Lion comics

Lion and Muthu Comics at a Book Store

Lion comics (லயன் காமிக்ஸ்) is a Tamil Comic Book series published by Prakash Publishers, in South India. Both Lion Comics and its sister publication 'Muthu Comics' (முத்து காமிக்ஸ்), are published monthly in Tamil language. In fact, Muthu Comics is the forerunner to Lion Comics, even though the later has taken over as the leading brand of the comic publication. The Editor/publisher of the concern, Mr. S Vijayan, is based in Sivakasi, where the comics publishing house also is based out.

Almost all of the stories published are Tamil translations of primarily European or American comic series, including those from the British Comics Publisher of the same name - Lion. Tex Willer, along with Lucky Luke and Mike Blueberry are the most popular cowboy heros; Steel Claw and The Spider were the more popular superheroes during the comic house's best of times.

Related publications

Muthu Comics (முத்து காமிக்ஸ்), Thigil Comics (திகில் காமிக்ஸ்), Mini-Lion (மினி லயன்) andJunior-Lion (ஜூனியர் லயன்) are some of the other publications from the same concern. Comics Classics is the a latest addition with re-printed run of more famous titles published in the past, during the so-called Golden Age of Tamil comics.

History

The first issue of Muthu comics was published in 1971 as a monthly (128 pages, INR 0.90). It featured The Steel Claw (இரும்புக்கை மாயாவி in Tamil). Although there had been a few comics publishers in Tamil from the early 60s, the entry of Muthu Comics marks the beginning of the Golden Age of Tamil Comics. Muthu comics enjoyed a warm welcome from the Tamil audience and with M.Soundrapandian, continued to grow steadily over the years.

The first among the Comic House's expansion ventures - a weekly (முத்து காமிக்ஸ் வாரமலர) - was started in the early eighties, which was subsequently withdrawn after a few years. In 1984, after a brief lull, when there was no comics publications in the market, came Lion Comics (லயன் காமிக்ஸ). Lion Comics was a creation of Mr.Soundrapandian's son Vijayan. Vijayan became the Chief-editor of Lion comics when he was seventeen.

Expansion continued with the launch of the Junior-Lion (ஜூனியர் லயன்), Mini-Lion (மினி லயன்) and Thigil comics (திகில் காமிக்ஸ்), all of which were published in parallel, on a monthly basis. Festivals like Diwali, Pongal and summer holidays promised special Digest Issues, which were bigger and costlier than the regular comic. These were the Golden years in Tamil Comics history.

1984 is also the year in which the Other major player in Tamil Comics - Rani Comics - was started by the ThinaThanthi (தினத்தந்தி in Tamil) group of Publishers. Rani comics would grow over to become the dominant market player for the next ten years or so.

Mid-eighties - The launch of private Television Channels and Satellite / Cable TV Public-access television, marked the beginning of the spiraling decline in the readership in the State, and Comics readership was no different. Children and youth were increasingly drawn in to the new world introduced through Television media.

During the worst periods of hardship, readers were plagued with problems such as shortage of quality story/art work, non-availability in local stores and frequent delays in releasing scheduled titles. Those dark times have remained to stay, as far as Lion and Muthu Comics are concerned to date.

One by one, most of the local comic publishers perished, in this changed market place. Rani Comics bowed out with its 500th issue; Mini, Junior and Thigil comics were also eventually stopped, and later their comic characters or series were brought under the two "last men standing" brands, Lion and Muthu comics.

Lion and Muthu post 2000

As of 2008, the Official Lioncomics.com website is no longer owned by Prakash Publishers. The site was up for renewal, and the publishers didn't show interest in keeping their presence on the Web, even though they continue to release Lion Comics and Muthu, often at prolonged gaps in between each issues.

Of late, there has been a brief revival in the comics interests with the publication of 'Comics Classics' - reprinted popular stories of yesteryear. Lion Comics continues to penetrate beyond its niche audience, but always is pulled down, by its irregular publishing schedule.

The current issue of Lion Comics, is their biggest venture yet. A Jumbo Edition carrying one of their lead characters, XIII. It was originally scheduled for 2009, then was pushed to various dates in 2010, and has finally been released in October 2010. The issue is priced at INR 200, marking the costliest edition ever released by the comic publishing house. They have already attained quite an amount of success with their three specials, which were each priced INR 100, in past years. This issue is undoubtedly one of the fattest comic book releases ever in India, and probably the world over (in terms of a complete series in one volume).

