Bookmark This: This Iconic Bookstore Is Offering Back Issues Of TIME Magazines To Indrajal Comics

On our weekly stopover at Blossom Book House, we spotted treasures that we have overlooked because, well let’s face it, there’s just too many treasures to be found here.

We’re often lost right on the ground floor and because of that we quickly run up the staircase to the first floor where the likes of RK Narayan, Tagore, Gerald Durell, Saki, and Umberto Eco comfort us. This time around, we let go of that comfort and explored the ground floor that’s filled with the most curious second-hand books, Sanskrit dictionaries, coffee table books on everything from travel to home decor, travelogues, and religion. It’s during this time we spotted the rich collection of Indrajal Comics, Tinkle, Archie, and Richie Rich on one side and several hundred copies of TIME, Eve’s Weekly, and Femina on the other.

While we were more drawn to the comic side of the treasure trove, the magazines did catch our fancy as well. Imagine finding a LIFE magazine with Liz Taylor or Barbra Streisand on the cover. Or something as a Femina that was once sold for INR 2. Yes, the same price as what a nippat costs at your cigarette shop. The magazine collection dates back all the way to 1960s and you will be surprised to see how differently the content was written.

Stored and sold in transparent plastic covers, don’t expect ‘mint condition’ copies, but luckily they are not in a stage where it’s all torn and tattered as well. You can still read them without fearing the pages to fall apart. The LIFE, Femina, and Eve’s Weekly are priced at INR 150 per magazine while the Tinkle, Archie, and Richie Rich are priced at INR 100 per comic. Oh, and guys, the comic section is amazing, we tell you. There’s so much of nostalgia and stories that you might have never read to be found in the section. We found several 1980 upward copies of Tinkle with stories of Kaalia the Crow and Suppandi that we have never read. And of course, the stories did make us laugh just the way we remember.

The Indrajal Comics are perhaps the best of the lot because it basically has all the Phantom stories that we grew up on and more. Priced on the higher side, Indrajal Comics are sold at INR 200 for volume editions and INR 500 for numbered editions. The price range doesn’t quite put it at par of Action Comics, but hey, it’s still a collector’s item if you ask any hardcore comic book circle.