UPDATE: A couple of *NEW* Polls has been added at this Blog! Visitors may cast their votes,and while for the 1st Poll,you can vote for ONLY one option, multiple-voting option has been enabled for the 2nd one!! :-)
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Friends,in this NEW post,I'm presenting some great covers of "The League of 8" stories were published in Indrajal Comics!
The first ever introduction with Mandrake Co. with this deadly ancient and secret crime-gang was way back in 1965 in the story "The treacherous gang" as No.77,when Narda accidentally discovered the existence of this Medieval gang in modern days..during her research in History!!
Next,it was amazing tale "The Trail of 8" (IJC No.144)" followed by "Dr.Dell and 8 (D136;1968)"- a very late publication in IJC as the 'Giant Octopus (No.226;1976) n republished in Vol.23 No.10'.....
But,his crime gang was much more deadly & wold-wide than Mandrake and Chief could imagined. They made their return once again in "The Bribe (D141)" published in IJC as 'False Will' (No.163).
[One "8" story,'The test of magician' was published as 2-part back-up story with Phantom ,No.327 n 328;1979]
Since then,with regular intervals, Mandrake/Lothar had fought against "8" and Octon -the mysterious leader,destroyed each time a more 'arm ' among their world-wide eight arms!!
The LAST '8' appeared in IJC as "The claws of Treasury(Vol.25 No.30 & 31; 1988)"....
P.S.- The LAST Mandrake Daily published in IJC was D202(secret invention; Vol.27 No.4) and the very next one,D203 was another splendid adventure on this crime-gang,"The gift of 8"..which we majority missed!! :-(
Wait!!.... it was NOT the end,one can witnessed the climax of these thriller series only in D211(The Book of Criminals;1992) & D217(Secret Place;1994) ,in later one,Octon was revealed and HE WAS NONE OTHER THAN...guess???.....COBRA aka Lucifer!!..the evil bro of Mandrake!!!
Thus,with that strip, this legendary secret crime-gang was apparently finished,though Falk was initiated to telling another tale on "8" ,but couldn't complete due to his illness followed by his death in March,1999......Later,it was completed by Fredricks with a complete different angle.It was the LAST Falk-Mandrake Daily: D231(The secret Mission) .
You can d/l it from HERE!!
------------------------------------------------------------
Friends,in this NEW post,I'm presenting some great covers of "The League of 8" stories were published in Indrajal Comics!
The first ever introduction with Mandrake Co. with this deadly ancient and secret crime-gang was way back in 1965 in the story "The treacherous gang" as No.77,when Narda accidentally discovered the existence of this Medieval gang in modern days..during her research in History!!
Next,it was amazing tale "The Trail of 8" (IJC No.144)" followed by "Dr.Dell and 8 (D136;1968)"- a very late publication in IJC as the 'Giant Octopus (No.226;1976) n republished in Vol.23 No.10'.....
But,his crime gang was much more deadly & wold-wide than Mandrake and Chief could imagined. They made their return once again in "The Bribe (D141)" published in IJC as 'False Will' (No.163).
[One "8" story,'The test of magician' was published as 2-part back-up story with Phantom ,No.327 n 328;1979]
Since then,with regular intervals, Mandrake/Lothar had fought against "8" and Octon -the mysterious leader,destroyed each time a more 'arm ' among their world-wide eight arms!!
The LAST '8' appeared in IJC as "The claws of Treasury(Vol.25 No.30 & 31; 1988)"....
P.S.- The LAST Mandrake Daily published in IJC was D202(secret invention; Vol.27 No.4) and the very next one,D203 was another splendid adventure on this crime-gang,"The gift of 8"..which we majority missed!! :-(
Wait!!.... it was NOT the end,one can witnessed the climax of these thriller series only in D211(The Book of Criminals;1992) & D217(Secret Place;1994) ,in later one,Octon was revealed and HE WAS NONE OTHER THAN...guess???.....COBRA aka Lucifer!!..the evil bro of Mandrake!!!
