# Madhuri

'The Times of India' publication holds a glorious history of being the oldest and a major baton of the Indian print media from a period spanning more than 170 years.
This publication gave us many cherished magazines covering all major readership areas such as The Illustrated Weekly Of India,Dharamyug,Filmfare,Femina to name a few and comics such as Indrajal comics.
Along with Filmfare,which covers up Indian Film Industry,there was another one such magazine quenching the thirst of Indian Hindi readers and that was Madhuri.
Madhuri was a fortnightly started in 1964 and carried up to late 80' after which it was rechristened as 'Hindi Fimfare' and that too ultimately ceased publishing in early 90's.
Madhuri used to be a class magazine avoiding usual gossips which were the regular feature of the Indian Hindi film based magazines of that time.It was associated with some of the finest writers,compilers and editors of Hindi cinema print media such as Isaac Mujawar,Raju Bharatan,Vinod Tiwari,Rauf Ahmad,Harish Raghuvanshi,Firoz Rangoonwala,Vishwas Nerurkar and others.
I was a great fan of Madhuri though i have read very few issues of it and later read mostly 'Hindi Filmfare' in early 90's.The features,articles,printing and page quality of Madhuri were of high class and simply unmatched by any of other Hindi film magazine till now.
its surprising that there is no information available about Madhuri on net,sites such as Wikipedia have no information about Madhuri.I have tried to provide at least brief information about it without going into deeper details.

























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# Lotpot

Earlier i use to rate Lotpot not that much high as compared with other cartoon comic/magazine such as Madhumuskan,Deewana,Parag etc.Near to me Lotpot was a kiddish type comic magazine with very ordinary features except Motu-Patlu(Of Bhardwaj Sb.only),though i read a few Lotpots in early 80's and except Pran's Chacha Chaudhry nothing impressed me as till then Bhardwaj Motu-Patlu were also drifted to other publications such as Diamond Comics etc.
Very recently i find a opportunity to lay my hands on very early issues of Lotpots and while going through them in detail a whole new dimension of Lotpot unfolded before me,i was amazed to find there features of many artists who became very popular later on.
I found unearthed features of Jagdish,Shehaab,Sukhwant,P.D.Chopra,Pran,Jitendra Bedi,Manik etc thus erasing all my misconception about the quality of Lotpot.
Along with Deewana,Lotpot was the unique comic magazine which provided initial platform to the finest cartoon artists of India from where they were able to carve their own niche.


























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# The Phantom:74th Birthday

Friends tomorrow,i.e.,17th February is the day of 74'th b'day of the world's most popular and influential character Phantom-The Ghost Who walks.
Exactly 74 years from now,i.e. on 17th Feb 1936, this immortal character's first daily strip,The Singh Brotherhood,appeared in US newspapers.Phantom was the first masked hero of the comic history and formed the main inspiration behind the creation of another masked hero,Batman.




















(images courtesy:Deep Woods)

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# My Name Is Khan & I m Not a Terrorist

"My Name Is Khan & I Am Not A Terrorist"
"There Are Only Two Types Of Peoples In The World-Bad Peoples & Good Peoples"
"मेरा नाम खान है और मैं दहशतगर्द नहीं हूँ"

"दुनिया में सिर्फ दो तरह के लोग होते हैं--अच्छे लोग और बुरे लोग"

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# 3rd Anniversary Post

Friends and comic lovers from all over the world,it gives me immense pleasure to welcome all of you at this memorable day which is the 3rd birthday/anniversary of this blog.
First of all let me thank my dear friend Comic Crazee for designing this fabulous header specially for Comic World's 3rd Anniversary post.Many-many thanks to him for this magnificent gift.
To start the celebrations,let me present another one of my dear and close friend Kuldeep Bhai who is eager to welcome all of you.Here are his words right away.

