governing body, has hit the Towns and Villages to the worst, which has resulted in delay (this time around).

Coupled with torrential rains, Prakash Publishers have indeed waged war to get this edition on our hands, and they should be commended for that incredible work.

Editor's Comics Time is testament to the fact that this was a comic which was planned before Diwali, as there is no mention about the biggest Indian festival.  Obviously, editor would have reserved his greeting for the Lion Comics, which could have been planned as Diwali release.

Prakash Publishers should be commended for their new-found commitment to get monthly releases for the Tamil Comics Fans, who are now left with only one choice to pick from, with the other publishers doing a No-Show.

But, the delay in the Martin Mystery extravaganza, is sure to have pushed Lion Comics instalment to the end of next month.  Coming back to the Martin Mystery feature, I should say that, Martin, off late has become one of the promising characters among those which were introduced by Muthu/Lion in the last decade. He himself makes a comeback in Muthu Comics, after nearly 2 years.  Since, this is the first time we are covering a Martin story on Comicology, here is a brief about this comics franchise.


Castelli
Alfredo Castelli

Martin Mystery (or Martin Mystère) is an Italian Comic Series, which was created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini.  It was first published in the famous Italian Comics Magazine, Sergio Bonelli Editore, in 1982.  Publishers Sergio is a legendary Comics publishing company from Italy, which has some of the famous Comic characters introduced by Lion/Muthu Comics Editor S.Vijayan, including Diabolik, Tex Willer and Nick Raider (christened as Detective Robin in Muthu Comics).

Alessandrini
Giancarlo Alessandrini

Have a look at their Official Website to see their vast list of Comics characters

Castelli originally conceived the concept of a New York based explorer in 1978, named Allan Quatermain (named after another famous fictional adventurer), in the weekly magazine Supergulp.  It was the lead character of the magazine from 1978 to 1981, before it closed shops.  Castelli then suggested this idea to Bonelli, which subsequently was approved, and renamed as Martin Mystery thereafter.  Castelli roped in Alessandrini, with whom he worked earlier in the Italian edition of Cosmopolitan, to design the character and draw the stories. In April of 1982, Martin Mysterty (or Mystère) was born, and Alessandrini went on to produce all the covers and many of the specials.

The original character Allan Quatermain, on which Castelli initially developed the concept, is much famous, as he was the lead character in King Solomon's Mines novel.  Many writers adopted this character to their works, quite famously Alan Moore adopted it in his The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, which was later filmed in 2003, with Sean Connery reprising the role.

MartinComing back to our hero, Martin Mystery is said to be the forerunner in Italian Comics, which revolutionized the usage of modern and complex themes, over the traditional adventures type.  Martin is a man of many professions, ranging from Historian, Archaeologist, Anthropologist, Adventurer, Writer, TV producer and collector of Rare objects.

With this kind of passion, the author has a wide array of stories and plot, in which he could wove Martin around. 

Thus, you get to see Martin adventuring his way into some of the famous legends, like who really built Stonehenge (Muthu #304), the identity of the Santa Clause, the man behind the Iron Mask, and also has met King Arthur.  These wide array of adventures combined with a gripping storyline, is what makes Martin Mystery stand out from the other regular comic characters.  Armed with a Unique Ray Gun, he is partnered in his adventures by his confident Java, who himself is a strange Neanderthal man from a hidden kingdom in Mongolian mountains.


Muthu 310 Comics Time I remember those initial days, when Mr.Vijayan introduced the character with back-to-back titles, in Muthu #292:Amaanushya Alaivarisai (அமானுஷ்ய அலைவரிசை) and Muthu #293: Sarithirathai Saagadippom (சரித்திரத்தை சாகடிப்போம்) in 2003. The backlash he received from the regular fans of Cowboy storylines, prompted him to shelve his ideas for nearly 3 years, before he brought back the series again in 2006, with Muthu #303: Pezhayil Oru Vaal (பேழையில் ஒரு வாள்) and #304: Kaalathirkoru Baalam (காலத்திற்கொரு பாலம்).

He literally pleaded with readers in his Editorials to try and observe the new trend, and switch over from the traditional and most liked Cowboy stories. That showed the confidence he bestowed upon the series, and I am thankful for him to have shown the doors to a completely new genre.

