Comic #75 : The Meeting of Mandrake and Lothar(S101)

Enjoy this special sunday strip,the famous tale of Mandrake & Lothar's very first meeting,in the original newspaper strip format. Eventually,this was the earliest MTM Sunday(S101) published in the Indrajal Comics(E#138:Famous Friendship).
Apart from this sunday,there is a re-post,as you will find the complete Kraken(S156) story for the 1st time in color.The earlier version was Pioneer's b/w scans but incomplete!

 DOWNLOAD S101

DOWNLOAD S156

Merry Christmas : Comic #74 : The Road House(S126) - A Mandrake Sunday from '70s

Merry Christmas to all blogger & visitor friends! :-)

ENJOY a short sunday strip that was skipped by ToI in the Indrajal Comics for some unknown reason.
This adventure happened just before Mandrake & Lothar's long(& eventful) journey to Harison University for their magic show and beyond that,started from S127(Ghost Town) till S136(Mr Ttazz).[Except S129(Man from Europa),all were subsequently published in Ijcs,within the issues #265 to #330.]

Now,read this complete strip on-line...

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Comic #72 & 73 : Mandrake Sundays : S142(Super Giant) & S148(Prince Nasdaq)

A couple of Falk-Fredricks sundays from the late '70s and early '80s for this time.These were already published in Indrajal Comics,like majority of MTM strips from those periods!Super Giant appeared in No.380(The Legend of the Giants)/সংখ্যা ৩৫৭(মহাদানবের খোঁজে) while Prince Nasdaq in Vol.20 No.32(The Avaricious Prince/আজব দেশের বন্দী). [You will find a few Swedish/Italian pages as replacement of the missing English counter-parts,but that won't harm the pleasure of reading.]

By the way,today Indrajal Forum has completed it's 1st anniversary,quite silently though,as I doubt whether anybody except me actually has noticed this! ;_  There are hardly any activities lately but I will try to keep alive this forum as long as possible, so at least visitors can read various older topics/discussions.
To be very honest,to form a forum on Indrajal Comics was kinda small tribute from my side to all Indrajal bloggers & fans.It's indeed quite fascinating to see how a mere comic-series,that too was cancelled more than two decades ago,has successfully created a special bonding among the millions of fans from the various backgrounds and ages!! I hope our love for this series will remain intact in the rest of our lives!

Now,enjoy these strips...
Bye & have fun!


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• S142 -  Super Giant(11-18-1979 to 2-17-1980)
  
  Download S142
  
  • S148 -  Prince Nasdaq(3-28-1982 to 8-29-1982)
  
  Download S148

A Funny Reality...

Friends,check out this cartoon..hope you will like it!!Couldn't controlled myself from posting it here!! :)
The literal meaning (of what written in Bengali) is "Life is like a garden of 'bamboo plants'.Only bamboos & bamboos!"
Between,I hope you know what 'bamboo' symbolises in the real life!! :o)

Comic #71 : Mandrake Sunday : S146 - Mandrake's Masquerade(The Xanadu Story)

UPDATE(27/9): আজ শুভ মহালয়া। দেবীপক্ষের সূচনা।
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The famous Xanadu story.Indrajal version is already available on-line in both Bengali & English and now you can enjoy the original colored strip version. Only,this is bit incomplete - missing some 4/5 sunday pages - but still that won't hamper the fun much! Again,this is another contribution from our friends Dan and Magnus..

You can also read a very nice article on Xanadu from Xanadu : http://pjb.hopto.org/index.php?id=13&xr=146

DOWNLOAD THE STRIP

Comic #70: A Team Fanomen Phantom : De Tusen Tigrarna(The Thousand Tigers)

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• Writers: Magnus Magnusson & Lennart Hartler
• Artist:  Jaime Vallvé
• Year of Publication: 1972
• Frew Publication(in English): yet to be translated by frew.

