The Phantom is back big time in India and this news will only continue to see growth with the character in the country. Some could argue that the Regal Publishing and Shatki Comics are better quality than what established Phantom publishers are currently producing. Maybe that is a topic for a Podcast at a later date.
Regal #27 was their first issue producing old Lee Falk and Sy Barry stories and a few months later, Shatki Comics have announced that they will be following suit beginning in issue #8.
It is a big deal. India has an almost god-like worship of Phantom stories drawn by Sy Barry due to the popularity with the Indrajal series and many phans growing up on these comics. Even though the comics by Regal and Shatki are presented in a far superior way than the Indrajal comics - many are begging for a return of the Sy Barry stories. Now they get their wish.
This may seem like an obvious choice to many as both Regal and Shatki have been both printing from the same shallow pool of stories from the current to around 2000. The list of available stories is getting smaller and smaller with every comic being released. This was raised in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #219 episode with Regal Publishers who had a concern about the dwindling number of available stories to choose from.
Now with access to another 30 years of stories we can hope to see both publishers continue publishing the Phantom for many years to come.
No word yet on how Regal Publications and Shatki Comics will split the stories between themselves but according to their preview, Shatki will be printing "Luck and Wealth" the 153rd Phantom daily story from 1983 and 1984.