There are over 300 monthly titles of Martin Mystery which is available with the original publisher, so Vijayan has tapped onto a market which he could very well print for eons to come.  But, as "Muthufan" Dhayalan pointed out in his comment, it is very clear that Vijayan has so far printed and advertised only the English Versions released by Dark Horse Comics, in 1998-99, serialized as 1 to 6.  You could see a comparison of that at the end of this post.

For the others who still despise the character, my sincere advise is to read the instalments again, and you will see how advanced the thinking of the creator is, who was able to imagine Sci-Fi fantasies even during the early 80's.  Cartoon Network used to feature an animated series of Martin Mystery, which is loosely based on Martin Mystery Comics, Eventhough Martin is depicted in that as a Teenager.

This Martin Mystery extravaganza, is themed around the real-life mystery surrounding the construction Sagrada Família and its architect Antoni Gaudi.  For the starters, the construction of this Catholic Church was started in 1882 and it is still unfinished.  The story starts with Martin's villa which is being refurnished.  Disturbed by his probing interventions to work, his companion Diana devises a plan to keep him occupied with a false note.  But, little does she know that her false note really turns out to be related to a mystery surrounding Sagrada Familia, which takes Martin to Barcelona to explore and find the facts about the incidents surrounding it. 

What we see next is a whirlwind tour back and forth from the past to present, where the plot takes it root from the pre-Christianity era, and the other religions and beliefs, and even touches the Chemical Explorations, which were termed as Black-Magic then.   The creator's unique knack of basing his storyline and plot with the real history interlaced, is evident throughout the story.  Overall, the readers are in for a big treat, and is surely another Martin Mystery classic.

Two of the glimpses from the storyline, where I could relate myself, are:

1. When Martin goes over rearranging his collections, and Diana jokes around with Java on his interest and passion towards those artefacts.  This is what happens at my home, whenever I try to rearrange my Comics/Graphic Novels collection.  My home people are the one who take the role of Java and Diana in real-life.  But then, I don't blame them; Different People, Different Perceptions.

2. When Diana, in order to get rid of Martin's interventions in renovation work, gets down to create a false document on his computer, which she intends to make it written by Martin in 1987.  She achieves it by changing the system date to 14 years back, which makes Martin to fall in the trap, when he verifies the authenticity of the write-up.  In our real life, Many of times people related to Muthu 310 - Buck Ryan - Norungiya Naanal MarmamComputers, adopt this strategy to make their documents relate to a past date, including myself.  But the punch is at the end of the Martin issue, when he reveals to Diana that he was aware of her supposed work all-along, in typical Martin style.

Editor Vijayan, had mentioned that the Story has to be read twice for understanding the plot, but I traditionally have a practice of reading through panels twice for observing the dialogues and relating it to the art panels, so I was able to understand the plot first-up.  But, even then, I couldn't stop myself from reading the story again, which is one of the mysterious plots I have read in a Comics format for a very long time.

Enjoy the cover scans, Editors Comics-Time, and a preview of the next Muthu Comics edition, which also features a comeback hero Detective Julian.  Also as a bonus, are the XIII Teaser Advertisement, with the back-cover featuring the Garfield like Mr. Meow (Original: Mowser - The Priceless Puss).

Lion Comics's XIII Teaser Mowser (Mr. மியாவ்) (BackCover)
Muthu 310 next2 Muthu 310 c2


Here is the Back-list of all Muthu Comics and Lion Comics which featured the Martin Mystery series. I have also provided the respective original cover scans and details. Courtesy twafc.com, where they are still available for back-order.

Muthu #292 - Sep'03
அமானுஷ்ய அலைவரிசை

Muthu 292 c1
Muthu #293 - Oct '03
சரித்திரத்தை சாகடிப்போம்

Muthu 293 c1
Muthu #303 - Apr '06
பேழையில் ஒரு வாள்

Muthu 303 c1
Muthu #304 - Jul '06
காலத்திற்கொரு பாலம்

Muthu 304 c1_v2
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 4 of 6

ndmartin4
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 1 of 6

ndmartin1
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 2 of 6

ndmartin2
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 3 of 6

ndmartin3
Lion #195 - Jolly Special
May '06
- பழி வாங்கும் "ரா"

Lion 195 - RAA
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 5 of 6

ndmartin5
Muthu #310 - Oct '08
பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம்

Muthu 310 c1
Original: Dark Horse
Martin Mystery # 6 of 6

martin6

As you could see Editor Vijayan has maintained an order in the series, except the Muthu's first Martin issue, which was originally #4 of the series.  All of these Lion/Muthu Editions are still available with Prakash Publishers, as listed in their backorder list. So grab them before they run out of stock.