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 Hello friends,as you can see in the above box,this is a old Team Fantomen story that yet to be translated in English.Now,this was co-scripted by our one of the major Mandrake-strip contributors,Magnus,way back on 1972.Why he didn't continued is unknown but from the art one can tell that the plot was gripping!And I liked the English title "The Thousand Tigers".

 Few months ago, we had requested Magnus to scan the Swedish copy and he agreed.Recently he scanned that book for us.Hopefully,one day Frew will publish this.Between,The art by Vallve' was just stunning!

ENJOY!!

 DOWNLOAD De Tusen Tigrarna(The Thousand Tigers)

Comic #69 : The First Complete Sunday-strip by Fred Fredricks : A Mandrake Classic - The Cobra Returns(S097 ; 1965)

Starting with The Cobra Returns,quite a few modifications/introductions were made in the Mandrake's  universe!!

This classic itself has some major highlights as follows:

1.This was the first complete illustration done by Fred Fredrick's,after he finished Davis' incomplete work in The Traveller's Tale(S096) and what a story to start-off! Needless to mention, he was just brilliant from his very first (complete) assignment! :-)

2.Intro of Xanadu - the  fabulous mountain-top mansion of Mandrake - and it's crazy drive-way!!

3.Intro of Inter-Intel as well as Jed.

4.Return of the oldest,and supposed to be dead,enemy of Mandrake & co. - The Cobra!!

Some special moments....

First time we heard about Inter-Intel and so the unique entrance of  Xanadu...

"What a view! What a drop!"

Cobra...still ALIVE???

Finally....Cobra strikes!!!

[Note: This is a long strip and some pages are in Swedish as we yet to locate their original colored English counter-parts. But hopefully,that won't hamper your understanding of the plot as major part of the story is in English!Cheers!!]

Download S097 - The Cobra Returns

Comic #68 : Mandrake Sunday : S149 - El Dorado(1982)

 El Dorado - the mysterious city of gold!!Many have loved this concept and personally,being a crazy about any Mandrake's adventures,it's a great pleasure for me to find a Mandrake story based on it! Of course,where is Mandrake(& Lothar),some kind of criminal activity has to be there and so you will find in this adventure aswell!!

 First read this in a Bengali Indrajal Comics (খন্ড 21 সংখ্যা 6 - সোনার শহর এল্ ডোরাডো) and only years after,the original strip-version.[This unedited strip(i.e. 6 panels/sunday) is one of the numerous contributions by Magnus & Dan.]

Enjoy!

Some glimpses...

Download The Complete Strip

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And here's cover of  the Indrajal version:

The wiki page on El Dorado : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado

Egmont-Phantom Series(in Bengali) : Chalaman Asariri-er Romanchakar Abbhijan(Phantom)

 When Egmont(Ind) released several of those 2-in-1 Phantom books in English,one of the famous Bengali publisher,Dev Sahitya Kutir(দেব সাহিত্য কুটীর) bought the publication right in Bengali and released 4 such Phantom(অরণ্যদেব) books on 2003-04 session,each was 2-in-1.As a result,Bengali Phans got a total of 8 stories.

 The general title of the series was :Chalaman Asariri-er Romanchakar Abbhijan(Phantom)/চলমান অশরীরীর রোমাঞ্চকর অভিযান(ফ্যান্টম).These books were in giant-sized format with the best quality printing(glossy papers with the top-class coloring!) & priced 65 INR each.

 I wonder IF THERE IS ANY possibility to re-start this series in Bengali with (at least) the remaining 20 odd titles, those were already published by Egmont(Ind) or now,by Euro Books??

[Check this following ad-page from Suktara - the teen magazine by DSK - from 2004.]

