Tinkle is a very popular
Indian comics magazine that
was initially published and distributed by India Book House on a
monthly basis. The publishing brand was obtained by ACK Media in the
year 2007. The comics magazine contains various illustrated stories of
various genres, quizzes, puzzles and contests. There are many other
features included in Tinkle that are aimed at entertaining the children,
as well as adults that also comprise its readership. The first issue
of Tinkle was published in the year 1980. It is published mainly in
English and syndicated in regional Indian languages such as
Malayalam. Anant Pai is the founding editor of Tinkle magazine and has also released the renowned
Amar Chitra Katha series. He is also popularly known as Uncle Pai.
The initial issue of Tinkle was published in April 1980 and since
then around 500 issues have been released. Tinkle constitutes of short
comics and illustrated stories along with columns of interest for young
and school children. The comics magazine has become very popular in
the country since the last two decades. Regular characters like Shikari
Shambu and Suppandi that are featured in the magazine are rather
popular amongst Indian Comics readers. Tinkle provides a hearty
combination of education and entertainment. Tinkle has also launched
their official website that contains many stories, illustrations, games
and puzzles.
Publications of Tinkle
Tinkle publishes various stories in series format in their comics magazine.
Suppandi
Suppandi is the most popular character in the entire magazine. He is a
village simpleton and a servant with good intentions. But he often
misunderstands the orders of his masters and creates chaos with
humourous consequences.
Kalia the Crow
Kalia the Crow is another popular series in the magazine. Kalia is a
clever crow who saves his friends from a crocodile named Doob-doob and a
jackal named Chamataka.
Tantri the Mantri
Tantri is the devious Minister in the court of king Hooja. He wants
to dethrone the King and become the ruler himself. Every story shows
Tantri planning a detailed scheme which finally backfires.
Shikari Shambu
Shambu is a Hunter or Shikari, who appears very powerful and brave to
everyone. But in reality Shikari Shambu humble relaxed and lazy
person. He usually runs away from any signs of trouble.
Pyarelal series
Pyarelal is a very gentle and kind-hearted farmer who lives with his wife Lajo and the couple has many adventures.
Ajay The Detective
The series revolves around the adventures of Ajay who is a young and
smart detective in the town. He is often helped by Inspector Sharma to
catch the criminals.
Butterfingers
The series is about Amar, also known as Butterfingers for his habit of dropping things. He is clumsy and accident-prone.
The Defective Detectives
Rahul and Ravi are the Defective Detectives who attempt to solve
different mysteries. They use different codenames in different missions
to conceal their identities.
Janoo and Wooly Woo
Janoo, a brave witch who lives along with her friend a coward dragon
named Wooly who can puff flames from his nostrils. Other characters in
the series are King Arctic Snow, Empress Deer etc.
Nasruddin Hodja
The character is inspired from the Turkish Mullah Nasreddin. He is a
person with a smart and intelligent mind which he utilses to outsmart
others.
Kapish
Kapish is a clever and helpful monkey who lives in Kadu jungle with
his friends Bundila the elephant, Baboocha the bear and others. Peelu
the tiger and Sigal the jackal are his enemies.
Ramu and Shamu
Ramu and Shamu are 2 innocent identical twins who have positive and negative experiences in life.
Other than these there were other stories that came out as series in
the earlier issues. The most popular of them are The Dumbbells, Mopes
and Purr, Little Shambu series, Junior Tantri, Chhotu and Lambu, Chaman
Charlie, Little Suppandi etc.
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Tinkle popular character-
Apart from one-off stories, Tinkle also has regular characters that
appear in stand-alone fashion. Some of these characters are:
Current
*. Suppandi - Suppandi, thevillage simpleton, is by far the most
popular Tinkle character. He is a well-meaning servant who always
misunderstands the commands of his masters, which leads to many humorous
accidents.
*. Kalia the Crow - Kalia is an intelligent crow who saves his
friends from his enemies Doob Doob the crocodile and Chamataka the
jackal. His friends are Keechu and Meechu the rabbits, Babloo the bear,
Danti the elephant and Shonarthe stag.
*. Tantri the Mantri - Tantriis the scheming Minister(Mantri) of the
well-meaning Raja Hooja. Tantri wants to get rid of Raja Hooja so that
he can become king. Every episode in this series has Tantri devising
an elaborate scheme which eventually backfires. The highlight of this
series is that the Raja always escapes, and he thinks that he escapes
because of Tantri's efforts. The plot is surprisingly similar to Rene
Goscinny 's Iznogoud . To provide aninteresting twist to the tale, arch
enemies were introduced for Tantri and Hooja, as Jantri and Dooja.
