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A passion for comics

Marine Lines resident Deepak Rao opens up his collection to the comic-ly inclined

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How many of us have treasured the first gift that our parents gave us, especially if it was something as simple as a comic book? But that is precisely what got Deepak Rao excited in his childhood—and so were sown the seeds of a comic collector.

The 65-year-old Marine Lines resident recalls the days gone past as he tells us, "During my school days, we didn't have television. While outdoor activities such as swimming and other sports were aplenty, what does one do when they are indoors—comics was the obvious answer. We would exchange chocolates for comics; that was the value of these back then." With a vast collection ranging from the years 1948–1960, characters such as Batman, Superman and Tarzan find a place of pride in his assortment. Continuing to source comics from non-descript raddiwallas on the streets of Mumbai, Rao has been passionately building his comic collection just like any child keeps adding to his Pokemon showcase.

"Back in the day, there were at least 20 book shops and libraries on just this road," reminisces Rao, "Now, we have just one operated by the passionate 80-year-old Abdullah. Another place for us to get our regular dose of comics was the Willingdon Hair Cutting Salon around the corner, which would subscribe to the Illustrated Weekly of India, the only publication then to regularly publish syndicated columns from the Phantom series. This was reason enough for us to have our hair cut frequently, without any fuss. And we didn't mind waiting until everybody else was done. That meant we had more time to go through the columns."

A serious comic connoisseur, Rao's collection also extends to books that have been written about the comic book industry and its relevance. He draws attention to the Dell series of comics, which were the first to get the American Code of Conduct approval—the standard that was introduced in 1963 after shootings and killings were seen to become a common part of comic literature. Any comic published thereafter necessarily had to get this approval.
"I am extremely finicky about my collection. I am happy to let people take a look at my collection in my home but I do not give it out. The emotional connect that I have with this collection is far more than any commercial value that can ever be attached to it," concludes Rao.

Rao proudly holds in his possession a series of the Illustrated Weekly of India from 1949, which has a full-page colour feature of four comic strips, with its colour and print intact.

 

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