Shakti Comics from India continue with their publication of the The Phantom in the three languages of English, Bengali and Hindi, with their 3rd issue now out in April 2022.
This issue has some striking differences in presentation from its predecessors and we will get to it in more detail later. The book although solicited for a March release faced some delays due to the Uttar Pradesh state elections in India.
The 32 page comic is of 17.5 × 23.4 cm size, has laminated covers, glossy inside pages, however unlike its predecessors, which were glue binded (also known as 'perfect binding' in India), it comes with the more traditional double staple binding. The change is probably due to the much lower page count making a thinner spine, hence more practical to go with the staples.
The cover now has a white header with the publisher logo, book title and the story and issue numbers mentioned. This is a design change that has been done to the other titles published this time by Shakti (Mandrake and Flash Gordon). The cover art is a collaboration between yours truly, Ankit Mitra on the pencils and inks, and Avishek Biswas on the colours.
The story included is 'A Detente with Crime', which is the 233rd Daily Strip story written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by the late Paul Ryan. The storyline continues over the next two daily strips and we can expect Shakti to publish them in their subsequent issues.
The price for each issue is 135 Indian Rupees which is about: $2.38 Australian Dollars, $1.77 US Dollars, 1.63 Euro and 16.70 Swedish Krona.
Due to licensing limitations, Shakti Comics 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 going to be 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.
Shakti has a webstore you can order from plus they are also available across various comics retailers in India.
For any assistance regarding ordering these books directly from Shakti Comics you can contact them here:
Shakti Comics
Website: https://www.shakticomics.com
E-mail: shakticomics@gmail.com
