50 Years of Indrajal Comics : A Celebration Post

For Those Who Came in LATE....

• March...
• 1964...
• A NEW Times of India Publication,a comic-magazine(then monthly) was launched in India,titled Indrajal Comics.....

------------

• JAN...
• 1966...
• Bengali version was started off,been 22 issues behind of the pioneer issue...

And since then for almost 3 decades the generations of Indian kids and teens(and grown-ups as well) were mesmerized by this series,it's enchanting presentation that incld. exciting tales and much more!

------------

• May...
• 1990...
• 27th year of publication...

 Indrajal Comics was officially killed cancelled - a sudden decision made by the publisher ...
 The last issue, featured the last hero introduced in the Indrajal universe - Dara - was released on 16th April,1990...

--------------------------------
the AFTERMATH...
JUNE'1990..1992..1995..1999...2002...2005..2007..2012..2013..2014....and the coming years.....

• College Street of Kolkata...
• Dariya Ganj of Delhi....
• Fort  Market of Mumbai....
• Abids' of Hyderabad....

 AND 1000s of other old-book-shops throughout the India WERE (AND still ARE) RANSACKED by millions of  BOOKWORMS known as Indrajal-Addicts.....and a research revealed : older they are crazier they act!!!
AND THE HUNT IS STILL ON !!!
---------------------------

PRESENT DAYS:

• March...
• 2014...

Today Indrajal Comics completes it's 50 years of existence !

 A true immortal series it was.....fans proved the fact by their act even after 2 decades of the  'sudden death'!
 In short,Indrajal was NOT just another comic-series for us,the readers.....it was much beyond that....Forget about the cover-titles,one will have a good time with few 100s of Indrajals just by reading the informative articles/side-strips alone(or looking at the old advertisements and relieve the nostalgia!)....
--------------------------
BACK to the PAST :

 Way back in the '60s, ToI decide to promote their newly launched series and that was not tough for them as they were one of the top publishers in India back then,already owned one of the popular magazines : Illustrated Weekly India where Phantom was introduced much earlier that we have him in the pages of  Indrajal!
 Initially they heavily relied on Falk's Phantom(Betal) and Walt Disney's stories.With passing years they finally settled their target heroes : Phantom,Mandrake,Flash Gordon!They in the late'70s they introduced an Indian hero : Bahadur, just to give the series a more Indian feel and readers,a variety!
 Later on,we have few more western and Indian heroes(namely Garth,Lt.Drake,Rip Kirby,Buz,Corrigan,Aditya & Dara) and some had a good impact on fans' mind but the highlighted ones remain the same - that is, the Fantastic Four!

 Here you can see few very early advertisements of Indrajal...published in the '60s issues of  Illustrated Weekly of India (image courtesy Kevin Patrick - a Phantom researcher) :

 The Indrajal ads used to appear in the Bengali teen-mag Anandamela in the in '70s are the best among the lot I have even seen...A brief story-synopsis followed by the titles and art of the featuring heroes were always present in those pages! These kind of ads surely did enhance the readers' interest many folds!(Those who can't read Bengali will easily guess the titles from the art.)

------------------------- 

Once Again...Back to the PRESENT:

 ON THIS SPECIAL MEMORABLE OCCASION LET'S CONSIDER THE WHOLE March of 2014 AS "Month of Indrajal Comics" and hopefully other bloggers will carry forward the celebration as well....
 So I WILL POST some selected Indrajal Issues in this post in the three languages I prefer to read i.e. Bengali,English & Hindi(in the order of preference) as follows :

• Comic #109 : A Bengali Betal Indrajal : রহস্যময় প্রতিশোধ (সংখ্যা ২০৯ ; ১৯৭৫)

 এই ইন্দ্রজালটিতে বেতালের দু'টো গল্প আছে। দ্বিতীয়টিও মরুভূমির প্রেক্ষাপটে....নাম  "মরুভূমির আতঙ্ক"।
 দুটিই লি ফকের অনবদ্য সৃষ্টি, তবে প্রথম গল্পটির প্লট অনন্য যা প্রতিবার পড়ার পর এক অদ্ভূত অনুভূতি নিয়ে আসে!!  মরুভূমিতে একাকী এক পুরুষ আর তার অভিনব(এবং ভয়ঙ্কর) প্রতিশোধের পরিকল্পনা....

বেতাল সেই 'বাজ প্রশিক্ষক'-এর দৃষ্টিভঙ্গিকে সমর্থন না করলেও আমরা,পাঠকরা, না করে থাকতে পারিনি। তাই নয় কি??
এমনকি বেতালও শেষে বিভ্রান্ত হয়ে যায়...

   দ্বিতীয় গল্পটি ছোটো কিন্তু বেশ ভালো...আর শেষটা অনবদ্য, যা চলমান অশরীরীর রহস্যময়তাকে আরো একবার ফুটিয়ে তোলে...

DOWNLOAD রহস্যময় প্রতিশোধ

---------------------------------------------------

• Comic #110 : An English Dara Indrajal : The Enemy Agent (Vol.25 No.43 ; 1988)

 This was the introductory tale of this Indian James Bond who did a good job! 
  Must admit,the plot was perfect set-up for Dara to introduce in the Indrajal's prestigious universe of heroes and super-heroes... 
 You will see how he nabbed a cunning traitor..

And the illustration,as we always have mentioned,was top-notched!    

DOWNLOAD The Enemy Agent 

---------------------------------------------------

• Comic #111 : A Hindi Mandrake Indrajal : म्रित्यु कि परछाई (सन्खा २९८ ; १९७८)

प्रस्तुत है मैनड्रैक की एक कहानी जहां हम देखेंगे होजो  का कमाल! क्या '8' के साथ कोई सम्बन्ध है?

यह जानने के लिए पढिये : मृत्यु की परछाई!! 

DOWLOAND म्रित्यु कि परछाई 

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.
-------------------------------------------------
 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!!)]
-----------------------------------------------
 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)! :-))

----------------------------------------

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

Comic #38:Dara-Indrajal:The Drug Barons(V26 N26;1989)

Hello Friends, I've just freshly scanned a Indrajal for your enjoyment & what could be the best fitted for the beginning??Of course a Dara-Indrajal!! SO CHEERS!:-)

It's one of the best titles of this Indian secret spy, dealt with the most dangerous issue back then in the '80s i.e. drug smugglers! I read it for the first time in '89 & was very much excited!! Also Pradeep Sathe's illustrations was awesome - specially I loved those scenes associated with the deep jungles and animal sanctuary! 

Hope you guys also love this, let me know what you feel! :-) And I've scanned ALL 32 pages and posted in our conventional On-Line manner...

READ ON!!
























*Download Dara-Indrajal(V26 N26):
[1] HIGH QUALITY SCAN(Preferable)
[2] LOW RESOLUTION (low quality)