Featured heroes

Some of the more popular comic heroes introduced to Tamil audience were

• Lucky Luke
• Chick Bill
• Iznogoud
• Tex Willer
• Steel Claw
• The Spider
• Robot Archie
• Modesty Blaise

Character	Tamil Name	Country
Barracuda & Frollo	Lawrence - David (சி.ஐ.டி லாரன்ஸ் - டேவிட்)	?
Bernard Prince	Prince	Belgian
Blueberry_(comics)	Tiger (கேப்டன டைகர்)	French
Bruno Brazil	Bruno Brazil (ப்ரூனோ ப்ரேஸில்)	French
Buz Sawyer	Charlie	American
Chick Bill	Chick Bill (சிக் பில்)	Belgian
Diabolik	Diabolik	Italian
Dr. Kildare	Dr. Kildare	?
Flash Gordon	Flash Gordon (பிளாஷ் கார்டன்)	American
Iznogoud	mathi illa mandhri (மதியில்லா மந்திரி)	Franco-Belgian
Johnny Hazard	Wing Commander Johnny	?
Johnny Nero	Johnny Nero	British
Lucky Luke	Lucky Luke (லக்கி lukக்)	Franco-Belgian
Mandrake the Magician	Mandhiravaathi Mandrake (மாண்ட்ரேக்)	American
Martin Mystère	Marma Manithan Martin (மர்ம மனிதன் மார்ட்டின)	Italian
Modesty Blaise	Modesty Blaise (மாடஸ்டி பிளைஸி)	British
Ric Hochet	Reporter Johnny	French
Rip Kirby	Rip Kirby (	American
Robot Archie	Robot Archie (இரும்பு மனிதன் ஆர்ச்சி)	British
Secret Agent X-9 (Phil Corrigan)	Phil Corrigan	American
Tex Willer	Tex Willer (டெக்ஸ்வில்லர்)	Italian
The Cisco Kid	The Cisco Kid (சிஸ்கோ கிட்)	American
The Phantom	Maayavi (மாயாவி)	American
The Spider	Spider (ஸ்பைடர்)	British
The Steel Claw	Irumbukai Maayavi (இரும்புக்கை மாயாவி)	British
XIII (Thirteen)	XIII	Franco-Belgian

There were also occasional appearances of Batman & Joker, James Bond (ஜேம்ஸ் பாண்ட் 007), Judge Dredd, Sexton Blake (செக்ஸ்டன் ப்ளேக்).

Issues published

Lion Comics 001 Kathi Munayil Modesty . . 207 Kolai Seiya Virumbu

Muthu Comics 001 Irumbu Kai Maayavi . . 310 Nizhal Edhu Nijam Edhu

The role of the editor

It must be stressed here that unlike the rest-of-the-world, in India, there is still the dominant view that comics 'are just for kids'. Successfully running a comics publishing house in such social milieu speaks greatly of the determination and the sense-of-purpose of the publishers. Mr.S Vijayan, the editor has a good chemistry with the readers, through his 'Hotline' and 'Comics Time' forewords that appears in every issue of Lion comics.

Old issues of Lion and Muthu comics were stacked up in their warehouse at Sivakasi, which used to be a cynosure of eyes for those who visit the place. Reports of theft of comics, and illegal scans of those, have prompted the administrators to disallow access to this Treasure Chest, for all Tamil Comics lovers. Mr. Soundarapandan says that upgrading the ware house into a library is economically not feasible, due to the dwindling population that reads comics.

Recently, Mr.Vijayan was interviewed for South India based Kalaignar TV, where he went over his comics passion and the business in general. In the Interview, he also stressed on bringing the Lion Comics official back online by the end of 2009, to keep the readers abreast of the latest happenings.

External links

• Tamil Comics Ulagam: Latest Happenings & Reviews of all Tamil Comics [1])
• Tex Willar around the World [2] (in Tamil)
• Muthufan Blog [3]
• Tripod page on all lion/muthu characters [4]
• Comicology: Indian Comics Review Site (including Lion & Muthu) [5]
• Fan Reviews வானம்பாடி [6]
• Fan Reviews சும்மா டைம் பாஸ் மச்சி... [7]
• The Cowboy Comics [8]
• Facebook Fan Page [9]