Number 2542: The devil is in the details

This well drawn comic book is another from Indian comic books published as Indrajal Comics by the Times of India, and...oh, wow! They have their own “Approved by the Comics Code” stamp on the cover! It is slightly modified from the American Comics Code stamp. At one point in the story they show a woman who may have been nude in the comic strip, and then covered up by an artist for the comic book, so that Comics Code stamp appears in the panel.

Garth is the hero, from the long running British comic strip created in 1943. In his original incarnation Garth was published until 1997. In 1971 Frank Bellamy (Dan Dare) took over the artwork, but Bellamy died in 1976. This comic book has the sort of sophisticated artwork I would expect from a strip from the UK, but I don't know when it appeared in the newspaper, and I don’t know who drew it.

Writer Peter O’Donnell (Modesty Blaise) who took over scripting Garth for awhile, said “The Garth stories are fantasy adventures about a very strong man whose best friend is a scientist, Professor Lumiere. In the stories, Garth can go back into the past or anywhere in the universe.” In “The Fiendish Mission” he goes up against the devil, who in the story is called Belial.

From Intrajal Comics #420 (1982):

 

Number 1692: Mooning the Phantom...the Lunar Cult

This adventure of the Phantom, written by Lee Falk and drawn by Wilson McCoy, is taken from scans of an early Indrajal Comic: #6, from 1964. Indrajal was a line of comics, now defunct, published by the Times of India. I have mentioned before that I have never seen an actual Indrajal issue, just what is posted online. So I thank those fans who have made them available.

I believe “The Lunar Cult” is adapted from a story called “The Thuggees,” which appeared in newspapers from August 22, 1949 to February 25, 1950. As Thuggees were an Indian murder cult there was probably some sensitivity toward the original title. There is internal evidence in some speech balloons that something (presumably “Thuggee”) has been whited out and replaced by the world “Lunar.”

The Phantom’s territory was a mix of India and Africa. There is more on that subject in a link below the 16-page story. For more about Thuggee go here.

UPDATE: On February 5 our friend J D LaRue furnished us with information that the story is not from the Thuggee continuity, but instead from “The Crescent Cult,” published as Sunday strips from April 10, 1955 to August 7, 1955. Thanks, J D,  for the information. As J D pointed out, there are many Muslims in India, so the change from Crescent to Lunar was done in response to cultural and religious sensitivies.

As promised, more on the blurring of India and Africa in the Phantom. Just click on the thumbnail. 

Number 1397: Mandrake and the Ratmen of Rodencia

When the call to help comes from Magnon, the emperor of the “central galaxy” of a million planets (!) Mandrake and his pal, Lothar, jump into action. A guy who has a million planets as a kingdom is not a monarch to refuse.

Mandrake, created in the 1930s by Phantom creator Lee Falk, was always pretty fantastic in the plot department. Mandrake could gesture hypnotically and make anyone believe anything. He also walked around in a top hat, cape, and evening attire, even while subduing creatures from outer space. Mandrake is a hero with class.

According to the Mandrake Archive “The Rats of Rodencia” by Lee Falk and Fred Fredericks appeared in the Mandrake daily newspaper continuity from January 15 to May 5, 1973. This reprint, numbered #200 by the Times of India for its Indrajal Comics imprint, was published a year later.

I’ve said before I’ve never seen an actual paper comic book from this company, only online like the one I’m showing here. It’s cheaply printed and has an odd color scheme...faces look jaundiced, and Lothar is so dark brown as to obscure his face in some panels. But it’s still nice to know that someone was publishing Mandrake for the sake of fans. Indrajal Comics, which began publication in 1964, ceased publication in 1990 after 805 issues.

Here's another Mandrake science fiction story. Click on the picture.