Wednesday, February 13, 2008

#Comic No.76 & 77:The Ancient Cave Of Splendour:Part 1 & 2

UPDATE:A new comic has been posted at ACKNOWLEDGE...check it and happy reading..

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This time both parts are presented together without any nagging wait for the concluding part.Both comics are again a contribution from our familiar contributor Achala and this time she is also sharing her story of addiction with comics which we all love to read as we tend to identify it with our similar experiences.So here goes her story along with thanks and all credit....


My love affair with books started even before I could read, and Indrajal comics (IC) had a big role to play. I used to flip through them, looking at the pictures, while my aunt read nearby (I suspect she used to put them in my hands so that I wouldn't disturb her :)). I eventually read them a few years later, and was totally caught up in the stories. I can't remember for sure, but I think my favorites were Rip Kirby (always been a big fan of detective stories), Mandrake (coz of all the magic), Buz Sawyer (nice stories), Phantom and Bahadur, more or less in that order. I had a few issues with two-part stories and I used to get irritated that I can't find out the beginning and ending of those stories (I was never satisfied with those little 'story-so-fars' that come in part 2's). I had this wish - to read as many IC as possible, maybe even all that was published. In those days, it was hard to get hold of more, because publication had stopped by then, and I didn't know anyone e!
lse who used to read them. I moved on from comics, to children's literature, to fiction, to classics, and finally to non-fiction. So the wish remained unfulfilled, and was gradually forgotten.

Until recently... In December (2007), I got my hands on a stack of IC from relatives who were giving away stuff they didn't want to take along to their new house. I hadn't heard about the existence of these comics before so I went apprehensively to collect them, with visions of books in tatters, infested with silverfish and dog-ears. I was right about the tatters and dog-ears, and there was one silverfish. Overall, they were in better shape than I thought. The best part was, except for a handful, they were issues I'd never read before. :) :)

The first thing I did with the bundle was sort it out. The break-up: 25 intact, 35 without covers but otherwise intact, the rest too tattered to be considered. Quite a good haul. :) Then I read them. Obsessively. For two days, I read comics instead of doing the crossword {previously unheard of. I have to do the c/w daily :)} or reading newspapers {that's also a daily routine}. And after that, I still wanted more.
I can't understand the pull these comics exercise on me. The plots are wafer-thin, the dialogues corny (at times), the situations in the realm between improbable and impossible, yet I continue to read. I suppose, in a way, the books are like pieces to a giant jigsaw puzzle. In a series that spanned almost three decades (1964-1990), the authors had to keep creating new characters for variety, and a history for those characters. Having read only a fraction of the books in print, I have a lot of questions, and the answers are somewhere among the unread ones. In the larger scheme of things, these questions and their answers are of no consequence, but I'm still curious. :)

Having seen recent attempts to revive Chandamama, Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha - other childhood favorites, I wondered if there would be online versions of IC. I searched... and found. :) {Till here is what I wrote two months ago. Now I'll add what happened later}

First to be discovered was TCP, from there, I went blog-hopping until I found them all (you all, who are reading this. In case I haven't already said this, I'll say it now - Thank you!). Then, the downloading started. Along with the comics, I also got new information - how many comics there are in total, how many per hero, and so on. I think I now have almost everything that's been posted so far, so there's only one thing left to do - contribute. :) Scanning's been a little slow lately, but I'll pick up the slack soon. Any tips on compression will be most welcome. :)


Well, that's my story. In case you've read till here, wow!, very few people make it through my seemingly never-ending narratives. Congratulate yourselves. :D
I have a request to make to all contributors. Please scan the entire comic (Col. Worubu is not the only one who likes ads. :)). Often when I download two/three part comics, I'm disappointed to find the second story missing. Please don't ignore Buz and Rip. :(






















Download Part 1
Download Part 2

25 comments:

pattu said...

Achala and CW many many thanks for these Gems.

Chatur Cheeta said...

Thanks Achala and CW.
It was surprising to know that Achala started reading IJC the same way as I had. My Aunt too gave me IJCs to keep me pre-occupied. And one may find it hard to believe that it was due to IJCs I was able to fluently read English and Hindi long before I went to school.

Me, Myself & Me!! said...

Hey CW, Thanks for this comics. I had the first part only and now, after so many years, am getting the chance to read the 2nd part!!!

HojO said...

Nice comic...it's a repub. version of Ijc #11(1965) !
Though,in this version,story is unedited! :-)

Unknown said...

Sorry am a bit late here,CW and Achala.
Great effort.
"it was due to IJCs I was able to fluently read English and Hindi long before I went to school."
Chatur,never was anyone so right before.Same here,i mean TINKLE,ICS helped me improve English when i was young,though TINKLE played 90%role since i was more addicted to the same.
These comics are gems and i salute all the bloggers...ANUPAM,CW,ICC,TPH,MTM and others for the wonderful gems they have provided us with,yes...Indrajal comics.Can any other comic beat the thrill of these?Never,iam ready to bet.
CW,thanks.
Achala,nice post.

Comic World said...

GC: Welcome and enjoy reading...
CC: I would like to see all Indrajal lovers coming forward with their 'addiction' stories and sharing them with all of us.

Comic World said...

Sushant: Welcome to CW sushant and keep visiting along with your inputs.

Comic World said...

Dara: The story is not yet unedited in this version too,a full 2 or 3 page introduction of Phantom treasure have been omitted in all Indrajal versions.I am having its unedited Diamond version from which i may be posting those 'omitted' pages.

