Tinkle

Tinkle
Editor Rajani Thindiath
Categories Comic
Frequency Fortnightly
First issue 1980
Company Tinkle
Country India
Language English, Hindi, Malayalam, Assamese
Website Official website

Tinkle is an Indian fortnightly magazine, published mainly in India.[1] Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK Media in 2007.[2] The magazine contains comics, stories, puzzles, quizzes, contests and other features targeted at school children, although its readership includes many adults as well. It is published in English and syndicated in many Indian languages like Malayalam, Assamese, etc.

In 2016, Tinkle announced its first fortnightly issue[3] - the July 2016 issue. The second issue arrived mid-July 2016, a first for the magazine for many years.

The first issue of Tinkle was released in November 1980. The magazine carries comics, stories and regular columns of interest to school children. Tinkle enjoys great popularity, and has been an integral part of growing up in India in the last two decades. Characters like Suppandi and Shikari Shambu that appeared first in the pages of the magazine have nationwide recognition. Readers send more than 200 letters with stories and other features to be considered for printing in the magazine. The wholesome combination of educational and entertainment that defines Tinkle has many celebrity fans in India, including the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. There is an official website for Tinkle, which contains puzzles and games.

Background

Anant Pai, the founding editor of the magazine, is known to his readers as Uncle Pai. The idea behind starting a comic book series devoted to Indian culture and history came to Pai from a quiz contest aired on Doordarshan in February 1967, in which participants could easily answer questions pertaining to Greek mythology, but were unable to reply to the question "In the Ramayana, who was Rama's mother?"

Pai left his job at Times of India, and started ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) the same year, with the help of late G.L. Mirchandani of IBH, (who also took charge as the command of Tinkle late when it was formed), when most other publishers had rejected the concept. Later, he took on the role of writer, editor and publisher. The series went on to become a publishing milestone for the Indian comic book scene, selling over 90 million copies of about 440 titles (as per last count till the end of 2008).[4] He has also launched the popular series.

In June 2018, Tinkle Comics reprinted the Original Series in three volumes, with Tinkle stories and features from issue #1 to #18, originally published between December 1980 and April 1982.

Apart from one-off stories, Tinkle also has regular characters that appear in stand-alone fashion. Some of these characters are:

Currently on Tinkle

  • Butterfingers[5]: A clumsy boy named Amar who is chidingly called "Butterfingers" by his parents, friends and teachers. He is chided for his sloppiness and laziness, but is a happy-go-lucky character who also has a presence of mind and manages to save the day despite messing up trivial stuff. (Creator: Khyrunissa A[6].; Artists: Abhijeet Kini)
  • Kalia the Crow: A friendly crow living in a forest known as 'Big Baan', Kalia is the saviour of each and every small animal in the forest. With his sharp beak, sharp brains, and his friends Babloo the bear and Danti the Elephant, his enemies Chamataka the wily jackal and Doob-Doob the stupid crocodile are always outwitted of their plans to catch the rabbits Keechu and Meechu, the deer Shonar, and other small animals. (Creator: Luis Fernandes; Artists: Archana Amberkar [current], C.D. Rane, Prasad Iyer, Pradeep Sathe)
  • Pyarelal: A kind villager who lives in Hastipur with his wife Lajiwanti. He's ready to help or find solutions to any problem. (Creator: Indira Ananthakrishnan; Artists: Archana Amberkar [current], Ram Waeerkar)
  • Defective Detectives: Consists of two friends, Rahul and Ravi, who are notorious for being wannabe detectives but unable to get even the simplest cases right, with the former's sister Samhita always proving to be better than the duo. (Artist: Abhijeet Kini)
  • Mopes and Purr: A detective cat-and-dog duo who are always on the run, solving cases. (Creator: Reena I Puri; Artist: Savio Mascarenhas)
  • SuperWeirdos: A girl named Aisha who is always trying to find her super powers and has. While she searches for her powers, she stumbles on other kids of her age who have amazing but weird powers. (Artist: Abhijeet Kini)
  • Mapui Kawlim a.k.a. Wingstar: A 13-year-old superhero girl from Aizawl, Mizoram. Her father, an inventor, made her rocket thrusters, iron fists, and reinforced robotic arms, with which she acquires super flight and super strength.[7][8] (Creator: Sean D′mello; Co-creator Artist: Vineet Nair)
  • Wai Knot: A kid from Bengaluru whose motto in life is, "don't ask why, ask why not?". Brash, unapologetic and most of all incredibly strong-minded, Wai Knot, the new toon, stands out from Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, and other Tinkle toons. True to his name, Wai Knot always challenges those around him. He is inquisitive, be it his dad or his best friend Kia and often gets into trouble with his 'experiments'.[9]
  • Buchki and the Booligans: An 8 year old girl named Buchki, along with her brother named Cyrus, encounters ghosts while staying with their grandmother, Didu, while their parents are in Japan. They befriend their great great grandfather's ghost.

