Indrajal Comics
Encyclopedia
Indrajal Comics was a series launched by the publisher of The Times of India
, Bennet, Coleman & Co in March 1964. The first 32 issues contained Lee Falk
's The Phantom
stories, but thereafter, the title alternated between various King Features characters, including Lee Falk
's Mandrake
, Alex Raymond
's Flash Gordon
, Rip Kirby
and Phil Corrigan
, Roy Crane
's Buz Sawyer
, Allen Saunders
' Mike Nomad
, Kerry Drake
, and Steve Dowling's Garth
. Later it also published Bahadur
, an Indian comic hero created by Aabid Surti.
On 1981, yearly subscriptions could be purchased for rupees 64.Each issue was individually numbered until 2 Jan 1983 when the editors decided to use a volume and number typical of periodical publications. Hence, #444 was identified as Vol.20 No.1 and so forth.The front cover design was also changed, with the introduction of the distinctive Indrajal Comics banner.
The cover artwork for the first 50 or so issues of Indrajal Comics was done by B.Govind, with the back cover featuring a pin-up poster. Govind's painted covers are highly regarded amongst Indian Phantom fans, and are on par with those of George Wilson for the Gold Key series and the Avon novels from the USA. The Indrajal Comics were a full-colour production from #8 onwards, with The Phantom's costume being coloured blue for the first 10 issues in the series, but thereafter the colour was changed to the more traditional purple. Several of the covers (e.g. #1, #9, #10 and #13) even dared to show The Phantom's eyes.
Because of The Phantom's close connection to India, the editors made several "politically correct" changes to places and names—Bengali became Denkali (there are no pygmy people in Bengal, which would have puzzled Indian readers); the Singh Brotherhood were known as "Singa" pirates; and Rama (the murderer of the 20th Phantom) became Ramalu, even though Ramalu is also a common Indian name.
For some strange reason, Ray Moore's work was never popular in India. Only a few of the stories in which Moore was assisted by Wilson McCoy, were ever published in the Indrajal Comics. Ray Moore classics such as "The Singh Brotherhood" were never heard of by the majority of Indian Phantom fans. Instead, the editors relied heavily on Wilson McCoy and Sy Barry stories, in addition to most of the stories from the American Phantom comics produced by Gold Key / King / Charlton. Indrajal also published one story created by Team Fantomen in Sweden (Vultures Over Vacul from Nr.18/1976 was reprinted in #341-342).
A total of 803 Indrajal Comics were published, excluding #123 and #124 which were not printed due to industrial strike action. More than half of these issues contained Phantom stories.
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
, Bennet, Coleman & Co in March 1964. The first 32 issues contained Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
's The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
stories, but thereafter, the title alternated between various King Features characters, including Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
's Mandrake
Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...
, Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
's Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, Rip Kirby
Rip Kirby
Rip Kirby was a popular comic strip featuring the adventures of the eponymous lead character, a private detective created by Alex Raymond in 1946...
and Phil Corrigan
Secret Agent X-9
Secret Agent X-9 was a comic strip begun by writer Dashiell Hammett and artist Alex Raymond . Syndicated by King Features, it ran from January 22, 1934 until February 10, 1996....
, Roy Crane
Roy Crane
Royston Campbell Crane , who signed his work Roy Crane, was an influential American cartoonist who created the comic strip characters Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer. He pioneered the adventure comic strip, establishing the conventions and artistic approach of that genre. Comics historian...
's Buz Sawyer
Buz Sawyer
Buz Sawyer was a popular comic strip created by Roy Crane and highly regarded by comic strip historians. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it had a long run from November 1, 1943 to 1989. The last strip signed by Crane was dated 21 April 1979....
, Allen Saunders
Allen Saunders
Allen Saunders was an American writer, journalist and cartoonist who wrote the comic strips Steve Roper and Mike Nomad, Mary Worth and Kerry Drake...
' Mike Nomad
Steve Roper and Mike Nomad
Steve Roper and Mike Nomad was an American adventure comic strip that ran under various earlier titles from November 1936 to December 26, 2004...
, Kerry Drake
Kerry Drake
Kerry Drake is the title of a comic strip created for Publishers Syndicate by Alfred Andriola as artist and Allen Saunders as uncredited writer...
, and Steve Dowling's Garth
Garth (comic strip)
Garth was a comic strip in the British newspaper Daily Mirror from July 24, 1943, to March 22, 1997. The strip belonged to the action-adventure genre and recounted the exploits of the title character, an immensely strong hero who battled various villains throughout the world and many different...
. Later it also published Bahadur
Bahadur (Comic character)
Bahadur was a comic book hero published by Indrajal Comics and created by Aabid Surti in 1976. Although it had been initially created by Aabid Surti a few years earlier, it was finally offered to Indrajal Comics. Aabid Surti was at that time freelancing for Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.. After he...
, an Indian comic hero created by Aabid Surti.