Titles of the stories:

#1 - Deviler Golpo/ডেভিলের গল্প, Central-parker Hottya Rohossyo/সেন্ট্রাল-পার্কের হত্যারহস্য

#2 - Sahid Minar/শহিদ মিনার, Mrityur Chaya-ghera Dwip/মৃত্যুর ছায়া-ঘেরা দ্বীপ
#3 - Abhisapta Mandir/অভিশপ্ত মান্দির, Jibanto Cargo/জিবন্ত কার্গো

#4 - Adharjagate Cent Lucifer/আধারজগতের সেন্ট লুসিফার, Nautilus/নটিলাস

In the Devil's story,Phantom has been appeared in a blue costume while in the other stories,mostly in purple(dark to light shades).

 Visit this Phantom Phorum thread for some page/cover scans...

Comic #67 : Indrajal Comics(Bengali) : No.154(Mandrake) :Aantim Manav(অন্তিম মানব)

 Aantim Manav(অন্তিম মানব),originally from D147(The Wonder that Amazed the World ; 1971),is based on a fantasy plot of a giant man Kolosso(কলসসো) and his beautiful mate(or wife?) Janna(জান্না) - both of them are results of some atomic radiation - from a distant mountain-region of pygmies! At the end of story,you just have to love these giant human beings..

Their introduction with the mysterious giant! That was not quite 'comfortable' for them though. ;o)

Kolosso arrives at the city but there was no Janna - his love - something that made him quite furious!!

          Now,meet with Janna - the beautiful mate of Kolosso.And hey,she is expecting!!

 Story ends with Mandrake's desire to see them - the modern example of Adam-and-Eve - "to solve problems of our troubled world"!

Download অন্তিম মানব

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 Now, a few words on our Indrajal Forum - active since the last November - that has been created solely for the purpose of discussion of the various kind of comic adventures/series that we have had read so far.And that incld. Indrajal Comics(for obvious) but discussions are NOT meant to be limited within the Indrajal stories only,rather much beyond of it! Like, at the Newspaper Strips section,one can discuss any comic-strips of any heroes that never published in any Indrajal or from the Post-Ijc era.Similarly,one can made own posts on any non-Indrajal heroes like Tarzan,Archie etc to regional titles(say Nonte-Phonte for Bengali readers or Chacha Choudhary/Pinki/Billo/ACK for any Indian readers) at the Non-Indrajal Heroes section. And last but the not the least,like all comic forums,we also have a non-comic section where you can discuss any other topics like Cricket or Movies/Books etc. 

 Well,some might wonder that when there are plenty of comic blogs for posts/comments,why a forum??

While our blogs are the major source of much desired scans of old comics/books,there is some definite advantage of a forum site,specially for those readers who love to talk about their thoughts on whatever they read.

In fact,we have two major reasons.

 First of all,while blog is the best way to share some d/l links but not an ideal set-up for any long/time-based discussion.Also,due to the very nature of blog set-up,it's very difficult to have a prolonged discussion in a older post once a new post comes up. 

Secondly, we have to comment according to the author's choice of topics - for the obvious reason - and anything other talks are usually fall much in the 'off-topic' region,something that does not serve any good for that particular blog-post.

 In the other hand,a forum is kind of a platform where everyone can share their thoughts from an equal position.Every member can either post in the other's topics or create own topics,in the respective sub-forums(and for that, one doesn't have to post a long review etc or supporting panels/covers....if someone does,that's ok though!).

 Then,if there is some meaningful but off-topic discussion going on,it's possible to move those posts under a new topic - that fits with the discussion - so members can keep the conversation on in a much proper way!

And the best part of a forum is that neither you have to wait for others to pick any particular story/topic for discussion nor any old,active topics becomes dead due to publication of a new one!

 So,it'll be a great pleasure to have some of comic-related discussions with our blogger & visitor friends those who love to express their thoughts!!

Cheers!!

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Comic #65 & 66 : 2 Unpublished Mandrake Strips(D116 - Narda's TV Show AND S171 - Galactic Birthday Party)

 Hello friends,couldn't scan any Indrajal in the last few days.However,you will soon find a new Bengali Ijc  here.

