This book has been in the making for sometime and now Regal Publishers have announced their very first trade paperback collection and is already on preorder and scheduled to come out in a week.
It is a first of its kind being released in India, which makes it a milestone release in the Indian publishing history of The Phantom.
The Trade paperback titled 'The Phantom: Terror of The Python - The Chatu Saga' is a 256 page, full colour, English release with glossy inside pages. The TPB collects the bulk of The Chatu stories in chronological order along with bonus material.
The book is dedicated to Paul Ryan, fitting as most of it contains his art. Some of the bonuses include an in depth interview with Tony DePaul, the writer of these stories and a touching tribute to the late Paul Ryan by Duncan Munro. One last bonus is that the book also comes with collector cards as freebies.
The book comes with cover art for both the front and the back, both done by yours truly, Ankit Mitra. The back cover art is my own take on the iconic Paul Ryan panel from the "Death of Diana Palmer Walker" storyline.
You can preorder the TPB on Regal Publishers website. The Price is INR 2,250/- which is about $45 AUD, 300 Swedish Kr, 30 USD and 28 Euros. As per normal due to licensing limitations, Regal Publishers 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.
In a future podcast we will cover the in depth making, release and review of this book.
