Malayalam Indrajals........

Got a bundle of Malayalam Indrajals today. Real happy because I am getting Bahadur issues for the first time.......

The Three Investigators .........

Alfred Hitchcock presents:The Three Investigators ; My childhood was
dominated by this issues and works
By Enid Blyton and Willard Price.
          But I loved the adventure, excitement and detective action by the trio Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews.Of course the great
Alfred Hitchcock makes guest appearances too in these novels. I have quite a few titles from these vintage works.......

Phantom poster......

A special poster from Frew"s
1000th issue,an annual. This
Was given by a dear friend.....

Indrajal Ad of 1968......

An Indrajal Trivia, in reality a Piece Of Indrajal History really with an Ad from 1968 from an Indrajal comic (#71) Informing about an Industrial strike which has caused delay of this particular issue. I remember that another Industrial strike caused the abandonment of Two issues: 123 and 124 If I am right in 1970......

#1 issues of Smart and Better Photography"

#1 Issue of "Smart Photography" and "Better photography" 

                          I was real happy to get hold of the very First issues of two leading Photography magazines from India. Better and Smart photography. I still remember how i got Interested in
Photography after getting hold of a Second hand "Better photography" mag in 2005. I am also greatly indebted to these magazines as nearly 8 Photographs of mine are featured in these mags.......

"Better Photography" #1 issue  June  1997.
"Smart photography" #1 issue  April 2005.

Milo Chess, Cricket Sets.....

Milo Chess, Cricket Sets, milo pocket books ......

     Milo and boost used to give out some lovely items along with their items periodically. In the early 2000 , milo used to give out these goodies along with their products. Real happy that I was able to preserve these.......

Binaca Toys

Binaca Toys

These small animal figures has a history. They came in Packets of Binaca tooth paste in the 1970s. To my knowledge There were around 50 to sixty various figures. Some figures were repeated in different colors too. It was a craze for the boys of that time to collect these. They came to a sudden stop when Binaca went out of business, though they tried to hang on by changing the name to Cibaca......

Film Fare

Film fare
           
 I still remember some great Magazines which I used to read and
Collect as a youngster. Eves Weekly, Illustrated Weekly, Film Fare, Time,
Star& Style are some of them. Illustrated weekly, Star& Style and Eves Weekly has folded, but Film fare is still going strong which is s blessing. Here are some great Copies of the Magazine which I procured recently. The older ones are from 1953, 1954 and rest mainly in 1970, 71 etc.....

Kashthuri Chithra katha

Kashthuri Chithra katha

      Kasthuri Chithra Katha was a Prolific Publication which issued more than 275 issues.These were published from the late Eighties to the Mid Nineties.......

Poonthoppu Chithra katha

Poonthoppu Chithra katha

A real colorful Issue titled "Rani of Vaikundapuram" by Poonthoppu Chithra Katha.
This was published by Sakhi Publication......

Bahadur and Abid Surti

Bahadur and Abid Surti

           1970s....... It evokes such memories embedded in a Kid's Heart and mind.Born and brought up in a Small town in North kerala,Where when it rains it rains in Buckets and Springs brings all that is colorful and beautiful to the fore. The decade of hippism, Bell Bottom pants,  Amitabh Bachan Hair cut,Marble games,cricket played in Narrow lanes with bat made of Coconut tree Branches....... The list is endless. One even has a hazy memory of the Dark days of emergency. Liquid images and conversations about the brutality of the police Raj with Moms warning "Dont go out with your long hair. the police are sure to trim your hair down". the anxiety to explore Inside the tooth paste packet of"Binaca Tooth paste where if you are lucky might get a Beautiful Animal toy.the Soda bottles with the marble as the Stopper and perhaps the most gigantic and most beautiful film ever made to a kids Heart; Sholay which came out in 1975. The list of dreams are endless........

       And then there was Bahadur. I dont think I was more enthralled by anything else when I got my hand on the Indrajal Issue No:267 "The Red Bricks House". The Character was created by Abid Surti, an award winning author. This issue presented to the reader(in this case me) a world of Action, dynamic Dialogues, Revenge and Dacoitry. Indeed in later years It is very clear the Impact of Sholay had on the First issue. Both in the Movie and the Comics there are flash backs on why the protagonists are out for revenge, The Social evil of Dacoitry which was rampant in many ares of North India(Remember Phoolan devi?) Both the film and the comics Gives Great characters Apart from the main Heroes. Gabbar Singh as the Notorious Villian, and Sanjeev kumar playing the role of Thakkur baldev singh as the Indomitable police officer. Shaistan Singh as the evil dacoit and Vishal, the Brave Police Officer. Bahadur Captured the Heart of Thousands and at least to an Indian was on par with phantom or mandrake.
     

Vintage Malayalam Comics......

Vintage Malayalam Comics......


        While Indrajals and Amar Chithra Katha was making Inroads all over India, there was a comic Boom in the Little state of kerala. A Number of Publications began churning out comics. The Most Famous Malayalam publication of Course was "Vidyarthi Mithram" which Published a Lot of  comics Like Tatrzan, Apornas Son, Inspector Vikram, Inspector Garud etc. They also Published many Phantom and Mandrake comics. They were very popular from the early 1970s. I remember reading a Lot of Tarzan and Inspector Vikram in those times.(They Published nearly 40 Tarzan Titles)

  Second in Popularity is the Other Publishing Giant "Regal Comics" They also came out with Tarzan and Mandrake but in a Larger Size Comics.The Cover art in both these comics were outstanding. Apart from these  Famous publications like Poomala Chitra Katha are the most popular and they published many Issues mainly stories from Puranas..Balarama Amar Chithra katha published titles mainly seen from the ACK issues. Other publications from Essar Publication,  Sathi ,Narmada Top Comics Etc issued comics in the 1980s and 1990s
The strange thing here is you find multicolored mono Panels of three Different colors in the same comic ( one shown below)