HojO said...

That's true!! I've it's B/W version on-paper too & that shows some introduction etc while in Ijc the story directly starts frm conspiracy of those convicts!

And yes.....DC retained ALL strip-pages wid occasional cropping!(it's the fact...WHILE Ijc did directly 'omtiing' several panels,DC did 'cropping' of same...ohh,better than complete editing! ;o) )

Comic World said...

Bahadur: Its nice to know that Indrajal has also been a English improving factor among most of you.
Chandan though English was never been a problem for me as my schooling was from convent school but still somehow for the reasons unknown i always enjoyed reading (comics,magazines,novels)in Hindi more than in English.
Though i use to collect Indrajal in both language (Hindi,English) but still whenever i wish to read them my hands always pick the Hindi Indrajal rather than their English counterparts.

TPH said...

"Interesting but familiar."

Applicable to both Achala's story and to the Phantom comic.

Nice narrative. enjoyed it.

CW, I suggest you to make a label for reader's contribution and put all these under that also.

Achala said...

Grouchy: You're very, very welcome. :)

Chatur cheeta: My aunt still reads IC. Does yours?
it was due to IJCs I was able to fluently read English and Hindi long before I went to school. So true! Although in my case, Tinkle, Chandamama and Children's World were equally responsible for getting into the reading habit.

Bahadur: Thank you. :) At that point of time, even I preferred Tinkle to IC. Fairy fales from around the world, Anwar, Raghu, Suppandi - all classics. Too bad the quality went down after some time...

TPH: Thank you. :)

CW: Thanks for posting my story. Looking forward to reading other people's stories...
I too studied in a convent school. Apart from the friends that I made there, fluency in English is the best thing that came out of my time in that school.

Anonymous said...

Thnks for posting my favourite phantom's another jewel. I was out of station for last two months. Just returned and first thing I had done is to look for comics in ur blog and tph blog. But i m surprised to see that u have stopped hindi version of comics. I would appreciate both version but prefer hindi more. so pls continue posting hindi ver. also

Comic World said...

TPH: I agree with your suggestion,will soon be implementing it.
Achala: You are welcome along with contributions as they (contributions) tends to lessen my burden and also they adds to variety along with conjoining readers (contributors) with blog in a more adhering way.

Comic World said...

Purvesh: Welcome back Purversh.Its not so that Hindi version have altogether been stopped from posting,rather dual posting is shelved for the time being in order to cut down the heavy task.

Chatur Cheeta said...

Achala: My Aunt also still reads IJC whenever she can lay hands on any of IJC. But as IJCs are now not available, she couldn’t develop similar reading habit in her own son.
You are welcome to exchange your experiences related to IJC on my e-mail:
chatur_cheeta@rediffmail.com

WildMagic said...

Hey, it was grat to read about Achala's experience and also nice that I didn't have to wait in impatience for the 2nd part. Way to go, CW.

Since I have been hanging around and commenting a bit, I have finally worked up the courage for a request ;-)

I think there is a Phantom comic where Rex learns that he is the heir of Baronkhan and the phantom helps him to become ruler. Does anyone know which one that is and then can it be posted? Please, puhleeasee :)

Comic World said...

CC: Alas..i don't have any Aunt who like to read IJCs but still i would love to read other's Aunt and Uncle similar experiences along with my all visitors so CC and others please share any such experiences with all of us rather than confining it among yourself ;o)

Comic World said...

WildMagic: Please feel free to put up any request,its most welcome.
The Indrajal where Rex identity was disclosed was a 3 part comic named "The Star of the East" Vol.21.No.8,9,10.
As a ruler of Baronkhan Rex did needed his Uncle Walker help several times in adventures such as "The Fearless Avenger" Vol.26.No.37 (Posted at CW),"The Hired Assassin" Vol.27.No.2

Anonymous said...

Nice comic. Though I feel I have read this story with some other name/ publisher.

Thanks CW and Achala. Like Achala, even I can't explain why I actually read these comics, as she said - the plots, dialogues, stories & situations are hardly the motive. It's probably the window to a different, almost magical world, in which one gets transported to, for a short time. Gives a high of some sort, but in a literary way :-)

Thanks again.


- Ruchi.

Indrajal Comics Treasures said...

Dear CW, a real nice post and a good one for those who always want all parts at at time! the story's moral is " Kisise Acchayi karo, to sale peeth mein chura khopte hai!" but still, our phantom remains an accha man!

Achala said...

Hi everyone, sorry for the long silence. I was in B'lore for a few days last week and then was busy catching up with pending stuff.

CW: Contributions will resume in a few days.

Wildmagic: Thanks.

Ruchi: You're welcome. What else do you read, apart from comics?

Achala said...

Chatur Cheeta: It's sad that people are missing out on IC because they're out of print. I guess you should introduce your cousin to the digital versions. ;)

Comic World said...

Ruchi: Welcome,I guess you must have read its Diamond version.
SCT: Its upon us that in which way we take the theme of any story...
Achala: Welcome back,managed to find any IJC there....!!

Anonymous said...

Achala:
To be honest I don't have any particular preferences when it comes to reading. Anything good usually does :) e.g. currently I am reading a couple of books in parallel - one is Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux, the other is an introduction to Business Finance by Robert Cinnamon. The latter, surprisingly, is more riveting! How about you? You can mail me at ruchi DOT paris AT yahoo DOT com

- Ruchi.

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