The Adventures of Shikari Shambu
By 1983, Tinkle was already on its way becoming the most popular childrenâs magazine. Â There biggest rival that time was another children magazine named Target, run by Living Media. Â Unlike Tinkle, Target was more a narrative magazine, with a few pages of comics.
 Their flagship character that time was Moochwala by Ajit Ninan, which literally means a âman with a moustacheâ, who was a detective with penetrating eyes and a huge moustache.
 Tinkle always wanted to create a character which can stand toe-to-toe against Moochwala.  Subba Rao, one of the creators at Tinkle, once proposed the idea to the editorial team, to base a character in similarity to a character in the then famous TV Serial, I Love Lucy (which seems to be more classical for my genreâs liking), where he was described as a boastful but cowardly big game hunter.
 Luis Fernandes then worked on producing the first story, which was originally named Shambu, before Subba Rao prefixed Shikari (meaning Hunter, in Hindi) to the name.  Some of his editorial team-mates had reservation over the use of the name Shikari, as the Wild-Life Conservation theme was in its prominence. But, the sheer charisma of the name, they and Edtor Pai, decided to let it continue. But, contrary to the name, the creators ensured that Shambu never would shoot or kill any animal in any of its episodes.  More than that, creators slowly even disassociated him from his trademark hunting gun, after few episodes.
 An Intro about Shambu One of the reasons for the popularity of Tinkle Books was due to the comical illustrations of the artist, Vasant Halbe.  Halbe, who was a freelancer at Tinkle that time, had impressed the editorial team with his earlier works. One he was confirmed officially as the artist for the series, he showcased his character sketches, of which a drawing of Shikari with his Topi (hat) pulled down over his eyes, caught everyoneâs attention. The sketch went on to be the among the flagship character of Tinkle.
 Savio Mascarenhas, the current artist of the series, adds âI began illustrating Shambu only when Halbe retired in 1997-98. His style was brush/free hand drawings that flowed and it was tough to copy that. But I think both our styles have blended beautifully.â
 Like Suppaandi, Shambu also has an offshoot series featuring his young life, titled âLittle Shambuâ, who was created and being drawn also by Mascrenhas.  Till date the creators have managed to hide the eyes of the famous hunter from public viewing.  A legacy it shares with the Lee Falkâs Phantom, where his pupils are seldom shown to fans.
 Tamil Comic fans, will also remember that Shikari Shambu was a regular feature in the erstwhile Tamil Children's Magazine Poonthalir where the comic strip was titled as âVettaikkaara Vembuâ I especially liked the way Shambu is made to run for his life, often fearing for his wifeâs beating at home.  Many believe that Shambu is fearless, but only his wife knows what he is really âcapable ofâ.
 Poonthalir Shambu 01 copy Shambu in Poonthalir as Vettaikkaara Vembu
Dr.Pai adds âAmar Chitra Katha had to wait for four years to achieve some measure of success. In the case of Tinkle the success was instantaneous, perhaps because it came piggy-back riding on Amar Chitra Katha. The 40,000 initial book prints sold out, and new orders started pouring in from dealers. When I conveyed this news to Mirchandani, he was so moved that for the first time I saw tears glistening in his eyes. Â I have also often been asked questions about the title of the magazine. I remember Subba Rao, my associate editor, and I were pondering over various possible alternatives. When one of the staff members said there was a tinkle (meaning a telephone call) for me. Subba Rao said, âWhat about Tinkle as the title for the magazine?â That is how it came to be Tinkle
[Source: http://www.comicology.in/2009/01/tinkle-kalia-suppandi-shikari-shambu.html]