Tamil Pulp Update, Alien Landings Press, Etc.

We haven't updated the blog in a long while. Our latest releases Stupid Guy Goes to India and The Obliterary Journal have been in stores in India for a couple of months now. We hope you'll pick them up and that you'll enjoy them as much as these reviewers. (They're not available outside the country yet, but they will be soon.)

Even more exciting, Pachanana Moharana's illustrations from The Obliterary Journal have been sparking long-overdue speculation on the 1947 Odisha alien robot landing in mainstream publications like The Hindu and Zee News and Deccan Herald, which of course has us just tickled.

Meanwhile -- We often get calls from journalists asking about the popular fiction market in India. A lot of these journalists seem to take it for granted that the regional language pulp fiction industries are dead or moribund, and that all new exciting work is happening in English only.  However, while readership may be down from the 1990s peak, in Tamil at least, the scene is alive and thriving--as proved by a recent visit to the Besant Nagar newsstand outside Words & Worth.

Rajesh Kumar, the most prolific writer in the world, is still hard at work as ever -- these three novels all came out this month. The back covers are good too:

"Mythological crime thriller" author Indra Soundar Rajan is still publishing short novels, and longer works in installments:

 

And, perhaps most exciting, we saw a bunch of unfamiliar names: Akhil Kumar, "Crime King" Thennilavan, and Maheshwaran...

That's nine novels for Rs. 135, kids. Hard to beat. Of course, if you only read English, you'll have to spend the big bucks on one of our translated anthologies. (Available soon as eBooks! Watch this space.)

Delhi Book Launches!

The Obliterary Journal Stupid  Guy Goes to  India Blaft in association with Tranquebar is very excited to announce the upcoming release of TWO NEW BOOKS! We will be launching both titles at events during the 2nd Annual Comic Con India, in Delhi, Feb. 17th - 19th 2012. Blaft will be in stall No. 13A. Drop by and say hai!   The Obliterary Journal edited by Rakesh Khanna and Rashmi Ruth Devadasan LAUNCHING ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17th, 2012 TIME: 3:30pm VENUE: COMIC CON, DILLI HAAT, NEW DELHI A collection of comics, street art, typography, and illustrated stories from India and beyond. Includes: *) A classic Bengali gangster comic in translation *) Traditional Odisha palm-leaf engravings of alien robot invaders *) 12th century Sanskrit algebra problems *) Bus painters from Suriname *) New work from Vidyun Sabhaney, Amitabh Kumar, Roney Devassia, and Aarti Sunder *) and much, much more!     Stupid Guy Goes to India by Yukichi Yamamatsu translated from Japanese by Kumar Sivasubramanian LAUNCHING ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19th, 2012 TIME: 1:00pm VENUE: COMIC CON DILLI HAAT, NEW DELHI In 2004, having never before left Japan, 56-year-old manga author Yukichi Yamamatsu travelled to India, armed with little money, less English, no sigmoid colon, and absolutely no idea of what to expect. He did, however, bring with him his formidable art skills, a missionary zeal for spreading Japanese comics culture, and a keen pair of eyes -- through which we are treated to a hilarious, brutally honest look at India as it presents itself to the foreign visitor. This is the true story of Yukichi’s adventures -- playing marbles, searching for bathrooms, betting on horses, visiting a brothel -- and his madcap mission to sell Hindi translations of samurai manga on the mean streets of the nation’s capital. Yukichi Yamamatsu will be travelling to India from Tokyo for the 2nd Annual Comic Con! Come meet a legendary mangaka, and get your copy signed! BLAFT WILL BE IN STALL No.13A   2nd Annual Comic Con Dilli Haat, New Delhi  Feb 17th-19th 2012  We'll also be having an event with several contributors to The Obliterary Journal at YODAKIN 2 Hauz Khas Village New Delhi  at 6:30 PM on Monday Feb 20th 2012 See you there!

Unbound forms of Stupid Guy Goes to India stacked up at the printers

Yukichi Yamamatsu's Stupid Guy Goes to India... releasing next month yougaiz!

 

Coming soon -- "Stupid Guy Goes to India"

We're happy to announce that sometime in late 2011 or early 2012 we'll be releasing Yukichi Yamamatsu's 2008 non-fiction manga インドへ馬鹿がやって来た, in a new English translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian. 

It's the hilarious true story of Yukichi's first journey to India--his first trip out of Japan, knowing no English and no Indian language--and his slightly insane mission to introduce classic Samurai manga to Hindi readers, even if it meant sitting on a mat on the Delhi pavement and selling them himself.

 
Here's Bharath Murthy with a short strip about Yukichi.

Look alive there, boys! Keep your eyes peeled!