Cinebook – Backlist Titles | 2010 | Part I

We are almost at the end of the year 2010, and still there are a lot to catch up at Comicology. I am trying to shake those cobwebs, as the new year dawns, and expect to go at them one by one through the eve. First up on the list is our old favourite, Cinebook – The 9th Art Publishers - the publishing house from the other side of the sea, but the one which still does business in India, as if it belongs here.

We had covered Cinebook’s last two Indian batch releases in 2008 and 2009. But this time around, we are going to look at it in a different way, talking briefly about each of the series making the line-up. This would also help to better introduce new and old titles, as an exclusive review on them is going to take some time coming (considering the pace at which our blog moves these days :)).

The biggest change in this set from the earlier ones is that, starting from 2010, there are no more double-issues, or 2-in-1 editions, in Cinebook’s line-up. Meaning, they are published as single albums, as they were originally released in Bande-Dessine. Cinebook cites the reason to them, as the way to bring down the higher price attached to double volumes, which generally reflects on the sales, as they are generally, slow to move off-the-shelf.

From my side, even though they were value for money editions, I still missed the individual covers in their  laminated glory. Moreover, double volumes are more prone to damages at the crimp, due to how they weigh. So overall, I am much satisfied to see them in single volume editions.

There are a total 32 albums which have made their way into India, as part of the batch, and they were available from the mid of this year. We will look at them as per the alphabetical order, as it’s difficult to classify the priorities to the list. The reason, I hardly find them inferior to each other, as they always stand good on their own ways. A credit to the wealth available at Franco-Belgian Genre, which Cinebook is gung-ho to introduce to the English speaking nations.

Due to the size of this batch release, we will preview them over two posts, with the 1st part here, and the follow-up sooner at Comicology.

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Betelguese
Genre: Science-Fiction

01.	#2: The Caves	45 pp	B5 size	INR 195
02.	#3: The Other	45 pp	B5 size	INR 195

A journey which started in the distant planet Aldebran, nears a conclusion in another remote planet Betelguese, as the 10 part saga comes to a close. Aldebran/Betelguese is a masterpiece of Artist/Write Leo, who showcases the wonderfully imagined life on an outer world, and showcases the disaster of how a menacing human kind can bring, much like the one befallen in our homeland. If you had liked Avatar, the recent movie block buster, you would love this venture for sure.

To go with the 2010 model, these two titles are released as single albums, breaking up from its earliest releases, which were 2-in-1 volumes, and covered 8 previous albums into 4 issues. Refer Cinebook 2009 Backlist Titles.

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Bellybutton
Genre: Humour

03.

#2: It's Ugly Out There

48 pp

A4 size

INR 195

As the name suggests, Bellybuttons retells the up and happening story of 3 college cuties, Jenny, Vicky, and Karine, while the last one certainly doesn’t fit the description. Karine is indeed a simple, not-so-good looking types, you find in every group, which brings her all the trouble from the dominating peers in the quartet. It’s a humour laced tale, drawn and told in a cartoonish style, sticking to its genre.

Issue 1 of this series was released in India, in 2009, which is now followed up by the second title. Refer Cinebook 2009 Backlist Titles.

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Blake & Mortimer
Genre: Detective/Thriller/Classic

04.

#7: The Affair of the Necklace

72 pp

A4 size

INR 250

Cinebook’s treasure hunt into Edgar P. Jacobs’ Blake and Mortimer classics, brings us another tale of their adventures, as the seek to find the mystery surrounding a Necklace, which trace its origin to the last French Queen. To make matters worse, they come face to face with the old arch enemy, Olrik. How they bring his current misdeeds to closure, is told in classic pages filled with Jacob’s own style of storytelling, which has its parallel to the much famous Tintin series.

A total of 6 volumes, have been released in India, in the last couple of years. To read more about the Blake & Mortimer series, refer to our preview post on Blake & Mortimer #1 to 3

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Bluecoats
Genre: Humour/Action

05.

#3: The Skyriders

48 pp

A4 size

INR 195

The adventures and misadventures of Sergeant Chesterfield and Blutch, continues in the latest volume, Skyriders, where they become the pilots of the new addition to the US cavalry, an “Observation Balloon”.

We would have read countless stories about American Civil War, but creators Lambil and Cauvin, introduce humorous touch to those blood ridden history, yet staying true to much of the incidents which shaped the war, that was. The dynamic duo of Chesterfield and Blutch, reminds us of the Dog Bull and Kid Ordinn duo from the classic Chick Bill series.

