Recently, I picked up a 3-in-1 compilation of Biggles at an airport bookstore. Titled 'Sky Wars', I felt the same delight as I had when I saw Commando comics on bookshelves. And yes, it was a Euro Books publication again. In a rush, I bought the book. But as I began reading the first story, 'The 13th Tooth of the Devil', something was amiss. Biggles looked the same. There were plenty of cigarettes and drinks. Lots of planes too… but something was not quite right. I looked at the credits page again and spotted the words 'based on characters created by W.E Johns'.
I was disappointed, but decided that it was unfair to "judge a book by the cover" (so to speak). And I'm glad I did. Picking up Biggles where W.E Johns left him, i.e. after WWI as an investigator for the Scotland Yard's Royal Air Police, Michel Oleffe (the new writer) uses the same settings for a host of new stories and does for Biggles what Marvel Comics writers failed to do with 'The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones'.
Oleffe retains every important aspect of Biggles that endeared him to readers. The classic airplanes, the old-time pilot's uniforms, the romance of the RAF in its heyday, the self-assured way in which the men carry themselves, and of course, his buddies, Algy, Bertie and Ginger. And yes, they're all still single and quite eligible.
The plots are good too. The stories themselves have an order, with references made to past adventures. Oleffe does a good job of following WWII and basing stories in that chronology. There's just one hiccup though, and this was one that W.E Johns had slipped up as well… the ageing of the characters. Biggles seems to have stopped aging since Johns last put a pencil to him. But that can be forgiven. What matters is that Biggles lives on!
Biggles: new writer; old style.
The New Commando Comics
Just a few weeks after I wrote about the 'True Brit' collection, I walked into a bookstore and staring me in the face was a stack of Commando comics. But the format was wrong, I noted. These seemed larger. Picking up one, I saw that these were indeed a far cry from the Commando comics of yore. A closer look revealed that these were printed on higher quality paper as well. In keeping with the earlier Commando series, these had colour covers, with black & white illustrations inside. Priced at Rs.60, this is the latest offering from Euro Books to hit the market has 24 titles on offer. Instead of picking up a single, you might want to pick up the '3 in 1' compilations, which are available at Rs.150 each. I couldn't help myself as I picked up five compilations! Having read 'True Brit' some time back, I've become truly hooked again.
There is, however, one major goof-up that I spotted: one of the stories was not complete. In the 'Journey to Freedom' compilation, the last story 'Battle Shield' is incomplete… or at least I think it is. Unlike every other Commando story that I've read, this one seems to end in failure. Perhaps it’s a satire, which I very much doubt. If its supposed to be a story in two parts, then it'd have made sense to put them both in one compilation. Or, from a marketing/sales perspective, another compilation with the second part would have made readers buy that one as well. But that's not the case. There's no second part.
The other thing that bothered me was the quality of the stories themselves. I don't know about other readers, but I felt they weren't as good as the older ones. While the majority of the stories dealt with WWII, there were a couple that were stories of brave tribes (like the afore mentioned Battle Shield). Perhaps Euro Books could select better stories next time. After all, the name 'Commando' hardly brings feathers and war paint to mind. But, all in all, I must say that I'm pleased to see Commando books back in the market.
Quick & Flupke in India (finally!)
Heard of these two? Not surprised if you haven't. Way back in 1930, it was published regularly in Le Petit Vingtieme as a black & white cartoon by the eminent Herge. After his Tintin stories took off, he was forced to devote more time to it and hence had to stop the Quick & Flupke series. In 1985, after Herge's death, Studios Herge got them coloured and published in 12 volumes. It was only a full five years later that these comics were translated for the english-speaking audience. And 18 years after that, the series was released in India. That's right… they came out here in 2008.
The series follows the misadventures of two street urchins in Brussels - Quick and Flupke, who're incapable of staying out of trouble. The only other main character is the neighbourhood cop, and their parents turn up once in a while. There's no real order to the series, so you can just go to the store and pick one up at random. Released by Euro Books (who also re-launched the Phantom), each digest is priced at Rs. 199 and good fun to leaf through. Remember, don't expect it to be a Tintin, or even a Jo & Zette - it’s a collection of comics that were originally syndicated for a newspaper; 18 panels to a story at the most.
For all Herge fans, it’s a definite collectors item. And for children-toting parents, it’s an quick and easy read for kids - stuff they can't ask you to read out to them (which is a great reason to get them).
A bit of interesting trivia - here's a list of the appearances that Quick & Flupke have made over the years in Tintin:
- Tintin in Congo - They are among the crowd seeing Tintin off in the first panel
- The Shooting Star - They can be seen running towards the docks as the expedition sets off.
- On the back cover of some Tintin editions - about to fire a slingshot at Captain Haddock
The Ghost Who Walks is back!
Remember the masked man from the Deep Woods who lived in a tree-house, had offices in the Skull Cave, and sought out evil-doers? Well, Euro Books has re-launched Lee Falk's 'Phantom' in India.
Over the past 3 decades, the Phantom has been re-introduced by publishers several times. In terms of format, first, it was the Rs. 2 comic book (remember those good old days when comics would only cost that?); then, it came as a A5-size digest of stories, and then, it disappeared from the scene for a long time. You could only find a dusty copy or two in some corner of the book store, and of course the vendors at train stations always had a few.
With the recent import of superheroes, like X-Men, Spiderman etc. from the likes of Gotham and DC Comics, its hardly surprising that kids today have little respect for mere humans. I'm hoping this latest avatar of Phantom comics changes that a bit. Each of these hard-cover magazine-sized digests has 2 full-length stories. Priced at Rs. 199, the digests come with special sections like 'Legends', which give the reader a peep into some of the Phantom's secrets (the one I bought presented Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, as one of the Skull Cave's treasures) and articles on various objects associated with the Phantom. The stories, too, seem to be stuff that's not been released earlier in the market. I, for one, had never read 'The Ghost who Died Twice' or 'The Assassination of President Lincoln' earlier. As of now, there are a total of 15 such digests available in the market.
While there seems to have been an effort to modernize the product, I'm sorry to say that there's still a long way to go if it has to keep up with the quality that today's readers have come to expect. The paper and printing quality can easily be better, as can the quality of lamination on the cover. I'm guessing this is a test phase, and if the market laps it up, hopefully there'll be several more titles in the offing.
