Flex Mentallo

Dooars Dooars is an undulating plain at the foot of the Himalayas, much of which is a tropical rainforest replete with wild elephants, leopards, monitor lizards, peacocks, rhinos, poisonous snakes and buffalo. As I was later to discover, it's not the animals, but the plants you really need to worry about! There Purnabha would be supporting a local NGO dedicated to working with very poor tribal people seeking out a subsistence living as best they can.

I think #44 is very underrated as well.

The penny will drop eventually.

The other factor less often discussed is gradation of color to create dramatic variations in contrast. When a cover background is printing a flat orange, this gradation has also vanished from the rest of the cover.

Yes, I also think that must be true. We do see a fair number of copies where the distribution of red (ie magenta) is not uniform, which seems to suggest that they did not re-ink the plates as often as needed to maintain consistent quality control, as Artboy and others have said. And as we know it leads to enormous differences. Planet #18 is one of the most notorious issues for this. The scan does not do this copy justice - you dont get the sheer depth of color.

I think #29 is a classic cover - not sure it gets the love it deserves.

Rick's great copy notwithstanding, the law of averages would suggest that deeper colors should turn up at least some of the time. But until we actually see a red copy, there are no guarantees. We see so many orange FH books, and surely some of them were intentionally colored that way?! So one might search forever for deeper colors on a specific issue, never realizing there never was one! Nightmare!

...and magenta is notorious for fading! The history of its development and makeup is quite fascinating (whole books have been written about it.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magenta

God forbid! Some years ago I realized that I had far too much of my life tied up in comics and pivoted in a different direction (cf Serendip). I kept the Fiction House, but you really don't want to know what I let go of. It's sometimes painful to reflect on the collection I once had, just short years ago, especially given what has happened to values since then. But I've never once doubted the necessity of parting with them. Anyone who dreams of a comic lined coffin - seek counseling at once (form a line at the door). I realize how that comes across - but fairly pointless to claim holier than thou, and I did keep my Planets!

Similar to the mockup of #15 above, the difference being I've never seen a copy of #26 even close to this fantasy! I'd like to believe that there is a copy like this somewhere.

#32 is a good example of how much a part color sometimes plays in composition.

Debunk away! The following image is a photoshop mockup, not an actual comic. It's an attempt to get closer to the original state than most surviving copies.

My #28 - I think there must be copies out there with deeper reds, but it seems to be relatively tough regardless.

Page count and physical dimensions were definitely affected by the exigencies of WW2. The variations in cover inks begin earlier than #17. Here is my #12 for example - once again, it's the reds. Though not especially apparent with my copy of this issue, the other factor seems to me to be, that when the colors are deep, and really pop, then the degree to which they do so is concomitant with what I'd suggest is the original and intended state. I think #4 is the first issue to show a massive variation in color states, whereas #2 is one of the few issues where the colors remain relatively consistent, barring environmental or storage factors. It's all been debated, endlessly. As for explanations, there are various theories, none proven as far as I know.

I'd say it is more a deep red-orange - here is a better scan.

During the three weeks I stayed with them, we traveled extensively, from coastal regions to hill stations, from jungles to cities. We met with tribal peoples in various locales, and discussed future plans that might build on our experiences with Roshni. I continued my existential journey with the camera, compiling several photo essays on the poorest people, all the while pondering whether I was exploiting them or in some way raising awareness of their plight. You will have the opportunity to consider this for yourself in future posts.

If Roshni was the chief highlight of my trip, it was by no means the only one. I came at this time to coincide with Purnabha and Lucina's convocation, at which at last they were awarded their PhDs after so many years of dedication and hard work. I'm extremely proud of them both.