The two earlier issues of the series were both released in India, in 2009, which is now followed up by the third title. Refer  Cinebook 2009 Backlist Titles.

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Buck Danny
Genre: Action/War

06.

#2: The Secrets of Black Sea

48 pp

A4 size

INR 195

Buck Danny, the celebrated aviation hero, this time enters the mission to unravel the secrets over the Black Sea. Set at the end of the Cold war, this tells the story of how remains of fallen empire, would never cease to tread the righteous path. Francis Bergese’s artistic talent, and his intrinsic detail laced sketch of airliners, add value to the storyline, a department handled by De Douhet for this album.

Cinebook has ably filled up the void left by the cancellation of Biggles titles, by introducing another fictional war hero in the form of Buck Danny. The series is wonderfully enriched by the art of Bergese, whom readers would remember from the same Biggles venture, launched by Euro Books in India, followed by Cinebook’s own short run with the series.

Buck Danny was introduced to India in 2009, with the release of Issue #1, which is now followed up by another classic. To read more about Francis Bergese’s earlier releases in India, refer to our posts on Euro Books Biggles Series & Cinebooks Biggles Recounts Series

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Chimpanzee Complex
Genre: Science-Fiction

07.

#2: The Sons of Ares

56 pp

A4 size

INR 250

Chimpanzee Complex is a 3 issue mini series which received critical and commercial reception when it was released in French heartland. It traverses in two different realms, told from an adventurous space women, and her estranged daughter. Caught between her unblemished love towards her daughter and the ambitions to live up to her career aspirations, Helen Friedman’s adventures to discover the true origin of space flights, are wonderfully told in this intriguing tale.

The dark themed artwork of Jean-Michel Ponzio’s makes a perfect foil, to the adventurous script of Richard Marazano, which makes up for an interesting wait to the concluding issue, expected in the new year.

Chimpanzee Complex Issue 1 was released in India on 2009, which is now followed up by Issue #2. Refer Cinebook 2009 Backlist Titles.

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Ducoboo
Genre: Humour

08.

#4: The Class Struggle

48 pp

A4 size

INR 195

You can never have a dearth of fun and laughter, as long as the world’s biggest dunce, Ducoboo is around. Issue #4 carries over from the previous releases, which are laced with one page slapstick comedy featuring the King of Dunces himself, and his most loved friend and enemy, Leonie, sharing the spoils.

Ducoboo’s Issue #1 and #2 were released in India in 2008, while the Issue #3, founds it way with 2010 batch. To read our review on Ducoboo, refer to the post Cinebook’s Children's Category

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Insiders
Genre: Action/Adventure

09.

#2: Missiles for Islamabad

48 pp

B5 size

INR 195

The newest and most deadliest female agent, Najah Cruz, continues her mission of infiltrating the international crime ring, famously known as High Circle. She is a high-profile insider, who directly reports to the US White House, thus her adventures become all the more risky, entangle in a political time-wrap, mixed with conspiracy and betrayal. Her latest adventure brings her close to India, to probe a French missile sales to Pakistan.

Insiders was launched in India with Issue #1 in 2009. It was long touted to be featured, re-titled as Code Name Minnal, in Southern India, by Tamil Comics publishers, Lion Comics. It was also touted be part of the future releases by, now defunct, Sri Lankan Tamil Comics company, Iceberg Comics.  But both projects never saw the daylight, marking the Cinebook’s English versions as Insider’s official entry, for Indian comic fans. Refer Cinebook 2009 Backlist Titles.

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IR$
Genre: Action/Adventure

10.	#4: Silicia, Inc	48 pp	B5 size	INR 195
11.	#5: The Corrupter	48 pp	B5 size	INR 195

At the end of the year, and what do you normally hear more about? the Taxman. Cinebook’s line-up has a Taxman of its own, but he isn’t your regular law-enforcer, he is the one who has License to Kill and Thrill, just like 007.

We are talking about the Incredible Larry Max, from the United State’s Secret Service IR$. We had briefed about IR$, in our debut review about the series at Comicology. And I for one had opined that the stories were little off-color, in their rendition, and probably the colouring of the artwork, itself.

But, it needs to be admitted that it has an unique attraction over its fans, credits to its plot-work which decodes the illegal accounts of crime and political syndicates, which has no dearth in the world we live. No wonder Cinebook continues to keep the mercurial agent on their line-up.

