A Mandrake story this time,from a 1971 Indrajal,with that vicious gang of world-wide criminals "league of 8(৮-এর দল)" in it. [The English version was 'The Mysterious Eight'(#144)].
You will never experience a single dull moment in any of the early "8" stories,with so much action & thrill these will offer.The introductory story(#77 - The Treacherous Gang) itself was a classic!! I do believe that Indrajal readers were/are fortunate enough to have ALL of the best "sign of 8" adventures published in these books.After Ijc's cancellation,the remaining "8" stories were published in Diamond's Mandrake Digest(DMD) but I have hardly enjoyed those!
For a more detailed reading on "8",visit these links of few old posts & forum's thread:
The league of 8(from Xanadu)
Mysterious Island of "8"(A old blog-post)
No.77 - The Treacherous Gang(Forum's Thread)
Enjoy!
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Now,this story was reprinted later,on 1985(V22 N47 : মরণের ডাক) but that '85 version was heavily edited with Lothar's get-up had been redrawn(by ToI's artist!!) - just in order to 'fit' him in the modern look - was one of those stupidest things done by them, that eventually ruined the vintage art of Fred Fredricks!! [You just have to check #122(Eng #144) & V22 N47 side-by-side to understand this(see the following panels)]
There are few more stories(with such treatment) aswell and probably the worst example is V23 N26(দূর-আকাশের তারা) - a reprint of #150/সংখ্যা ১২৮!
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Now,about the cover-art,this is one of the best Indrajal covers with Mandrake stories inside.Once again,B.Govind did a splendid job!About the Bengali titles,those are simply awesome with the number '8'(৮) mentioned in all of the first 3 stories related with this vicious gang,something that English titles lack!Those were "রহস্যময় ৮(সংখ্যা ৫৫/ #77)","৮-এর খপ্পরে(সংখ্যা ১২২/ #144)" and "আবার ৮-এর খপ্পরে(সংখ্যা ১৪১/ #163)".
Download সংখ্যা ১২২
You will never experience a single dull moment in any of the early "8" stories,with so much action & thrill these will offer.The introductory story(#77 - The Treacherous Gang) itself was a classic!! I do believe that Indrajal readers were/are fortunate enough to have ALL of the best "sign of 8" adventures published in these books.After Ijc's cancellation,the remaining "8" stories were published in Diamond's Mandrake Digest(DMD) but I have hardly enjoyed those!
For a more detailed reading on "8",visit these links of few old posts & forum's thread:
The league of 8(from Xanadu)
Mysterious Island of "8"(A old blog-post)
No.77 - The Treacherous Gang(Forum's Thread)
Enjoy!
------------------------------------------
Now,this story was reprinted later,on 1985(V22 N47 : মরণের ডাক) but that '85 version was heavily edited with Lothar's get-up had been redrawn(by ToI's artist!!) - just in order to 'fit' him in the modern look - was one of those stupidest things done by them, that eventually ruined the vintage art of Fred Fredricks!! [You just have to check #122(Eng #144) & V22 N47 side-by-side to understand this(see the following panels)]
------------------------------------------
Now,about the cover-art,this is one of the best Indrajal covers with Mandrake stories inside.Once again,B.Govind did a splendid job!About the Bengali titles,those are simply awesome with the number '8'(৮) mentioned in all of the first 3 stories related with this vicious gang,something that English titles lack!Those were "রহস্যময় ৮(সংখ্যা ৫৫/ #77)","৮-এর খপ্পরে(সংখ্যা ১২২/ #144)" and "আবার ৮-এর খপ্পরে(সংখ্যা ১৪১/ #163)".
When Mandrake takes some break,he reads comic!!wow!Then he is not any of those gimmickry super-heroes but rather a chilled-out person..only with some legendary power of illusion! :))
But there are the moments when he suspects something from a slight hunch,and that means end of his vacation(evenif that makes Narda quite furious)! Like when he saw that number 8 on the collar!!
"Hamara dhande mein ek galti ko maaf karna usse bada galti hein!(In our business,to forgive one mistake is the bigger mistake itself!)" - remember this most (in)famous dialogue by that under-world leader - Malik - in the 2002 Bollywood block-buster : Company ?? It seems that he took this idea from the "league of 8" itself as they also never forgive a mistake or failure and like Malik, allow only one thing : penalty-of-death("৮-এর যা রেওয়াজ")!
Now,read the whole story...
Download সংখ্যা ১২২
18 comments:
Yah..agree with poor editing of Lothar...may be they are not artist at all...possibly the speech balloon writer experimenting his creativity...:)
I’ve read The Treacherous Gang(রহস্যময় ৮) as it is one of my favourite IJC.
Still I remember that dramatic scene...Mandrake was captured by 8 and he was faking as senseless ...lied on the floor... they flooded the room with water for testing Mandrake whether he is faking or not...Mandrake floating on the water with his face down...holding his breathe... second slowly passing by... Tick...tock...tick...tock ...thrilling...:)
First they captured Narda(রহস্যময় ৮) then Mandrake(৮-এর খপ্পরে) and in third one(আবার ৮-এর খপ্পরে) Lothar...8 was most powerful enemy of Mandrake.