Thus,with that strip, this legendary secret crime-gang was apparently finished,though Falk was initiated to telling another tale on "8" ,but couldn't complete due to his illness followed by his death in March,1999......Later,it was completed by Fredricks with a complete different angle.It was the LAST Falk-Mandrake Daily: D231(The secret Mission) .
You can d/l it from HERE!!
19 comments:
Nice post. I was disappointed to learn that Octon was actually Lucipher (havent read that story). I grew up to belive that they were two different villans. I was also disappointed to see Luchiphers face. The cobra is much better!
#GS:
Yes!!I was more dissapointed than surprised to learn that Octon was.....well,Falk shud consider some less frequent Criminals to give readers a REAL Shock,,say Cooler??
Btwn,I NOT only dislike but rather HATE that Cobra's face after plastic surgery(1st appered in IJC as Evil Genius;Vol.22 No.50/51;1985)......it's like MYSTERY has been REVEALED,so dissapointing!!..may I dare to compare it with...SHOWING Phantom's eyes?? ;-/
#ALL VISITORS:
I have been 'UPDATED' this post today morning with some MORE interesting info!!
May u can re-check! :-)
one comic which has been not mentioned was # 163- false will - contained "8" stories, actually this story was originally known as "mystery of uncle ud", a very nice story ineed , sad part is not it is not available with any one of my friends loosely, once i was proud owner of this book.
Hope to find from someone & scan .
Ajay
#Ajay:
Thnx for commenting and it's indeed like a'discover' to find that D141(The bribe .."8")IJC#163 was published in IJC..I didn't have that neither see it's scan (thus can't provide it's cover)..
Hope oneday we'll see it's Physically or at lst scan!! :-)
Dara,
Of all the great scripts of Lee Falk, one climax which turned out to be a bit disappointing is indeed the identity of Octon. There was no need to always focus Cobra as the main villain of Mandrake. The head of 8 could have been a sophisticated underground figure. The activities of 8 is generally not focussed against Mandrake, rather as an underground gang, where as the actions of Lucipher are mostly magical and mostly aimed at Mandrake and the magic cube. There is no dearth in villians for Mandrake.
At the same time, the suspense about the id of chief of Inter-Inter was really superb. Lee Falk did a good job there.
#CC:
Thanks for such a fantastic comment...It shows your depth in this Amazing Magic Series!!
Yes buddy!!U said my words,,,,rather in a better way!!
Cobra's ONE & ONLY ONE goal was to grab that Crystal n destructn of Mandrake Co....but,also he'd extreme desire to RULE the world,,,with help of that crystal...
I guess,that may b the reason,Falk put him the Mysterious Leader of "8" though it's clear he was ran-out of better ideas!! :((
I wud rather prefer if OCTON NEVER REVEALED!!.why need all mysteries to be ge revealed?? *spoiler*
And,abt Inter-Intel...yes!!I loved that baffling ENTRANCE(S)...as said"in somewheer of the city...a gigantic escalator" ohh.....I just love it..like ENTRANCE of Xanadu!! :o))
Now,that was a cool indeed where 'Hojo' showed as Chief of this secret Burew(IJC No.298;The Master Criminal) ...If ya've read it,may aware that ,there also presence of "8" in that strip.though it was a bluff!! ;O)
Keep coming!!
Yes Dara, probably Lee Falk just wanted to hurriedly conclude the series by disclosing the secrets of Octon due to:
1. He would have imagined that it was too late for him to be in the scenario (due to his age) to think of revealing a new character so sophisticated as Octon.
2. He didn't want it to leave blank so that somebody else may not fill in the identification of Octon with any character who doesn't fit in with his thoughts.
... so for him Cobra was the closest filler.
But if you read the Cobra & 8 series backwards, you will find lot of discrepencies, given the knowledge Cobra has about Mandrake, and how Octon and his 'arms' were dealing with Mandrake. It just doesn't match and is full of inconsistencies.
As you said Octon should have been a never-ending suspense.
CC
Yes Dara, probably Lee Falk just wanted to hurriedly conclude the series by disclosing the secrets of Octon due to:
1. He would have imagined that it was too late for him to be in the scenario (due to his age) to think of revealing a new character so sophisticated as Octon.