In the latest adventure, Larry find his match, in the beautiful and dangerous Silicia. Does the usual Larry’s womanly attractions, make him fall over the huntress, or does he stay true to his national call? The answers are action packed in this two issue release, both of which have been released together (thanks to the batch releases, at least in this count), saving us from pondering over the conclusion.

IR$ was launched originally as part of 2008 batch, with the 2nd issue following along with 2009 batch. Both the issues were double/2-in-1 issues, thus covering 4 of the original albums. As per 2010 Cinebook policy, they have now been released, just like the originals, in single straight volumes. Read more about IR$ in our Review post Cinebook - IR$ #1.

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Iznogoud
Genre: Humour

12.	#1: Wicked Wiles of Iznogoud	48 pp	A4 size	INR 195
13.	#2: Caliph's Vacation	48 pp	A4 size	INR 195
14.	#3: Day of Misrule	48 pp	A4 size	INR 195
15.	#4: Magic Computer	48 pp	A4 size	INR 195
16.	#5: A Carrot for Iznogoud	48 pp	A4 size	INR 195

And now to the biggest surprise of the lot, the Incorrigible Iznogoud, makes it Cinebook debut in India too, finally. It was long anticipated ever since Cinebook added the most famous Grand Vizier of Comic books in their line-up back in 2008.

But, the rights which were held by Euro Books in India, over the brand, by their launch of Iznogoud Titles in 2009, made Cinebook’s entry all the more difficult. I had been pressing over the point with the Cinebook management about the no-compete clauses, as the selection of Cinebook (which depends on Original classics), never compete with Euro Books (who deal with most recent and latest ones from a series). Finally, the decision makers at Westland (Cinebook’s Indian distributors), concluded the right way, and have ordered all the 5 editions of Iznogoud released so far (Iznogoud #6, was released after this consignment).

Now we have the long awaited classics from the pens of René Goscinny and Jean Tabary, in all its glory. If you would have skipped Iznogoud with Euro Books last attempt (which we did recommend, during our last review post), then this lot is the perfect one for you to make a head-start into the legendary series. Don’t miss them, folks.

Iznogoud was originally launched in India, in Hindi Language by Gowarsons, and was later introduced in Tamil language by Lion Comics. Read more about them and the series as a whole, in our Iznogoud’s debut post on Comicology - Lion Comics #160 – Iznogoud.

Euro Books then launched a total of 12 Albums in India, in 2009. Read about them over at Euro Books and Iznogoud.  The series is now been followed up by the 5 classics from Cinebook.

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Thus ends our preview post on Cinebook’s latest offerings, and we will be back shortly with our second and concluding part of it soon at Comicology.  And just for info, these titles are all available in never before offers at Online sites like Indiaplaza, where discounts ranges up to 30% and beyond. Now is a chance to grab them if you haven’t done so, already.

By the way, before we close, here is wishing Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays for all the Comikers. May this festive season bring out the best of the world to your households. Here is a different take by an artist on a new visitor to Santa. Groovy isn’t it??

For a random list of Santa and Xmas themed Comics Cover’s refer to these wonderful posts on Once Upon a Geek.

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Euro Books – Iznogoud | 12 Albums | 2009

After the Black & White Classic of Will Eisner’s Dreamer, we are back to the colourful world of comics, with the The Infamous Iznogoud, to do the honours.

It’s the second blockbuster release of the year from Euro Books, who only a couple of months back brought the much famous Lucky Luke back to India, by launching him in an exclusive 24 set release.

This time around they have taken-up the mantle to bring the ever-cunning Iznogoud, in his own 12 title set.

Iznogoud, the Grand Vizier to the Caliph or Sultan of Baghdad, Haroun El Pashid, always aspires to become the Sultan himself, which is attributed to his trademark catchphrase ‘I want to be Caliph, instead of the Caliph’.

René Goscinny & Jean Tabary, the co-creators of Iznogoud, were at their humorous best, where they continuously chalked out witty stories, often placing Iznogoud in precarious situations; where he attempts to dethrone the Sultan, and finds his plans backfiring on himself.

The creators, would only give a consolation for the poor soul, by giving him the company of Wa’at Alahf, his trusted henchman. Wa’at sticks to his master in all of Iznogoud’s misadventures, even though he ends up facing the wrath of his master’s blunders.