"Hello every one..My welcome greeting to you all and thanks everyone for joining us to celebrate another wonderful anniversary of this blog.This blog is not a website like millions others available on internet but it is a place where we see a pristine pond filled with warm memories of our childhood and we all want to jump to feel the old days when we were care free, pure hearted and dreamed to do something big.. Welcome all.. jump and feel the joy, happiness and lets promise ourselves that we will keep on filling this pond with our thoughts, appreciation,knowledge sharing,old memories so that more and more will be joining us in coming days to make this place the only 'mecca'/'Kumbh' of Comics world .. On this blog we have seen so many wonder ful post(Sholay,Hindi novels,satyakatha,bal pocket books,comics artist, writers....).. so many old thoughts ('par-tilli' , comics reading in Lantern light, efforts took to get comics...) we met so many wonder ful people who have such vast knowledge on comics,collection and we learned a lot about comics,comic culture ,reading habits in India and around the world. So much have been shared,posted so far and amazing part is that ' we want more' what best could happen to this blog other than this that instead of quenching the fire it is making it more and more big like adding more fuel (with every new post.) we have shown our appreciation to 'Zaheer bhai' so many time and on this occasion I salute his great work again on behalf of all of us and congratulate him again on 3rd anniversary of 'Comic world'.
Lage raho Zaheer bhai ... and Yes.. ALL IZZZ WELL.. keep it rolling.. Have a wonder ful time friends.. Kuldeep

As you all know about Kuldeep Bhai that he is living encyclopedia of comics,he has vast-vast treasure of knowledge and nostalgic moments attached with comics which he regularly keeps on sharing with all of us in his unique and unmatched style of words of which we all are fond of.If topic comes about Ved Prakash Sharma then he is simply unmatched and a living data base of his novels...simply mind blowing...i have never seen a passionate comic reader and lover as he is....and talking about his human side,he is a good human and friends of friend.How many of us can send quite a costly comics to a person with whom we don't have that much of 'terms' and acquaintance and that also without expecting any thing in return!!!Truly,a most humble attitude which is highly appreciated.
Kuldeep Bhai,many thanks for your kind and warm feeling toward this blog,i hope to see you all along with this blog like you are.As a small token of gift here is that ad page of unpublished novel of Ved Prakash Sharma which you were looking for.Hope you will like it.

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# Republic Day Post

Today morning i received this sms from a dear friend Anupam,
"Why do we Indians eagerly wish valentine day,rose day,friendship day,etc. before 6 or 8 days,and feel proud that we have done a very great job.But why do things change when it comes to our nation's 'Republic Day or Independence Day'.Do we have the same eagerness?Answer is "NO".So come lets change our view towards our nation and stop giving priority to the western culture.
Lets be INDIANS first. "HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY" "JAI HIND...."
Yes,completely agree with it.Why its so that we are very eager to wish for individual cause but not for national cause!!Its so because we are losing faith and believe on nationalism and moving towards individualism.We prefer to think on regional or individual basis rather than on national basis.Nation is been taken as granted,we are proud to adopt western culture at every step of life,may it be clothes or living standards or live-in relationship or deteriorating inter-family relations. Anyway,not in mood to give any lecture,all of us are mature enough to understand in what way we are going.
Presented herewith is a pure desi comic for all of you on this auspicious occasion of our 60th Republic Day.Enjoy it and say "Jai Hind" if you like it.
One more thing,Feb.1st week will be the 3rd b'day of CW,many new things have been planned this time.Hope all of you will like them,till then 'Jai Hind'.

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# Rehasmaye Doosra Vetal

After a long period an Indrajal is being posted on this blog as the very first post of year 2010.Though this blog came into existence because of passion for Indrajal comics only but as time elapsed and quota of IJC went on depleting it steered its focus towards other comics in order to keep alive healthy and nostalgic discussion over comics.Mere comic posting was never been a motive of this blog,rather discussions about comics and nostalgia attached with comics was the main cherished objective of this blog.
In 1st week of February Comic World will be celebrating 3rd year of its existence,yes,a whole three year..how fast time passes..seems its just a few days back when Comic World came into picture.With all of you i will be celebrating 3rd b'day of Comic World with quite a few gifts for all of you which shall obviously be comics and comics.
Coming to present post,its a Hindi Indrajal version of Sunday No.44,'The Jungle Tourneys' which ran from 19th Feb. to 20th March 1956.It was published as 4th issue of Indrajal with superb cover art by late Govind Ji.Initially transcription was just ok and not much thought was given into it to capture the essence of script but later on in early 80's transcription improved a lot and perhaps was the best of the Indrajal history.It remained unknown till end that who used to transcript Hindi versions of Indrajal.
In this 4th issue its of very ordinary standard,have a look yourself on this panel what Vetal says in Hindi,"....उसने सिर्फ मेरे कपड़े ही नहीं,मेरी इज़्ज़त भी लूट ली!" ha..ha...ha....ha...see,how improper transcription strips of Phantom dignity.

























