Madhu Muskan (Sweet Smiles)[1] was an Indian weekly comic magazine from the Gowarsons Group of Companies which was published from 1972 to 2004. Its circulation was as high as 100,000 during the late 1970s.[2]

Overview

Gowarsons began publishing Madhu Muskan in New Delhi in 1972.[1][3][4] The magazine was first published fortnightly, and then weekly.[5]

Not strictly a comic book, 90 percent of Madhu Muskan's pages contain illustrated comic stories with characters popular at the time. Four to five pages contained magazine-type stories, and the remainder were comics.[4]

The Gowarsons Group also held the Indian rights to Archie, Asterix[6] and a number of other titles.[2] Madhu Muskan ceased publication in 2004, when comics in India experienced financial problems.[7]

Characters

Madhu Muskan's characters are primarily humorous. Characters during the 1970s and 1980s include:

  • Daddy Ji, the main character, who appeared for almost 25 years[8] and appeared on the cover of each issue. Daddy Ji's creator, Harish M. Sudan, modelled the character on his family and his brother-in-law.[4]
  • Babloo, a young detective appearing in every issue and whose uncle is the superintendent of police.[4]
  • Popat-Chaupat, a hapless comic duo beset with money problems.[4]
  • Sustram-Chustram, another comic duo with many problems. Chustram is overly energetic, and Sustram is extremely lazy.[4]
  • Bhootnath Aur Jaadui Tulika, a popular ghost with a magical paintbrush called Tulika.
  • Minni, a clever, mischievous and helpful little girl.[4]
  • Dakoo Paan Singh, a fun- and danger-loving character who developed super-human strength when he chewed paan quickly whipped up by Supari Lal, his side-kick. His enemies included Madam Motallo, a fat woman who became a bouncing ball and flattened everything she bounced on; Serpa Soongh, a snake charmer; Cheenku, who could knock things down by sneezing; and Jadugar Jhundu, an evil magician. Their author was Murli Sundram.
  • Filmi Reporter Kalamdas, a reporter who interviewed Bollywood stars; actual movie stars had comic names.[9]

Comics

After seeing the popularity of their characters in Madhu Muskan, the publishers began publication of comics. They began with Mudhu Muskan Comics, with issues featuring Madhu Muskan characters; Trishul Comics also contained Madhu Muskan characters. Gowarsons Comics published foreign titles in Hindi, including Asterix,[6] The Famous Five,[10] Lucky Luke and Khalifa Haroon-Al-Paasha and Iznogoud.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Raminder Kaur; Saif Eqbal (11 October 2018). Adventure Comics and Youth Cultures in India. Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-429-78431-6.
  2. 1 2 "Astérix and the existential crisis". Mint. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  3. ↑ Krish Raghav (29 October 2009). "Astérix and the existential crisis". Live Mint. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Madhu Muskan". Indian-comics.awardspace.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "#Comic No.67: Madhu Muskan No.212". Comic World. 12 January 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Indian Comicology: Asterix aur Cleopetra". Indiancomicology.blogspot.com. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Indian Comics Poll 6". Virily. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Desi comic heroes still cast a spell". The Times of India. 30 March 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  9. ↑ "Indian Comicology: Shaktimaan aur Giddh Grah". Indiancomicology.blogspot.com. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Indian Comicology: Sagar Samrat Ka Khazana". Indiancomicology.blogspot.in. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Indian Comicology: Moorkhta Diwas". Indiancomicology.blogspot.com. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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