The charismatic duo of Goscinny & Tabary, continued to enthral the comics fans across the world, until the former’s death in 1977. Tabary then decided to continue the series with a new direction, where he chose to feature full-fledged stories running an entire album, unlike the short witty stories for which the famous antagonist, Iznogoud, was known for.

We will cut short the intro to the series and the creators here, as we have looked into as much details as required, during our review of Iznogoud’s debut title on Lion Comics. If you missed the post, now is a good time to check back on the same.

Euro Book’s love towards latest albums means that all the 12 titles which they have hand-picked are post Goscinny era, and that’s where the difference lies.

Goscinny, was involved only in two of the albums out of the 12; one in the Returns of Iznogoud, and two where his name is given credit for one of the Nightmare tales, along with Buhler. Otherwise, all the other titles were solely worked by Tabary, donning the dual role of Writer and Artist.

With all due respects to Tabary, we can clearly see that the titles which were worked by him solely, misses out badly on the Goscinny charm. Some of the stories, are too lengthy and often misses out on the central plot work, with the story revolving around various scenes, and situations. Obviously, the short witty stories attraction was totally absent in these new adventures.

 

For a best example, within the current lot, take the Returns of Iznogoud title, where the script is  credited to Goscinny. It has a different plot unlike any other Iznogoud titles. It follows the same short story style of Goscinny, but this time limited to only to two pages each.

Those who followed Iznogoud series for long, would have witnessed one common ending scene with all of them – Iznogoud finding himself in a sorry state, or figure.

But, in every new adventure he will be back to his full-form, devising new plans to outwit the Sultan. Majority of the readers (including me) might have ignored from questioning this logic, with the assumption that it is the most common aspect followed in much of the humour series; where connecting one to another, doesn’t make much sense.

But, Goscinny & Tabary decided to reasons these supposed Returns of Iznogoud, for themselves and for their loyal readers, by bringing in their witty and humorous touch to them.

Each one of these stories were Iznogoud comes back to life, from where he was left in the original story, is a full blown laughter package. Goscinny has left no stone unscathed in bringing this title, a classic cult status. For a sample refer to the first story of the this monumental release, above.

A clear example, what an interesting plot and a creative thinker could add the difference in a classic series. We will talk more about this monumental title, when we select it for our first review from this series.

 

In comparison, the other titles are much below the norms set to the glorious time of Goscinny & Tabary.  One of which is undoubtedly the Nightmare series, which has spanned a total of 4 albums, out of which 3 of have been picked up in the current lot, by Euro Books.

The Nightmare stories mainly follows a one page theme, of ‘If I was’ type, with Iznogoud playing different roles with his trademark punch. To say frankly, none of the stories were impressive enough to even draw out the laughter, and Tabary’s zoomed artwork to adapt to the one page style, didn’t work that well either.

Majority of these stories were written by French writer, Alain Buhler, with one title even crediting Goscinny as the writer, which I believe would have been minimal, mostly related to the original concept.

Just in case, if you felt that the Translation could have been the culprit, then I can vouch that it’s not so. As you might have known by now, that all the titles selected by Euro Books, were never translated into English before.

Even though, Euro Books have never revealed their translating sources, or even given them due credits on their published titles, this time around the translators have done a considerable effort in maintaining the puns and word-magic from their original French source, to the maximum.

Not everyone can become Anthea Bell or Derek Hockridge (the famous translators of Asterix comics, who also worked their magic on the original English translations of Iznogoud series), but Euro Book’s translators for Iznogoud was certainly up to the readers standard.

One more notable change in these titles, is the predominant presence of Tabary in between the stories. Even though, it could be said that Goscinny and Tabary, have often placed themselves in the crowd or between panels, in the Iznogoud series in past, never before was Tabary involved in such a lengthier presence.

Obviously, being the sole owner of the creativity, Tabary would have been lenient on his presence more often. Which to an extent, does add up to the humour part, as witnessed in the panels next.

I wonder does Tabary’s wife still looks so young, or is it one of Tabary’s imaginary character :) 

Euro Books Iznogoud Series’ Originals: Here is the list of titles published by Euro Books in their 12 issue set, with their corresponding original reference.

In their selection from the original series, they have gone in a sequence, only missing out the latest one, Issue #28, which was worked for the first-time by Tabary’s kids. Given the relativity of the release (#28 was released in 2008), it is understood.