Front and back cover scans of this comic has been provided by Mr.Binay Pandey through Ajay Misra for which thanks to both of them.






















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# New Year 2010 Post

Friends Happy Belated Christmas wishes and advance Happy New Year 2010 wishes to all of you.
I am happy that Comic Market has got a encouraging and warm welcome from all of you and i hope it will prove to serve that greater purpose for which it has been introduced and that can be achieved only when more and more comic collectors will participate in it and put comic trade offers.
Hence to make the process easy and smooth i ask comic collectors/lovers who wish to make offers on Comic Market to come forward and i will be granting them posting rights on Comic Market so that they can make their offers directly by posting on blog rather than my being a medium to do so.
Interested persons please let me know along with their mail id so that i can grant them authorship rights.

Well,the first comic of this post is 'The Missing Virus X',a Corrigan comic published in 1973 by AFI comics for New World Publication of Mumbai,a unknown Indian publication.I have no more information about this publication,its publications and character details.If anybody have more information about it then please share.
Highlights of this comic are superb illustrations with well depicted story,i have never read a better Corrigan story than this though my scope of Corrigan comics is limited to Indrajal comics only where its comics were so-so regarding quality.

























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In India Superman and Batman comics were introduced by Dolton Comics(Chennai) in 1982,which used to publish them bilingually(English/Hindi) fortnightly.I was a avid reader of Hindi Dolton comics during mid 80's but the word to word Hindi translation of the English version proved a setback for Hindi version and at a later stage Hindi version doesn't used to appeal me that much as it used to initially.
Here is the very first issue of Superman/Batman of Dolton Comics for all of you.

























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As we have discussed earlier many times that Manoj Chitra Katha were no doubt the best to produce comics with best attractive covers in initial phase with the help of brilliant cover artist C.M.Vitankar,though Vitankar also designed cover for Amar Chitra Katha but there the cover quality was much inferior if compared with those of MCK.The credit goes to Vitankar,no doubt,but along with him the layout and printing quality of MCK also deserve credit.
One such comic with brilliant cover by C.M.Vitankar is presented here for all of you.Its a hilarious comic with superb script by Bimal Chatterji and befitting illustrations by Jitendra Bedi or Bedi as popularly known.
Comic consists of three short stories all very entertaining and a joy to read.The base of these stories were stories from Alif Laila or Arabian Nights from where Bimal Chatterji might have drawn inspiration.I remember in my childhood,long before MCKs were started,my maternal uncle use to tell me the stories from Arabian Nights,and all the stories in this comic i have heard long back from him.

























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In a recent comic hunt i got hold of few Madhumuskans,a cover of few of them are here for all of you.Madhumuskan was also a successful product from a glorious publication house from Delhi.










































Cover of this particular Madhumuskan i found much funny,hence scanned it for all of you.Its stories are also very entertaining.

























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Chalte-chalte,few covers for you from Star comics,Tarzan and lesser known Nutan Chitra Katha.






