Tantri also has henchmen, Dushtabuddhi and Vichitrabuddhi.
*. Shikari Shambu - Shambu is a Shikari , a hunter, whom the
worldperceives as courageousand powerful, whereas in reality he is
meek, easygoing and lazy. He would prefer to laze around in his house
all day, and tries to run away from any signs of trouble. But the
villagersand his wife believe he is fearless, and persuadehim to take
up dangerous tasks. He always manages to survive and accomplish the
task by a stroke of luck. The series had attracted mild criticism in
the past for depicting endangered animals as villains. Recent editions
have a powerful pro-conservation message. It is also featured many
times that he actually loves animals and has never killed one.
*. Pyarelal series - A very kind-hearted farmer who lives with his wife Lajwanti or Lajo has millions of adventures.
*. Ajay- The Detective - This series tells us aboutAjay, the youngest
and smartest detective in the town. Whenever a mystery is there, he is
sure to be in the spotlight. He gets help from his friends Inspector
Sharma and Chunni and his dog Jeetu to nab the culprits.
*. Butterfingers - These stories revolve around Amar, nicknamed
Butterfingers for his knack of dropping things. He is accident-prone and
clumsy. He is a student of Grade 9, Green Park School. He often draws
his friends Kiran, Eric, Minu and others into many adventures.
Recently, Tinkle has introduced a book named "Oops! Its Butterfingers",
featuring the best stories about him.
*. The Defective Detectives - The "Defective Detectives" are Rahul
& Ravi who call themselves detectives and try their best to solve
mysteries. They have codenames to conceal their identities (which
differ in each episode). Ravi has a sister called Samhita"Sam" who
solves the case before the defective detectives. Butrecently they have
started solving mysteries by a stroke luck which arises the green eyed
monster of envy in Sam.
*. Janoo and Wooly Woo - Janoo, a courageous witch who lives with
her friend Wooly, a cowardly dragon who can puff flames from
hisnostrils. They live in Jadu and have relations with rulers like King
Arctic Snow, Empress Deer etc. Her greatest enemy is the wizard
Wikido. She stops the menace of the day with her magicstick, called
Hexa .
*. Nasruddin Hodja - A manwho has a large witty brain which he uses
to outsmart people. His character is based on the Turkish Mullah
Nasreddin .
*. Ina, Mina, Myanah, Mo -They are four sisters who demand a lot
from their father Jagannath, amiser. They irritate Jagannath but he
still keeps quiet. They have afunny collection of stories.
Former
*. Kapish - A clever, helpfulmonkey who lives in thejungle of Kadu
along with his friends, Baboocha the bear, Bundila the elephant, Pintu
the fawn, Motu the rabbit and Panja theeagle. His arch enemies are
Sigal the jackal, Peelu the tiger and Dopaya the hunter. Kapish has
supernatural powers, which help him to extend and shrink his tail at
will. This ability and his quick thinking help him save his friends
from Peelu, Sigaland some hunters along with Dopaya.
*. Ramu and Shamu - Ramuand Shamu are two innocent identical twinshaving their ups and their downs as they experiment and play.
*. The Dumbbells - The dumbbells Natoo, Datoo and Motu are friends
who live a simple adventurous life. Their arch enemy is Damodar who
always tries to foil them up. Unfortunately for Damodar, it is the
Dumbbells who win!
*. Mopes and Purr - Another detective plot based comic series
featuring two animal detectives namely Mopes the dog and Purr the cat.
The detective duo tries to help everyone out of trouble without
revealing their identities.
*. Little Shambu series - This is the story of Shikari Shambu when
hewas young. His future wife Shanti is also young. Little Shambu always
ends up being a boy hero in the series.
*. Junior Tantri - This is thestory of Tantri in his young age. He
and Prince Hooja study in the same gurukula. Prince Hooja thinks of him
as a trusted friend but Tantri wants to kill Hooja. However, his plans
backfire on him, making Hooja think he saved his life.
*. Chhotu and Lambu - As the names suggest, Lambu is tall while
Chottu is short; Chottu uses his witty brain to help them and others.
*. Chaman Charlie - An old man wearing a dhoti and an overcoat,
lookingjust like Charlie Chaplin. This chap is very clumsy and witty,
and at times courageous.
*. Little Suppandi - These are the tales of Suppandi's childhood
when he used to be equally ignorant and it features his interesting
tales with his teachers and relations.
*. Little Raji - Raji is a young girl who uses her cleverness to solve various problems.
*. Zim Zim and Gotala - ZimZim is the friendly demon. His main enemy is
the sorcerer Gotala, who wants to capture Zim Zim in order to know the
secrets of the demons, but fails everytime due to Zim Zim's cleverness.
