Regal Publishers in India has been publishing the Phantom Comics in English for nearly four years now (since 2020).
Their last issue #35 is a themed Christmas special that came out during the second week of January 2024. With three stories and 80 pages with some other updates, this new issue hasn't failed to satisfy the phans in India.
The three stories featured in the comic are:
"The Epidemic" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
"Tiger, Tiger" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
"Captain Amazon - Pirate Queen" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
The cover by Ankit Mitra looks really good with the lamination and the thick paper it's printed on. Essentially another Christmas themed cover, it features a collage of several moments from the three stories inside with a Christmas phlavour. The same art is used for a Christmas card provided as a freebee with the comic.
The inside credits page of the comic features a disclaimer which address the themes portrayed in the stories and specifies them as work of fiction from the time period they were originally published in. It's indeed something very interesting to see.
The first story 'The Epidemic' is a Daily story from the early years of Sy Barry drawing the Phantom. With a great script by Lee Falk, it is a very exciting read. What adds to it are colours by Ivan Pederson, which are just pleasing to the eye and enhances the reading of the story. The colours also look really great on the paper it's printed on. It is also noteworhy that it is the first publication of Ivan's colours for this story, unlike the #31st Regal issue where it was already published by Frew.
The second story 'Tiger, Tiger' is a Sunday story from the 1990s, which explains the idea behind both the tigers and lions existing in Bangalla. The story is coloured by Simi Muhamma, who has now become Regal's primary colorist. The colours look good, even though the extra shades and shadows, and not having a continuity with them remain. Otherwise, it looks very good with the printing.
The third and final story in the comic 'Captain Amazon - Pirate Queen' is also a Sunday story from the 1990s. A phan phavorite, the story is also coloured by Simi Muhamma. In this story, it seems he has coloured using, a updated colour style, with the shades or shadows being gone. The colour looks really good and makes the story a pleasant read.
Regal Publishers 35th issue is another great addition to their publishing catalogue, with continuous great printing, improved colouring among other things. An interesting note is that included on the last page features an advert from a local company, this a great way to get more revenue.
However, the larger than normal intervals between comics is an issue that they need to be mindful of, along with the size of the panels being printed in the story. If they were a little enlargement it could have made the reading experience more pleasant.
Regal's next issue #36 has been announced with an another Lee Falk and Sy Barry Sunday story from the 1990s, which should be out sometime next month.
Until then Happy Phantoming!
All Regal Comics and other Indian and other country comic reviews will be included in our monthly X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts. You can find out more at our website and or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos.