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# Comic Haat

Friends,we all are comic lovers and most of among us are collectors who are in constant search for their cherished comics.We regularly and religiously search for our most sought comics but since almost all of our cherished comics are not in publication now so day by day its becoming very tough to find our most sought and missing comics.
Three-four years back from now it was comparatively easier to find these comics but with the advent of numerous comic blogs,the craze for comics has been revived again,specially for those comics which were associated with our childhood.Everyone wishes to revive those nostalgic moments which are hidden in the pages of comics which we have read in our childhood.
For eg.,comic top in chart is Indrajal comics,these are most sought comics of today and can be considered as money spinners for old book shop keepers and vendors.Few years back from now they were easily available at a rate ranging from Rs.5-25/copy depending upon the issue no.,language and character,but nowadays its very difficult and costly affair to get hold of a early issue of IJC,specially between no.1 and 300.
My personal experience is a surprising witness to this exponential increment in rates of vintage IJC as i was offered few issues of IJC within the issue range #100-200 for a whooping price of Rs.1000/-(One Thousand Rupees) per copy by a fellow blogger and friend,which i politely turned down.At ebay IJCs are being quoted at a crazy price,the book markets of Kolkata, Lucknow and Delhi are charging early vintage issues within a price range of Hundreds of Rupees.
Now,its not IJC alone which is enjoying manifold price range,other vintage comics such as Manoj Chitra Katha,Dolton Comics,Madumuskan,Star Comics,Chandamama,Deewana,Amar Chitra Katha,Tinkles etc are also being sold within a price range of Rs.15-100/- copy depending upon the availability,demand of that particular comic and craziness of comic lovers.Even the Bal-pocket books of S.C.Bedi series Rajan Iqbal novels which were aptly available at Rs.1/copy are now being demanded as Rs.5-10/copy by old comics vendors. Magazines such as The Illustrated Weekly of India,of which i purchased around 70+ issues quite cheap,are now being offered at minimum Rs.250/-copy.
Sensing the sharp spike in vintage and old comics demand many comic 'brokers' have also been raised up,who assures to arrange comics on 'commission' basis.Its becoming more and more difficult with time to get access to these vintage comics within a reasonable price range for a comic lover of middle class financial condition.
Many of us may be having a no. of comics along with duplicate issues and/or those comics which are least in our priority list and which we can swap/exchange with our other missing comics.Keeping this very thought in mind an idea hit me that wouldn't it be possible if we can help each other?Can we help each other to increase and improve our collection? It will be very much easier and economical if we can swap our required/missing comic within ourselves so that we can dispose our unnecessary comics and duplicate issues,which may be very much sought by others,by swapping and exchanging comics among ourselves.
By this we can increase and complete our collection much faster and economically by helping and being helped by other comic lovers. For this purpose i have planned to introduce a separate blog (COMIC MARKET) where we can offer our spare and non-required comics to other comic lover for exchanging/trading comics within ourselves.
One can also dispose off his/her comics by offering them for sale,but pls don't quote unreasonable and exorbitant price as this blog doesn't wish to serve as a business platform for professional comic sellers.
Hence,this very comic blog is named as Comic Market where you can offer your spare and other comics for swap/trade/exchange and sale in order to mutually help each other.Though this blog is named as Comic Market but it will not serve as a typical market,rather its a 'Haat'(trade place),where we can trade within our necessities of comics.
I,myself have many duplicate issues as well as other non-required comics which i will be gladly offering to those who are requiring/missing them in lieu of my other required and missing comics.
So,friends don't forget to check Comic Market from now onwards for new updates on comics as you never know when can you get hold of your most cherished comics there.


During my recent comic hunt i came across with few vintage issues of Chandamama,which i gladly picked up along with many other vintage and rare issues of other comics such as Madhumsukans,Parag,ACKs and others.Covers of few of those vintage comics are here for you.








































































































































Chalte-chalte..a big post is due for all of you,but somehow not slipping into suitable mood and finding enough time to shape it to a satisfactory level.Anyway,will try hard to finish it soon. Continue Reading »

# The First Hero

Friends,its very sad to inform all of you that Mr. Govind Brahamania(71) is no more now.He passed away on 9th December 2009 at his Mumbai residence due to a massive heart attack.
Govind Brahamania(2nd March 1938-9th December 2009) was known mainly as the illustrator of first Indian comic Hero,Bahadur,created by Abid Surti,but apart from Bahadur he was the man behind the creation of some of the best Phantom cover art design for Indrajal comics in its initial phase.The cover designed and illustrated by him are still considered as the best covers in the history of Indrajal comics,he imparted a paint like look on covers alike Gold key Phantom covers.




















(Image courtesy:Alok Bhai)

During middle phase of Indrajal comics he associated with Abid Ji for Bahadur illustrations and continued with it till 1990 when TOI cancelled the publication,though Abid Ji left Bahadur and he continued with Jagjit Utpal till end.
There are not much details available with me of his work other than in Indrajal comics,hope i could collect and compile more such information in upcoming post for all of you.
He will always be remembered as great artist whenever there will be talk of Indian comic illustrators.
Have a look at few of his Phantom covers designed for Indrajal.



























































and this was his USP.




































































(Image courtesy:Alok Bhai) Continue Reading »