Flipping through the glossy pages of a cartoon filled comic book has been a favourite hobby in almost everyone’s childhood and Tinkle has always been a household name in the world of comics in India.
This popular comic series by Amar Chitra Katha has now planned to go fortnightly. The comic magazine, a huge hit with kids, used to be a monthly magazine earlier. However, the publication has decided to now be a fortnightly comic magazine, apparently to cater to the rising demands of readers.
Earlier, Tinkle has introduced iconic characters like Suppandi, Shambu and Tantri the Mantri which are well-known among kids and even adults as they have been around for three decades now. The magazine, over the years has carved out its niche in the Indian comic space. The new Tinkle fortnightly will have 48 pages of stories that will feature the adventures of the toons. It will also have puzzles and games as well as trivia about events and festivals occurring during that time.
Along with the launch of its fortnightly edition, Tinkle is also launching a new character – Wai Knot, who is a 10 year old boy hailing from Bengaluru and is Tinkle’s newest toon. Brash, unapologetic and most of all, incredibly strong minded, Wai Knot will stand out from Suppandi, Shikari Shambu and the other Tinkle toons. As his name suggests, Wai Knot is always challenging those around him, be it his dad or his best friend, Kia. He has a very simple motto to life, “Don’t ask why. Ask why not!”
The character has been created by Sean D’mello. According to him, “Wai Knot is a reflection of today’s kids. Instead of merely following what is being told to them, they choose to map their own way. They prefer to scrape their knees and bruise their elbows before accepting that they might be wrong. I love writing for Wai Knot. He makes no excuses about who he is and doesn’t hide how he feels. That’s also where Kia, his best friend fits in perfectly. She understands why Wai does what he does and mostly sticks around just for the laughs at his expense.”
ACK Media, group art director, Savio Mascarenhas adds, “Wai Knot is a character that is very different from any other toon we have had in Tinkle. He always asks questions and that’s an important way of learning for kids. They want to understand things on their own. Wai Knot with his ever quizzical nature encourages more kids to be curious.”
Previously, on their 35th anniversary, Tinkle had launched another new character by the name of WingStar aka Mapui – the reluctant superhero, whose inventor father creates cool gadgets for her to fight for the ones in trouble, everything under the veil of secrecy as she wants a normal life and not a super hero one. Let’s see what next Tinkle has in store for us.