One another hallmark of Prakash Publishers, is that the amount of cover art rework they do on the comics they release, even though they had a freehand in choosing the original ones. The cover-arts are improved with better coloring and even some minute modifications, like  the removal of controversial Swastika symbol in Muthu #303, and lately the addition of the Golden Carcass in Muthu #310 (which almost made me to construe this as the new title out from the English series, when I was first searching for the Original cover scan to accompany this blog post.  Thanks to Muthufan and his prying eyes, for pointing me to the website again).

The other website mentioned by Muthufan (bvzm.org), is the Official website of Martin Mystery's creator, Alfredo Castelli.  but predominantly in his native language.

Muthufan pointed out in his comment that there is only one more English edition pending to be released by Prakash Publishers.  But, as you would have seen from the list that even that has been released as part of Lion #195 Jolly Special, as Pazhi Vaangum Raa, which was then overshadowed by the other prolific stars, so no wonder it was missed out.  Also the popularity of Martin Mystery prompted Editor to ignore him on the cover-arts, thus we were missed out from seeing the reworked cover-art from #5 of the original series.

Now that Editor Vijayan has wiped-off the English Series from his tray, let's see whether he will tap onto the original Italian versions.  The series is promising enough for him to take up that job. But that depends on the plans he has over Lion/Muthu Comics for the future. Let's stay Optimistic, even though the absence of Martin future story advertisements over the years is a worrying factor.

11 ComiComments:

Dear Rafiq,

Thanks for the quick update. For people like me this is the fastest way to have a look at the new issues. It may take more than a week for the book to reach me.

It will be interesting to see what Vijayan is going to do after he publishes after all the 6 English translated issues are published. So far he has published 5 issues and only one more to go.

You can have a look at the Martin Msytery English story review by following the link below:

http://www.ubcfumetti.com/international/dh_mm1_en.htm

Those who want to read a Martin Mystery story online in English please follow the link below:

http://www.bvzm.com/english/time_eng.html

Regards,
Muthufan

நண்பரே

மார்ட்டின் நம் மதிப்பில் உயர்ந்தது பழிவாங்கும் ரா கதைக்கு பிறகுதான். அருமையான கதை. அதற்கு பிறகு தான் மார்ட்டின் -ஐ விரும்ப ஆரம்பித்தார்கள். பழைய இதழ்களை எல்லாம் ஸ்கேன் செய்திருக்கிறீர்கள். What a Passion you have!

ஆங்கில பிரதிகளின் அட்டையுடன் ஒப்பிடும் பொழுது முத்து காமிக்ஸ் அட்டைகளின் தரம் வெளிப்படுகிறது.

வரவேற்பை பொறுத்து விஜயன் அவர்கள் மர்ம மனிதன் மார்ட்டினை தொடர்வார் என்றே நம்புகின்றேன்.ஏன் திரு.விஜயன் அவர்கள் தமிழ் காமிக்ஸ் தொடர்புடைய வளைத்தளங்களை பார்வையிடும் பட்சத்தில் இன்னும் புதிய காமிக்ஸ்களை தமிழில் அறிமுகப்படுத்த தயங்கமாட்டார் எனவே எண்ணுகிறேன்.

பொன்னில் ஒர் பிணம் என்னை வந்தடைய குறைந்தது 2 வாரங்கள் ஆகலாம், படித்தபின் என் கருத்துக்களை பதிகிறேன்.

இவ்வளவு விரைவாக முன்னோட்டமிட்டதற்கு ரஃபிக்கிற்கு பாராட்டுக்கள். உற்சாகத்துடன் தொடருங்கள்.

Dear Rafiq,

Super Speed Posting By You. Kudos to that. As mentioned in My Latest Post, You Have covered the A to Z of all that need to be updated as for as this issue is concerned.

