Way back in the late 90’s Raj Comics Fang Magazine launched, which would go on to become a regular monthly comic book for years to come. It was the very first comic book that I laid my hands on, long before my parents bought me a couple of Chacha Chaudhary comics.
Raj Comics Fang Magazine was answer to Diamond Comics Comic World. It didn’t boast the size of Comic World and also didn’t have the diversity that the competition had, when it came to foreign characters, but there was something about Fang which clicked with the fans immediately.
Raj Comics Fang Magazine used to be a 64 page magazine packed with tons of short comics featuring the iconic superhero, Nagraj along with characters like Saddy, Liza and Fang himself. These characters never got their own comic books but were regulars in the Fang magazine. To add to these features, the magazine boasted news articles, puzzles guaranteeing prizes, and other random stuff.
Fang also had long running series of the Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The magazine used to be my favorite buddy to hang out with on a hot sunny afternoon during summer vacations. It enjoyed a good run spanning around 40 issues and stopped circulation near the start of the 21st century.
The Fangs that I had accumulated over the course of those 2 years, met the same fate as tons of my other comic books over the next few years. Many were torn, spoilt to an extent that they became unreadable, or got lost. I didn’t have any way to get those issues back and as the years passed, I forgot about them.
In 2014, I accidentally stumbled upon the official website of Raj Comics. I was amazed to see that Raj Comics was now offering long lost comic series in the form of big collections and collector editions.
Then I saw a collection of Fang Comics! I couldn’t believe that I would finally be able to get to read all those awesome comic books again! There were 2 collections featuring around 15-20 comic books each. I didn’t wait for another minute and ordered Raj Comics Fang Magazine. It has been 2 years since I had bought those sets, and I still haven’t read them. I just admire those 2 bundles tucked inside my shelf, knowing that soon, in a hot sunny afternoon, I will devour those comics and relive the good old days.