2. He didn't want it to leave blank so that somebody else may not fill in the identification of Octon with any character who doesn't fit in with his thoughts.
... so for him Cobra was the closest filler.
But if you read the Cobra & 8 series backwards, you will find lot of discrepencies, given the knowledge Cobra has about Mandrake, and how Octon and his 'arms' were dealing with Mandrake. It just doesn't match and is full of inconsistencies.
As you said Octon should have been a never-ending suspense.
The new blog layout is good!
Nice discussion with comiccrazee. I think he is right. Falk hurriedly tried to wrap up '8'.
if I am not wrong, IJC No.298;The Master Criminal) has been posted in the blogs. I didnt realise that was the first comic in which Hojo was exposed as chief of inter intel!
#CC:
it was too late for him to be in the scenario (due to his age) to think of revealing a new character ....
May be!!BUT,I agree,whether we like Cobra as OCTON or not,it's better that FALK did it by himself,rather if he did not,Fredricks (or others) wud have done it n SURELY that'll not go well with ardent 'Man-Fans' like us!! :-)
if you read the Cobra & 8 series backwards, you will find lot of discrepencies
EXCEPT the similarities that BOTH Cobra n Octon were CRIME LORDS n considered Mandrake/lothar as their top-graded enemies ,there's practically NO other MATCH btwn them!!!
Simply,if Cobra's Octon,then WHY there was NO SINGLE attck on 'College of Magic' (Collegium Magicos) in which that amazing 'Crystal Cube' kept for safety??
Again,why there was NOT ANY hypnotic trick in "8"'s activity,instead only gun/modern powers ???Rather,if one read ALL Mandrake-n-8 thrillers,it wud b clear that Octon himself was baffled with Mandrake's mass-hypnotism!! hahaahaah....while,Cobra aka Lucifer was Mandrake's 2nd teacher in that College!! ;O))
Thus,these imply indicates that,Cobra as Octon was VERY LATE ENTRY in great Lee Falk's Imagination!! :-/
#GS:
Thnx...
Btwn,that story(No.298;1978)was real thriller,but fact's,thanks to our late-entry in Indrajal's world,we were well-aware that Hojo is the Secret Chief of I-I,much before we read No.298!! ;O))
Thus,excitement was NOT that much!
But,it was indeed an exciting tale for those who read it @1st hand in 1978 itself...really,lucky pple they were!! :-)
Dear Sagnik,this is a awesome post.
It really reflects some cool stuff.
Glad to know about so many facts,its a pleasure to read.
Please try and find that strip revealing Cobra,wud just love it.
BTW,was Evil Genius published as THE COBRA before?
#Chandan:
Thnx 4 appreciatns...
BTW,was Evil Genius published as THE COBRA before?
I guess,you yet to read that 'Evil Genius'(Vol.22 No.50 n 51),otherwise shudn't asked this question!!
The reason is,this is the FIRST TIME one can see Cobra's face n NOT silver mask!!....'cos he did plastic surgery.. :o)
Well,persoally I felt,from this story,,,,the charm/thrill of these series(Mandrake-Cobra)was lost!! :((
P.S.- 'The Cobra' published way back in 1971(No.146) n republished as 'Hypnotic Gem'(Vol.23 No.2 ;1986)
This blog is Paradise! I'm thrilled to bits. An Indrajal Comic blog. Fantastic!
;)
#Princess Stefania:
Thanks Princess & welcome here!!:-)
Btwn,I heard abt princess Alicia & Bonebel in Phantom strip....now you!!!;-P
Hope,you also an ardent follower of this Ghost Who Walks!!
Keep coming.... :-)
I always thought that octon was a person who knows mandrake very well.. an insider from mandrake's camp.. may be a police chief!!! but i was really disappointed to see that he is lucifer..
what a "bakwas" end to really thrilling and gripping series
anyway, gr8 post,, keep it up buddy and happy new year to you
#ICC:Thnx! yes,this post becomes quite a hit..always "8" attracts!! ;-))
And Happy new Year to ALL OF MY VISITORS ! :-))
bondhura, uporer comics gulo kothay pawa jabe bolte paren???
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