Evergreen Stars

  • Suppandi: Probably one of the most famous characters of the comics. Amuses everyone with his stupidity. (Artists: Archana Amberkar [current], Sanjiv Waeerkar, Ram Waeerkar)
  • Shikari Shambu: The faint hearted well renowned hunter, ends up being lauded for everything he did not achieve. Wild animals keep running into self made traps as he sleeps before them. (Creator: Subba Rao; Artists: Savio Mascarenhas [current], Vasant Halbe)
  • Tantri the Mantri: An evil sinister mantri (minister) who to dethrone the king, Raja Hooja by his clever plans. The naive king who loves Laddus trusts his minister more than anyone or anything in the world. The plot revolves around failed attempts of the minister as all his plans invariably backfire. This plot seems to be based on the popular Iznogoud. (Artists: Prachi Killekar, Savio Mascarenhas, Anand Mande, Ramanand Bhagat, Ajit Vasaikar, Ashok Dongre, Vineet Nair [current])
  • Nasiruddin Hodja: Hodja is a witty man who is disliked by many of his enemies. His rivals always try to put him in a spot, but Hodja turns the tables on them because of his true wit and cheeky ways, with the stories bearing a relationship to Birbal. (Illustrations: Ram Waeerkar).[10]
  • Ramu and Shamu (discontinued): They are very similar to ‘Dennis the Menace’ in nature. These identical twins are about eight years of age and live in a middle-class home with their parents. They always embarrass or confuse their parents with their juvenile and innocent questions or acts. Their episodes are small but very cute and charming.[11]
  • Ina, Mina, Mynah, Mo: Four sisters who enjoy adventures. They have a father, Jagganath, (nicknamed Jaggy) who is a miser, and a mother, Bina.
  • Anwar: A small boy of five who uses his wit and intelligence to get the better of every situation. (Illustrations: Savio Mascrenhas, formerly VB Halbe)

Adaptions

Rather than being just comic book characters, some of the characters from Tinkle have been made into cartoons, movies and books.

  • The Suppandi series: a series of 5 books that have a selection of all the Suppandi tales found in Tinkle.
  • Suppandi, Suppandi!: a cartoon series featuring the popular Tinkle toon, Suppandi, features his acts of folly. This show aired urrently airs on Cartoon Network and Pogo, often having return in the same channels.
  • Suppandi on YouTube: A series started in 2015, animated videos featuring Suppandi, Shikari Shambu and the Defective Detectives were released through 2016. Some of them included Coco as part of an advertising campaign with Kellogg's.
  • Shambu and the Man Eater: In November 2011, a short animated film featuring the popular Tinkle toon, Shikari Shambu, was released just before the premiere of the animated film of the popular Amar Chitra Katha series, The Sons of Ram. This movie features Shambu's adventures with a man-eating tiger.
  • The Butterfingers Series:[12] A series of three books (as of December 21, 2015) features the clumsy acts of the popular Tinkle character, Amar Kishen aka Butterfingers, written by Khyrunnisa A. The series of three books (Howzaat Butterfingers!, Clean Bowled, Butterfingers!, Goal, Butterfingers!) revolves around Butterfingers and his friends, Eric, Kiran, and Minu, and their funny, comical high school life.

References

  1. ↑ "Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle to entertain kids on Net". [CNN-IBN). 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  2. ↑ "ACK Media buys Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle brands". The Hindu Business Line. 2007-11-22. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  3. ↑ "Tinkle Magazine Goes Fortnightly, Introduces New Character 'Wai Knot'". Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  4. ↑ "Tinkle – Kalia | Suppandi | Shikari Shambu | 2007 - Comicology". www.comicology.in. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  5. ↑ "Khyrunnisa | Biography". Khyrunnisa. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  6. ↑ "Butterfingers again!". The Hindu. 2015-04-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  7. ↑ Pandey, Vikas (5 November 2015). "Wingstar: The Indian superheroine fighting discrimination". BBC. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Express Web Desk (3 November 2015). "Tinkle comics' new superhero is a reluctant 13-year-old North-Eastern girl". The Indian Express. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "City boy Wai Knot is new kid on Tinkle block". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  10. ↑ Bhimani, Bhavesh (2015-06-01). "Here Are The 7 Tinkle Comic Characters Who Are Simply Unforgettable - Omni Pundit". Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  11. ↑ Bhimani, Bhavesh (2015-06-01). "Here Are The 7 Tinkle Comic Characters Who Are Simply Unforgettable - Omni Pundit". Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  12. ↑ "Khyrunnisa.A | Penguin Books India". www.penguinbooksindia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
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