 Before that, enjoy a couple of rare MTM strips - D116 & S171 - those were never published in India,in any book format.D116,a '62 strip,was skipped by both Ijc & DC and S171 is from the Post-Ijc era('94).[Now,D116 is completely in English while S171 is mixed with colored Italian scans with the b/w English strips.But you can predict the story as the script was bit repetitive!]

And these are contributions of the one of the biggest MTM fan from Sweden,Magnus and of course,Dan!:-)

 D116 - Narda's TV Show: An unusual plot where Narda played the centre character with only a minor presence of Mandrake and at the end,both of them were completely baffled.(There were a couple of strips on this same theme published in the '80s Indrajals.Can you recall those?? :-) )

Download the Daily

S171 - Galactic Birthday Party: Another central-galactic adventure.This time our friends were invited in the planet Magna to celebrate Nardraka's birthday...

                                  Download the Sunday

Between,to find out all Mandrake's adeventures in the C-G published in this blog,visit this general link.

Comic #64 : Indrajal Comics(Bengali) : No.69(Betal) :Ghurni-Sagore Diana(ঘূর্ণি-সাগরে ডায়ানা)

UPDATE(23/7): For all cricket fans & fanatics(like me),I'm sure you are watching the on-going Ind-Eng 1st test -  the historical 2000th TEST match - from Lords'!! (For those who came in late,this longest form of cricket on it's 134th year(since 1877) and for Team India,they are on their 79th year,since 1932.)

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 Another new Bengali Indrajal for this time.ঘূর্ণি-সাগরে ডায়ানা based on a  dreaded plot against Diana and how Phantom finally saved her life! But, it was not another of those 'Diana-kidnapped-by-some-lover-prince' kind adventures,rather a gruesome murder-plot where that conman Dice tried to kill Diana, using a couple of ferocious killer sharks!

 Well,I am not going to elaborate further as don't want to ruin the suspense for those Bengali fans who yet to read this story in any language.And, if you already have read the English version,enjoy this Bengali counter-part! :-)

 Between,don't miss this following advertisement of the TEN EARLIEST ISSUES of 'Amar Chitra Katha(ACK)'!!And as you know very well,these are the rarest issues of ACK,based on much different stories - mostly western fairy tales - than what we got from #11(Krishna) onwards.(It's quite surprising that,while one will get plenty of old ACKs right from #11 from the old-markets,but NOT these issues!!Strange,ain't?? Personally,I have only a few issues incld. #2 - সিন্ডেরেলা . I donno if anybody has all of these 10 issues in Bengali/English!)

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 I have a special bonding with this Indrajal.Actually 2 Indrajals,in total. Besides ঘূর্ণি-সাগরে ডায়ানা(সংখ্যা ৬৯), the other one is a Mandrake-Ijc in English - The Treacherous Gang(No.77).These two issues were the earliest 'below #100' Indrajals I read ever and purchased on the same day from one seller!

  Well,that Betal story was much exciting but plot-wise,nothing new.In the other hand,that Mandrake story was a land-marking adventure & one of the major reasons behind those huge changes in the Mandrake's universe(for better,of course) & pattern of the future stories(sundays+dailies) from mid '60s onwards!
 This was the FIRST ever encounter with that dreaded & international criminal gang, (in)famously known as "The League of 8"..just "8"(as Narda told Mandrake for the very first time!) Before this issue,I already read another '8' adventure with Dr.Dell(Ijc V23 N10) where it has been mentioned that it was Narda who proved the existence of this gang in the modern era!So reading 'that' actual story was something very special for me!! (And mind it,I'm talking about the time when there was NO Indrajal-List available on-line nor I had any idea about Xanadu back then!So my Indrajal-hunts in the old-markets were quite wild in those days/years.That was actually much different than what we are doing in the last 3-4 years i.e. preparing a wish-list much beforehand with own choice of  heroes/stories inside etc.)
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Now,to read the complete story of  ঘূর্ণি-সাগরে ডায়ানা,click the following link:

DOWNLOAD সংখ্যা ৬৯

Can You ever forget your First Indrajal Comics(ইন্দ্রজাল কমিকস্)??