Also as noted above, all these titles are being translated from French into English for the first-time. Thanks to Euro Books.

With CineBook, currently publishing the Goscinny-Tabary genre of Iznogoud series, at 2 titles a year rate, the day won’t be far when we would have all 28 titles of Iznogoud series, in English.

#	Euro Books Title	Original Album (French)	Creator(s)	Published Year
1.	Iznogoud and the Women	#16: Iznogoud et les Femmes	Tabary	SE, 1983
2.	Some More Nightmares of Iznogoud	#17: Les Cauchemars d'Iznogoud (Tome 4)	Tabary & Buhler	SE, 1984
3.	The Accomplice of Iznogoud	#18: Le Complice d'Iznogoud	Tabary	SE, 1985
4.	The Nightmarish Birthday of Iznogoud	#19: L'Anniversaire d'Iznogoud	Tabary	SE, 1987
5.	Caliph at Last	#20: Enfin Calife!	Tabary	ET, 1989
6.	The Trap of the Siren	#21: Le Piège de la Sirène	Tabary	ET, 1992
7.	The Nightmares of Iznogoud	#22: Les Cauchemars d'Iznogoud (Tome 2)	Tabary & Buhler	ET, 1993
8.	More Nightmares of Iznogoud	#23: Les Cauchemars d'Iznogoud (Tome 3)	Tabary, Goscinny & Buhler*	ET, 1994
9.	The Returns of Iznogoud	#24: Les Retours d'Iznogoud	Tabary, Goscinny#	ET, 1994
10.	Who Killed the Caliph?	#25: Qui a tué le Calife?	Tabary	ET, 1998
11.	A Likeable Monster	#26: Un Monstre Sympathique	Tabary	ET, 2000
12.	The Ancestor's Mistake	#27: La Faute de l'Ancêtre	Tabary	ET, 2004

Publishers Code: SE: Séguinière, ET: Éditions Tabary
* #23 was scripted by Buhler, but Tabary credits some of the stories to late Goscinny
# #24 was scripted by Goscinny, which was brought to a book form by Tabary, later

Here is the back-cover one of the issue, which provides a checklist for the 12 titles available in this series of Euro Book.

As far as the pricing goes, Euro Books have tagged the single editions at INR 199, and they are also available in the 3-in-1 bound edition for INR 450. There are advantages and disadvantages in both formats - While single editions, gives you a chance of owning the titles in their full form, with their wonderfully drawn cover-arts; The bound volume editions, gives you proper binding for safe book-keeping.

I wonder, why Euro Books have continuously ignored, the individual titles binding issue. They are just glue-sticked, then the much required corner stitch, which is prone to get damaged as you read. Hopefully, they would try to avoid this blemish, in otherwise wonderful package comprising glossy paper quality and layout design.

That brings us to the close of Euro Books Iznogoud Preview post. So use this as a checklist for your comics shopping next time around, or enjoy the cover-scans of these wonderful titles.

But remember, despite my review comments, and the post Goscinny-Tabary era tag on this series, these classic titles are worth to be in your collection, as there are only 28 titles ever released in them, and this is a chance to own almost half of it, in one shot.

And before we close, here are the covers of those 4 bound editions (Courtesy: N.Suresh, from his recent acquisition). Happy Reading. Adios Amigos !

Book Facts: Publisher: Euro Books | A4 Size | Single Title: INR 199 | 3 in 1 Title: INR 450 | 12 Individual Titles | August 2009

Places to Buy: Available at all leading book stores, like Landmark, Odyssey, Crosswords, etc. including individual stores like Blossoms.
flipkart.com offers around 9% discount. All the Iznogoud titles are available at present.
indiaplaza.in offers around 25% discount generally, but you need to wait, as the Iznogoud set is yet to arrive on their listings.

Note: I suggest you to keep an eye over the discounts factor, while getting these bulk editions. I was sincerely, hoping to pick up these titles on Indiaplaza for a handsome discount, but was disappointed to see their slow moving Sales team, yet not listing these titles on their online site. Frustrated, I had to bug my other city friends, to procure a set for me with a local store discount. One of the pains to be in a city, where chain book stores, don’t offer any sort of discount for prospective buyers. I only wish, that the Online bookstores be more active to put these bigger bookstores in a corner.

References: 1. Skot’s Iznogoud World, 2. Wikipedia’s Iznogoud Page, 3. Lambiek’s Tabary Profile, 4. Edition’s Tabary

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