তা সত্ত্বেও আমার একটা জিনিস অবাক লাগে এত গোপনীয় দল কেন আংটি, কলারের বোতামে ৮এর চিন্হ ব্যবহার করতো? গুলি করে ৮এর চিন্হ এঁকে দিয়ে যেত
ক্লে ক্যামেলের মত...নিজেকে জানিয়ে দিয়ে যেত কেন যে দল গোপনে থাকতে চায়...
...anyway it’s never make any difference in my reading pleasure :)
Just downloaded and it is really nice scan...perfect...many thanks!:)
But i want to mention one thing... about the story...
In the first page of 'The Mysterious Eight’ Mandrake was reading comic page in newspaper... and suddenly he found one picture with wrecked car and hand of corpse... after that he was very curious about the cuff of the dead man shirt and the story began...
I just want to say something about the picture (wrecked car etc.) I found the same pic in the last page of ‘The Flying Saucers’... is ‘The Flying Saucers’ previous story of 'The Mysterious Eight’?
আমিতো সব mandrake daily or Sunday strips পড়িনি তাই ঠিক জানা নেই.
@Mahasthobir - The Flying Saucers was D131 and the Mysterious 8 was D132.
Tomar kache ki 8-er sab kata IJC ache ? Plz, thakle segulo post koro...
@MS: They were definetly NOT artist :),otherwise won't tried to ruin such superb work.Yes,Lothar was indeed looked 'out-of-place' in such stories when you read these '60s strips back to back with '80s strips i.e. in '80s Indrajal(as you know, Falk made him a modern guy from that typical African look..halk-pant/cap/bare foot etc).
এত গোপনীয় দল কেন আংটি, কলারের বোতামে ৮এর চিন্হ ব্যবহার করতো?
Yes,in one hand 8 is soo secretive,yet their men(of all ranks) wore such rings etc asif they are showing off their identity!:?can one guessAny probable reason??
@Venkit:Thanks for the info.yes,'The Mysterious Eight’ was a continuation of 'Flying saucer'.Infact,many Mandrake/Phantom strips were a continuation from the previous strip,so readers always can connect with these series! :)
@MS:Venkit already answered you query.Only one thing:Indrajal never published strips in their original order,that's why you will find D132 in #144/১২২ & D131 in #155/১৩৩!!There are plenty of such examples..
Now,as you have read রহস্যময় ৮ & উড়ন্ত সসারের কীর্তি ,so may I ask,how many old Bengali Indrajals you have in you collecion?? :)) ar sob miliye kota ache??
First they captured Narda(রহস্যময় ৮) then Mandrake(৮-এর খপ্পরে) and in third one(আবার ৮-এর খপ্পরে) Lothar.
WOW!!I have never thought in this way!Thanks for pointing out this!Ekhon mone porche je,in the 5th adventure with 8(#411/৩৮৮),Hojo was kidnapped aswell! Only Karma was never kidnapped,at least not in the Indrajal stories with 8!:)
@Suman:Sob kotai ache,only #141 er condition ta scan-er jonno bhalo noy(ok for reading though!).Will post the other 8 stories??Between,ei golpo-ta kemon laglo??
@Venkitachalam Subramanian Many thanks for the information. I guessed it...not sure...
in Indrajal I find ‘The Mysterious Eight’ first.
@ HOJO…I never knew you also kidnaped...;)
Truth is I don't read this issue yet...
ইন্দ্রজাল কমিকস(physical copies) আমার কাছে খুব বেশি নেই...এমনকি রহস্যময় ৮ আর উড়ন্ত সসারের কীর্তিও নেই...তবে digitally(most of them in eng.) তো প্রায় সবই আছে... :)
@MS:Ki bolle????Tumi jante na je amake kidnap kora hoyechilo??Ar ami bhablam,tumi amar baypare khoj-khobor rakho!!:( Anyway,I'll soon post another Indrajal story where my 'original identity' was revealed(only for Mandrake).But I belive,you know my identity very well!!isn't it?? ;))
Now,about your query(from the prev. post) on whether octon's identity was revealed in some Indrajal story,can you share some more information/story-synopsis?? Officially he was revealed in the dailies: D211(The Book of Criminals;1992) followed by D217(The Secret Place;1994) but was there any hint in some old story???If yes,that will be certainly interesting!! :))
Yes, it would be interesting for sure...but I forgot completely...also in other way it seems impossible because indajal already stopped in 92.
I don’t have any collection of mandrake dailies and diamond comics so how do I know that story?
That’s a big question... and I will tell you sure If I find an answer. :)
The cover I remember the face of cobra with hat and French-cut... snake... fire(?)...etc
Can you tell me where i can find D211?
I know who Hojo(সেলাম চীফ! :)) really is. কিন্তু এর বাংলা নামটাও ভুলে গেছি। মনে আছে রোলার কোষ্টারের ছবি একটা ছিল cover-এ।
গোপন রহস্য? এই রকম কিছু নাম ছিল কি?