 First of all,for Bengali Indrajal fans : I will post 2  Indrajals,one-by-one,in the coming weeks.There will be a Betal followed by a Flash Gordon adventure.
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 Before going into the actual topic,I should admit the reason behind this particular post. Since the last few weeks,I was again wondering why we are sooo crazy about 'only' Indrajal Comics??Now,just recently,we had a discussion on Indrajal(& our childhood memories associated with this) in a blog-post by fellow blogger Mahasthobir & other fans like Suman etc. More I think about this,more I become nostalgic,hence decide to share my thoughts here.I hope you will also share your own feelings & childhood experience as well!
 [Of course,I know the basic reason is you can read many *new* stories from old Ijcs,plus,many forgotten ones.But I wonder whether the "nostalgia factor" IS the major reason behind this craze,even more than the actual reading??(Because,technically, you CAN read all these stories in unedited strips from the various sites,plus 100s of Diamond's Phantom/Mandrake books etc.Still, ALL fans want only Indrajal's same old edited version!!)]
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 All Indrajal fans have their own set of 'special' Indrajal issues and that's does NOT depend on the year-of-publication/issue numbers etc.Yes,I'm talking about those introductory issues responsible for your fondness/addiction/attachment(or whatever you call it) with this series!
 So,let's share those experiences/memories when you were introduced with the magical world of Indrajal Comics(ইন্দ্রজাল কমিকস্)!! :-)
 Personally,I was one of those late-comers(considering that period when this series was still under publication) in the Indrajal universe.It was 1989. [However,we have only a few Ijc-crazies who were introduced years after the cancellation i.e. from the Post-Indrajal era,still addicted with this series,like Aalok from Mumbai,Swagoto(Walker) and my younger brother.(Well,he has allmost stopped reading Ijcs since last 2-3 years due to study and other interests like Games/FB etc!Earlier,he was the one who used to finish the whole lot of old Indrajals,even before me, within the couple of days of my purchase from the old markets! :-))]

 Even today,I can vividly remember that afternoon when one of the class-mates and my buddy, Amritanshu(অমরিতাংশু) showed me that issue - ব্যর্থ চক্রান্ত(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 29)  - was my first ever experience with Indrajal Comics!! Well,back then I was an ardent fan of Chacha Choudhary-Sabu/Pinki/Billo/Tintin/Nonte-Phonte etc fun-series only and hence initially ignored that 'unknown' series(with somewhat different format i.e. lesser pages,bigger size and much 'different' art than we used to see in the other comics!) Sometimes later,he flicked a few pages and asked me to read the 'other features' like cartoons/Ripley's etc!!As he was a close pal,so I reluctantly read some of those pages and kept that book aside!Then we were busy in our classes. After the last class,he said "বইটা আমায় দে(return me the book)".That was the moment when I felt asif he had asked something that is very dear to me!!
 I donno why I suddenly felt that way,but somehow requested him to lent that issue(and few more) in the coming days!Like a true buddy, he kept his promise and that's how I was introduced with the magical world of this adventure series - ইন্দ্রজাল কমিকস্!!

 As I have said,that introductory issue was ব্যর্থ চক্রান্ত(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 29)  - a Rip Kirby(রিপ কার্বি) story and eventually the last-Rip in the Indrajal. So,Amritanshu was one of the major reasons for my Indrajal addiction and I'm quite grateful to him for this!
[It's 99% probable that he is not reading this post(or any other comic-blogs,in that matter) as he had completely moved on from reading comics(Indrajal/others) from the 5th/6th standard itself(i.e. soon after Ijc's cancellation!)]

