Tuesday 25 August 2020

324 The Death Chant On Klet

I had known about Flash Gordon from a novel I got from friend. It did not make much sense at the first reading - re-read it after a year - and I was hooked to Sci-Fi.

It was a story where Flash and Zarkov encounter an amazing series of adventures when their space ship crashes on a gypsy planet. Endless war raged between 2 groups of robots led by two beautiful queens. Zarkov's scientific genius saves them from certain annihilation.

Flash Gordon

I did not know when I was reading that book, that I would be meeting Flash Gordon again! I was delighted to know - when I finished reading 'The Crucial Combat' (323) - that the next issue would feature Flash Gordon.

Indrajal No. 324 published on April 15, 1979
was my first Flash Gordon Comic.

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The day I discoverd Enid Blyton

Sometime just after my 6th Standard Final Exams were over and the school closed for summer vacations - 3rd week of April 1979 - I was introduced to Enid Blyton's 'Secret Seven'. My elder bro Arun gave me this book 'Good Work Secret Seven'. It was lent to him by his friend - it would have been John Fernandes - but I am not sure. It was mid-morning - about 10ish when I started reading. It turned out so compelling that I read it through at one go. Finished it in 3 hrs!
That was 40 years ago. I got all the the 15 Secret Seven books within a couple of years - each of them read many times over!

I have this book now as a hard cover edition. The image is of the edition that I actually read 40 years ago. 


The Secret Seven (1949)
Secret Seven Adventure (1950)
Well Done Secret Seven (1951)
Secret Seven on the Trail (1952)
Go Ahead Secret Seven (1953)
Good Work Secret Seven (1954)
Secret Seven Win Through (1955)
Three Cheers Secret Seven (1956)
Secret Seven Mystery (1957)
Puzzle for the Secret Seven (1958)
Secret Seven Fireworks (1959)
Good Old Secret Seven (1960)
Shock for the Secret Seven (1961)
Look out Secret Seven (1962)
Fun for the Secret Seven (1963)

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Monday 24 August 2020

323 The Crucial Combat

The Crucial Combat
All the earlier issues I had bought - 319, 320, 321 and 322 - the covers were lost to time. I had to reprint the covers to make them complete. This issue is the first Indrajal comic with me that survived with its original cover over 4 decades.

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Sunday 23 August 2020

322 The Invisible Saviour

Indrajal Comics
I bought this comic from Wheeler Newspaper Stall on Borivali Railway Station Platform No. 5. It was the day this issue would have been available and I could not wait till the evening when I usually left for home at 6.30 pm - when school ended for the day - and buy the comic. The railway station was quite nearby to my school. I and my classmate - Sudhir Alphonso - ventured out in the 30 min. recess, went over to the station and bought it! Got into the class room with the issue folded inside my uniform!😀

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321 The Benevolent Ghost

Indrajal Comics
The publication for this issue was somewhat delayed and I remember asking the stall vendor 'इंद्रजाल कॉमिक्स आया?' everyday on my way back from school. It was supposed to be out on March 1, 1979 but the vendor had it with him 3-4 days later.

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320 Demons From The Dark Part 2

Indrajal Comics
I had to buy this issue twice. First copy from the 'Pandurang' News-Paper stall - just midway on the road to my school. It was with me for a number of months. Suddenly it was no longer where I usually kept my books and magazines stashed. I realised I must have lent out to some friend and had forgotten about it. I had to buy it a second time - this time from local raddiwaala for 50ps. Thats when I realised I could get issues prior to No. 319 as well and started frequenting these shops!

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319 Demons From The Dark Part 1 - My First Comic

Indrajal Comic
I owe it to my friend Ramprasad Padhi's offhand remark of having seen a book with 'Phantom' character on a news-stand on our way to school. This was as I was showing him my collected Phantom strips cut-out from the 'Illustrated Weekly of India' in 1979. We set out to the news-stand to verify what book it was. I did not know what a 'Comic' was before this.  This small newsstand just at the entry to Daulatnagar (Borivali East) in suburban Mumbai was to be one of my most cherished places and bought my first Indrajal. The Indrajal Childhood started!

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