@Hojo - hya, ei galpota khub-i bhalo. infact, mandrake-er jato shotru ache sabar theke 8 ke amar beshi bhalo lage. emanki keute-r thekeo. tumi sab kata 8 post karo plzzzzzzzz.
@Mahasthobir - Lee Falk also was confused at times. In IJC 327 & 328 in the story "Mandrake faces the Octon", Narda says that she does not know much about 8, where as she was the first person in the Mandrake household to have been kidnapped by the group. The interesting part is that comic is that the last panel gives a hint of who Octon could be. It very much looks like Lucifer.
@Suman:Yes,stories with 8 were much interesting & thrilling compare to those with Cobra!I will try to post some in future..
@MS:The cover was from V22 N51(প্রতিভার অপমৃত্যু:২য় পর্ব) but that was solely a Lucifer/cobra story without any relation with 8.As venkit said,in the last panel of #328(৩০৬),we'll find a reflection of Octon that somewhat resembles with Lucifer's costume,but I don't think back then,Falk had much in my mind to show both Lucifer & Octon are SAME ONE person - as they were quite different throught the years!
(You can read a bit on 'Cobar v/s octon discussion' in this old comment section where you will find how all fans coudn't digest this twist!!;o)
http://dara-indrajal.blogspot.com/2007/12/cover-project-4-leagues-of-8-special.html?showComment=1198805160000#c6609960627685227636
(IN FACT,IT WAS ANOTHER FAN who first told us about this secret,before we could manage to read some part of the story.)
And D211 was published in DC-Mandrake #17-20 and reprinted together(#18-20) in #66.It's available on-line but in Hindi!:( Worse,I have a copy of #66 with me AND THAT TOO in Hindi!!AND I DON'T ENJOY reading Hindi,allthough I can! :P
মনে আছে রোলার কোষ্টারের ছবি একটা ছিল cover-এ। গোপন রহস্য? এই রকম কিছু নাম ছিল কি?
প্রায় ঠিক বোলেছো...হ্যাঁ,cover-e রোলার কোষ্টারের ছবি ছিল আর title ছিল "চরম রহস্য(The Master Criminal)".I will post that soon!! ;))
Thanks Venkitachalam Subramanian, :)
I read somewhere, during Falk’s lifetime a group of writers also help him to build up the stories( I really don’t know it’s true or not) and they sometime confused with previous links.
And Lee said something like... good story is more important than limited with what was written before.
Yes "Mandrake faces the Octon" end-up just like Lucifer way. Thanks for remind me. :)
@Hojo,in V22 N51 nothing about Octon...
So it’s like I just guessed the connection between Lucifer and Octon without reading DC or strips...
May be I linked-up with similarity between their action and intelligence.
তবে দুই শত্রু এক হয় যাওয়াতে মজা অনেক কমে গেছে এটা মানতেই হচ্ছে।
@MS: It has been said that,during WW2,Falk coudn't scripted the strips all alone(both P/M) and hence another writer took the charge as a 'ghost' writer.
That person was Alfred Bester(1942-1945).He did mostly the MTM strips.Nobody is 100% sure but once Peder(of 'Xanadu' site) told me that he is allmost certain!
Actually you can find out that many "grimmer" Mandrake plots were written at that period('42-'45) that hardly matched with the earlier Falk's stories.And,some of them were just "Classic" with re-read values(even in this current age),so much so that later Falk continued/copied some of those plots! :))
Some (supposed to be)Bester's Famous Strips were:
Dailies:
28 Baron Kord
29 The Witch of Kaloon
33 The Mirror People
34 The Ice Lady
Sundays:
23 Mystery of the Girls with Red Hair
26 The Garden of Wuzzu
28 The Santa Claus Pirates
31 The Attalan Deep
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It's another thing that one might suspect some '90s MTM strips,specially dailies,were NOT written by Falk himself as those were downright silly(not bad,but silly!!) filled with so much wrong informations! :(
Bravado Hojo. Batting like Sehwag. Two comics in succession! Great work man.
Now, regarding comics, I totally agree with you that some nonesense in TOI did actually spoiled the vintage look of the comics. In fact, the vintage nature is one of the reasons of our attraction to IJC. I got one whole issue of IJC well edited and got it printed in good quality glossy paper. But, the charm was missing. I realized, that the thin paper, sometimes a little bid of mis-printing, that particular shape of the book etc. all were responsible for creating the nostalgia.
Will join in IJC discussion soon as I have physical copy of about 700 Bengali IJC now. English ones are already online. So, comparing and sharing experiences would be really nice.
@Devil:you are welcome!
I realized, that the thin paper, sometimes a little bid of mis-printing, that particular shape of the book etc. all were responsible for creating the nostalgia.
খুব ভালো বোলেছো !!
Finally,there's another fan of Indrajal with this feelings!! :))[I do belive, there are many who actually think this way!]
YES,WE CAN EASILY PRINT-OUT Indrajal Comics @any given time!But,unless you hold the 'original copy' in hand,that nostalgia won't back!!This is one of the reason why I never tried to print-out any 'missing' Indrajal till date(but might be we have to follow this for the few issues that we won't manage in the coming years!)
Also,I always love the "vintage look" in the scans than any too-much cleaned version!
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