Introduction
In March 1964, the publisher of The Times of India, Bennet, Coleman & Co., launched a new series called Indrajal Comics. The first 32 issues contained "The Phantom" stories, but thereafter, the title alternated between various King Features characters, including Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Mike Nomad and Buz Sawyer, as well as the Publishers Syndicate character Kerry Drake. In 1976, the distinctly Indian character, Bahadur, joined the rotation. Stories involving "The Phantom," Flash Gordon and Mandrake emphasized their roles as heroes, with special powers, talents or sci-fi tools. The remaining characters in the Indrajal universe played out more conventional detective and crime stories.Publication History
Indrajal Comics commenced with a monthly schedule. The first 10 issues devoted 16 pages to The Phantom, so many of the stories were edited to fit this format. Twelve pages were devoted to general knowledge (Gold Key style) and other stuff. The next 19 issues were 20-24 pages. Beginning with issue #29, Indrajal standardised on the conventional 32 page format. The series switched to fortnightly publication from #35on 1 Jan 1967 (released on the 1st and 15th of each month). Mandrake made his first of many appearances in #46 (15 Jul 1967).Indrajal Comics changed to a weekly schedule from #385 on November 1–7, 1981(The Embers of Fury, Part I).This issue featured "The Phantom" once again.Starting with #789 on 20 Aug 1989(Vol 26 No 33), the series once again returned to a fortnightly schedule with 36 pages each.On 1981, yearly subscriptions could be purchased for rupees 64.Each issue was individually numbered until 2 Jan 1983 when the editors decided to use a volume and number typical of periodical publications. Hence, #444 was identified as Vol.20 No.1 and so forth.The front cover design was also changed, with the introduction of the distinctive Indrajal Comics banner.
The cover artwork for the first 50 or so issues of Indrajal Comics was done by B.Govind, with the back cover featuring a pin-up poster. Govind's painted covers are highly regarded amongst Indian Phantom fans, and are on par with those of George Wilson for the Gold Key series and the Avon novels from the USA. The Indrajal Comics were a full-colour production from #8 onwards, with The Phantom's costume being coloured blue for the first 10 issues in the series, but thereafter the colour was changed to the more traditional purple. Several of the covers (e.g. #1, #9, #10 and #13) even dared to show The Phantom's eyes.
Because of The Phantom's close connection to India, the editors made several "politically correct" changes to places and names—Bengali became Denkali (there are no pygmy people in Bengal, which would have puzzled Indian readers); the Singh Brotherhood were known as "Singa" pirates; and Rama (the murderer of the 20th Phantom) became Ramalu, even though Ramalu is also a common Indian name.
For some strange reason, Ray Moore's work was never popular in India. Only a few of the stories in which Moore was assisted by Wilson McCoy, were ever published in the Indrajal Comics. Ray Moore classics such as "The Singh Brotherhood" were never heard of by the majority of Indian Phantom fans. Instead, the editors relied heavily on Wilson McCoy and Sy Barry stories, in addition to most of the stories from the American Phantom comics produced by Gold Key / King / Charlton. Indrajal also published one story created by Team Fantomen in Sweden (Vultures Over Vacul from Nr.18/1976 was reprinted in #341-342).
A total of 803 Indrajal Comics were published, excluding #123 and #124 which were not printed due to industrial strike action. More than half of these issues contained Phantom stories.
Indrajal goes regional
The first regional version came in Bengali from January,1966 and the Indrajal #23 was #1 in Bengalihttps://rni.nic.in/display_main41.asp - A Search for "Indrajal" Returns the registered publications for different languages (Marathi, Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayali, Kannada, Gujrati and Tamil). From about 1980, Indrajal began to produce their Phantom comic in at least a dozen Indian dialectshttps://rni.nic.in/display_main41.asp - A Search for "Indrajal" Returns the registered publications for different languages (Marathi, Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayali, Kannada, Gujrati and Tamil). One of the first was Kannada (called Canarese by the English), spoken in the state of Karnataka, in South India. The first Kannada Phantom was published on 1 May 1980 (see below), commencing with a 3-part version of the daily story Return to Tarakimo (D138) retitled as Return of the Ghost. Amusingly, "The Phantom" was called "Bethala" ... or "Ghost" in Kannada. After a few issues, the editors at Indrajal must have realised their mistake and thereafter called him "Fantom" for a while before finally settling on "Phantom".History of the Back-up Features
In addition to the main story, the books had various newspaper humour strips,short stories & GK kind of stuffs as the back-up features. The most notable ones were "Henry", "Chimpoo", "Timpa", "Capree(animal world)", "Ancient World History", "Ripley's Believe It or Not" and many more. Advertising pages were, reserved in all of the published issues, featured classic Indian brands like "Parle," BSA," Nutramul", "Gold-spot", "Gems", "Popins", "Kissan" etc.Painful End
Starting with #789 on 20 Aug 1989 (Vol 26 No 33), the series briefly returned to a fortnightly schedule with 36 pages each, before the publishers decided to cancel the series in their 27th year of production. The last issue was #805, published on 16 Apr 1990 (Vol 27 No 8:Dara:The Jaws of Treachery).External Links
- Indrajal FORUM - A unique place where FANS can share their thoughts on the various topics from the "Indrajal Comics" and have some discussions with the fellow members!
- The Deep Woods - fan site with Indrajal Comics reference section; (not updating anymore since April 2007)
- http://indrajalcomics.blogspot.com http://indrajalcomics.blogspot.com - Site in Hindi, contains interesting info and discussions on the popular publication.
- ReprintIndrajalCampaign-Online campaign to garner interest about getting the comics reprinted.
- http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?207314 An Essay by Kai Friese about history of Indrajal Comics in India.
- http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/mar/29vir.htm An Article by Vir Sangvi about the history of Indrajal Comics in India.
- http://www.indianexpress.com/fe/daily/19990614/fle14073.html Origin of Phantom in Diamond Comics.
- http://www.schapter.org/wiki/Indrajal_Comics Phantom Wiki - Details each edition year wise and month wise with covers.