  Few weeks later,I bought my first Indrajal issue.It was a Betal(বেতাল) adventure with those little people - কালো বাক্সের রহস্য(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 33).. Incidentally,from this issue,ToI did change the format a bit(with a new banner,frequency was reduced from weekly to fortnightly,price hiked from 4.00 to 5.00 and page numbers were increased from 32 to 36!) Somehow I loved that previous banner style over this new one.Anyway, my next buy,actually the previous issue of কালো বাক্সের রহস্য,was a fitting Indrajal adventure - রক্তে ভেজা চক্রান্ত(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 32) . I loved this story so much that re-read the book many times within the first few days.:-) This story alone made me an avid fan of Flash Gordon(ফ্ল্যাশ গর্ডন) & his group(Dr.Jarkov,beautiful Dale & others!)

[I've scanned/clicked few covers from my 'old' issues and for the coverless ones,scans/clicks are from the copies I have collected only in the recent years.]

Next was Bahadur(বাহাদুর).And it was one of the best Bahadur adventure's from the late '80s - মৃত্যুর সাথে পাঞ্জা(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 18) . Unfortunately,I lost this book due to one careless aunt!!(I never forgave her as I loved that issue very much and worse,it was not my book but from Amritanshu! It's another thing that he never accused me for the loss.)
Now,why I read Bahadur??Well,I can tell you many reasons but major reason,specially on that age,was definitely the charming presence of Bela!!And this story was a great example. ;-) 

[Few years ago,I finally managed to have one copy of মৃত্যুর সাথে পাঞ্জা from our old-book market and that was quite a nostalgic moment for me.It was like,asif I've returned in those years.(Those who have managed to re-collect their old Indrajal issues, years after the loss of the actual issues,can understand this very well!)]

After few months,I read another Bahadur adventure from the same year(1989) - রক্তাক্ত অভিযান(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 35).Then it was ক্রোধোন্মোত্ত শয়তান(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 28)  where Bela did only a cameo but she was looking super-hot even in that short appearance! :o)

Next was our famous magician friend - Mandrake(ম্যানড্রেক).The first issue I can remember was গান-পাহাড়ের রহস্য(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 36)..  After that,সাগরতলের মৃতু্দূত(খন্ড 25 সংখ্যা 14-15) & রহস্যময় দম্পতি(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 1-3)   were few other titles from same period,but back then I read only the respective part-1(১ম পর্ব)  issues.

 Finally,the last Mandrake story in Indrajal - গোপন আবিষ্কার(খন্ড 27 সংখ্যা 7)  - was released on 1st April,1990 with a new price-tag(6.00).It was in my collection within a couple of days of the release - only for few hours though - as I lost this book during a long bus-trip on the very next day of purchase!! :(( And,the worst part of the loss is that, I'm yet to see another copy of গোপন আবিস্কার,even after 21 longgg years!! Quite unimaginable I know,but it's only a fact that I am yet to see even a torned Bengali copy of this issue,even after so many visits in the several old-book markets over the years.They have successfully arranged others issues except this one title!![UPDATE(11/1/12): Finally I have got this issue on this day from one of our Ijc friends through exchange! :)) ]

 ড্রাগ অভিযান(খন্ড 26 সংখ্যা 26)  was responsible for my introduction with Dara(দারা) - our own 007 Bond! This story was undoubtedly the best among the 8 Dara adventures,with much grimmer and blood-shaded plot!                                     

 Between,after that unfortunate loss of গোপন আবিস্কার,dad promised me to gift the next issue as a compensation and so he did.That was a Dara story : প্রতারণার ফাঁদ(খন্ড 27 সংখ্যা 8)  and eventually the LAST Indrajal,as you know!! That issue was released on 16th April,1990 and it's in my collection since 23rd April(Yes,I used to mention the 'date-of-purchase' on the inside cover on every issue(incld. any comics & books)! :-))

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So friends,it was my own experience with Indrajal Comics from those early days.What's your story??Do share with us!