While comic book companies across the world seem to be cutting down & cancelling titles, Regal Publishers from India seem to be upping their production in 2021.
Since the start of their full colour 'The Phantom' English comic series in August 2020, Regal's publishing schedule has been that of two issues released together with a month's gap till the next two issues. However that seems to have changed - In February of 2021 Regal released Issues 7 & 8, and Issues 9 & 10 are now already out in March!
This is great news for Indian Phans, who will be hoping that Regal keep up this schedule and release a pair of issues every month from now onwards.
The comics are printed in the same high quality thick gloss paper (similar to the high-quality colour trade paperbacks of Frew) that was very well received and since in use from the first time it was presented with the 2020 Christmas Special Issues #5 & #6.
The Regal Direct freebies this time include a sticker of 'The Phantom' based off the cover art from Issue #9 & a mini-poster based off the cover of Issue #10. Each books reprints two Sunday strips, all of them written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by Terry Beatty.
Issue #9's cover is by Ankit Mitra (Yours Truly) based off a panel from 'The Power House Gang' story - The issue runs 56 pages and has the two Sunday stories 'The Power House Gang' & 'Death Stalks the 5th Phantom' - the latter being one of my favourite stories illustrated by Terry Beatty alongside 'Trouble in the Twelve Nations'.
Issue #10's cover is by, Regal Comics' veteran, Vincent Moses Raja (this is his 5th cover) & is based off a panel from the Story 'The Ghost Story', and probably my favourite Phantom work of is so far. The issue runs 56 pages too and contains the two strips of 'The Ghost Story' & 'The Iceman'.
The price for each issue is 200 Indian Rupees which is about: $3.61 Australian Dollars, $2.76 US Dollars, 2.33 Euro & 23.85 Swedish Krona. (Rates as of today)
Regal have set a benchmark amongst serially published monthly released 'The Phantom' comic series titles with the sheer quality of their paper and printing, & its a matter of pride for any Indian Phan to be able to get these stories in such quality at such economical prices. It is also a publication that any international Phantom collector would regale at the sheer quality of its production value. I wish the best for Regal and hope this series runs for years, giving us the dose of Phantom that has been missing for a long time in India.
Due to licensing limitations, Regal can only sell & ship to addresses within India - so for Phans living outside India, I recommend you befriend an Indian Phan & have these books bought & shipped to you by them. If not, FREW are selling some copies of this series via their website, and I'm sure these issues too will show up for order there - although in very limited quantity.
Regal are still finding it difficult to distribute their books since the pandemic, and now as India is seemingly bracing for a second wave of the pandemic, things are looking to get even more grim. I wish the team at Regal the best of luck, & for the sake of all the Phans worldwide I hope these sell well enough to ensure we keep getting these fantastic comics at such great prices domestically.
Regal have an Amazon Storefront for Indian Phans who would like to order these books from Amazon.in Issues #1 to #6 can be ordered HERE Issues #7 to 10 can be ordered HERE For any assistance regarding ordering these books directly from Regal you can contact Regal Publishers 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
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