The way in which you are improving is really amazing. Keep it up.

There was a Small problem with My System & Net Connection for the last 2 Days & hence i couldn't do any comments much earlier. Apologies for that.

With this kind of Improvement, Only Sky is the Limit for you.

Way to Go.

King Viswa.
www.tamilcomicsulagam.blogspot.com

Muthufan: I am honored to receive your comments on our blog. Thanks for those informative links.

ஜோஸ் பங்கு வேட்டையர் அவர்களே.... உண்மை தான். மார்டின் கதைகளை தனியாக வெளியிட்ட போது, அது அவ்வளவு வரவேற்ப்பு அடையவில்லை (ஆனால் நான் முதல் இதழில் இருந்தே அவருக்கு விசிறி). சிறப்பு இதழில் அவர் இடம் பிடித்த பிறகு தான் அவருக்கு ஒரு தனி வாசகர் வட்டம் உருவாக ஆரம்பித்தது. அதற்கு விடாது முயற்சித்த திரு.விஜயன் க்கு தான் நன்றி சொல்ல வேண்டும்.

ஷங்கர் விஸ்வா அவர்களே: வருகைக்கும் வாழ்த்துகளுக்கும் நன்றி நண்பரே. உங்கள் கருத்துக்களை காட்டாயம் படித்தவுடன் வெளியுடுங்கள். ஆமாம், நீர் இப்போது எவ்வூரில் உள்ளீர் ?

Viswa: Comments like this is what makes me continue blogging about our passion. Thanks a Ton.

அம்மா ஆசை அன்பரே: Thanks for your warm and kind comments. It makes me feel more responsibile that long time fans like you are following this blog, and I am hopeful that I will keep the standards of this blog at the same level of your expectations.

Please do visit often and post your constructive comments.

I am a regular subscriber of lion/muthu. But out of touch in internet after lioncomics.com is shutdown. Today just searched in the google and came to your site, its really wonderful. Thanks for all of your efforts in positing such a nice page.

பொன்னில் ஒர் பிணம் ஏறக்குறைய The Da Vinci Code என்ற புத்தகத்தின் கதை போன்றது...
பொதுவாகவே மார்ட்டின் கதைகளில் சுவாரசியம் கொஞ்சம் கம்மியாகவே இருக்கும். ஆனால் இந்த கதை Supero Super...நான் ரொம்பவே ரசித்து படித்தேன்...
இக்கதையை படித்த பின்னர் மார்ட்டின் கதைகளின் மிக பெரிய ரசிகனாகி விட்டேன்...

வாழ்த்துக்கள் நண்பரே....

மகா ரசிகன் அன்பரே: உண்மை தான் பொன்னில் ஒரு பிணம் மற்றும் டா வின்சி இடையே ஒற்றுமை இருப்பதற்கு காரணம், அவை இரண்டும் கதோலிக்க ஆலயங்களை பற்றி பின்னப்பட்டு இருப்பதால் தான். மார்ட்டின் கதைகளை அனைவரும் படித்து ரசிக்க ஆரம்பித்திருபதே திரு.விஜயனுக்கு கிடைத்த மிக பெரிய வெற்றி. வாழ்த்துகளுக்கு நன்றி.

Karthikeyan: Thanks for those encouraging words. It's good that I am helping comic fans like you to connect to their cherished hobby. Please do visit often and record your comments in respective topic.

I'm trying to get hold of old Muthu/lion comics (1970s i think) like that of "irumbukkai mayavi", "vethalam", "johny", "mandrake", "spider" etc. I am ready to buy such old tamil comics- printed ones. If any one has any idea where do you get / from where one can buy, please let me know.

Thanks.

பொன்னில் ஒர் பிணம் ஏறக்குறைய The Da Vinci Code என்ற புத்தகத்தின் கதை போன்றது...
பொதுவாகவே மார்ட்டின் கதைகளில் சுவாரசியம் கொஞ்சம் கம்மியாகவே இருக்கும். ஆனால் இந்த கதை Supero Super...நான் ரொம்பவே ரசித்து படித்தேன்...
இக்கதையை படித்த பின்னர் மார்ட்டின் கதைகளின் மிக பெரிய ரசிகனாகி விட்டேன்...

வாழ்த்துக்கள் நண்பரே....

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