Golden age (1983–2000): with India Book House Mohan, the editor of Poompatta of the time (1978–82), is considered as 'the architect and designer' of all the later 'children's magazines' of Kerala.

Mohan moved to Balarama and took charge as editor-in-chief. He created the iconic Mayavi series, with Mumbai-based artist Pradeep Sathe. It debuted in the August 1984 issue of the magazine (and soon went on to become the flagship strip). The magazine became a fortnightly periodical in November 1984. It was during this period that Malayalam Manorama entered into a publishing and distribution association with Indian Book House. Balarama, in the ensuing years, created a record in the history of the circulation of Malayalam children's magazines and replaced Poompatta as the market leader. The Malayalam version of Amar Chitra Katha, a sister publication to Balarama, is estimated to have sold around 140,000 copies in the 1980s. The success of Balarama soon inspired other Malayalam daily newspapers to follow suit and produce a number of similar magazines. In the early 1990s, the magazine was able to print completely in multi-colour. From 17 April 1999, the fortnightly became a weekly.Ĭompetition for the juvenile market (2000–present) Ī major breakthrough in the development of Balarama came in the 25 March 2000 issue. From this issue, it started syndicating American comic strips, Spider-Man. It was the first time an American super-hero appeared in a Malayalam comic magazine. The trend of syndicated super-heroes followed as Batman, the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician comics also appeared in subsequent years. In the summer of 2000, the magazine had also started syndicating Disney Comics and Henry strips.

Pinocchio was the first Disney comics to syndicate, followed by classics such as Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. In mid-2001, the magazine started a new in-house series Soothran, which later became quite popular among readers.

Balarama pdf 2019