We first covered news of India's Regal Publishers' plans to publish full coloured The Phantom comics in English in our article, a month ago. Regal are no strangers to publishing 'The Phantom', and have for years, published the same in Malayali language. This is a historic release as it has almost been a decade since a licensed English Phantom comic was published in India. Egmont Imagination India was the last to publish an English series back in 2011. The comics are in standard 18 × 26 cm size with the covers in standard grade 'art paper' and the inside pages of 70 gsm maplitho paper. Both issues have cover art by Indian artist Vincent Moses Raja, who was a contributor to the Chronicle Chamber Bushfire Phundraiser book (Link to learn more about the Book). Each comic features, two stories from the Post-Falk Era of The Phantom Sunday Strips, pencilled and inked by Graham Nolan, the legendary artist from 90's era Batman comics and the co-creator of the DC Comics character, 'Bane'.
Issue one is 48 pages, and features "The War Mongers" and "The Briefcase", both written by Claes Reimerthi. Issue two, is 56 pages and contains "Terror in Mawitaan" and "The Sinbad Stone", written by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan respectively. All these four stories are being published for the first time in India, under any format. Hence we chose to keep the Video Review completely Spoiler Free for the benefit of the Indian Phans. The price for each issue is 120 Indian Rupees which is about: $2.24 Australian Dollars, $1.6 US Dollars, 1.36 Euro and 14.08 Swedish Krona. Due to the Covid-19 situation in India, all types of book/magazine/newstand stalls, stores and distribution are closed or shutting down, and Regal has had the monumental task of distributing the books direct to each buyer. The grim distribution situation is further hampered by the severe flooding and monsoons throughout India.
Regal is depending completely on word of mouth to promote these books as social media influences re ajust a fraction of the Indian readership. Hopefully things will get better on the distribution front soon. For Phans outside India who want to acquire these, please keep in mind that Indian International Postal services are still not in full functionality due to the pandemic and also there maybe some restrictions regarding worldwide distribution from King Features. Hence it is best to have an Indian phriend to buy and send the issues to you. Conversely I would recommend you directly contact Regal Publishers for further assistance. They are prompt, excellent in communication and always willing to assist.
They can be reached here:
Regal Publishers Whatsapp & Phone No: +91 94810 52592 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regalpublishers/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/regalpublishers/ E-mail: regalpublishers@gmail.com A full spoiler free video review of the two issues is below.
My rating for this bundle release is 4 out of 5.
For those who came in late... I'm Ankit from Kolkata, West Bengal in India. The Phantom was my gateway to the world of Comics and Graphic Art - a world that dominates in my spectrum of interests. My dream is to write and/or illustrate my own Phantom story or draw a cover someday in an official publication!
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