The present state of publishing The Phantom in India

It is of no doubt that the Phantom is popular in India. Even though it is probably not as strong as it used to be, the charecter lives on among a very passionate phanbase. This phanbase as a demography include both the older and the newer generations, though the later seems to be lesser in number. In such a diverse country with many languages and cultures, The Phantom’s popularity is of no doubt with it having so many publications so far over the years.

However, the present state of the Phantom publication in India, quite frankly, is not very good.

Publishing The Phantom for a market like India is such a challange. Not only is the market price sensitive, but it is selective. Many of the passionate phans are attracted to the back issues of the old comics (e.g. Indrajal, Diamond, Regal etc.) than the newer ones. Their also comes the issue of selectivity of stories, artists etc. While the publishers have addressed this by putting out kind of a ‘mixed-bag’ of old and new content, the sales aren’t at that level as it was 40-50 years ago. 

With these kind of challanges, the Phantom has still seen publications that have been quite successfull, but the longevity of that success is what seems to be unstable. Therefore, putting out a high quality Phantom comic book to the Indian market that is both price sensitive and selective as well as the issue of lower margins and production is what seems to be effecting the Phantom publishers, e.g.- Regal Publishers, Shakti Comics and Lion-Muthu Comics/ V Comics (Prakash Publishers) at the present state.

Regal Publishers

When it comes Regal, the first thing that is on phan’s minds is regarding their present condition. Phans all over social media are asking for new updates, some are wondering if they have stopped publishing altogether. The concern is valid as the last issue published by Regal, #39 was released an year ago in April 2025, which too was released six months after their previous issue (#38). 

In August 2025, Regal had put up a social media post celebrating their five years anniversary publishing the Phantom in English, which was their final mention of the Phantom in any medium. Some eager phans were able to get in touch with Regal who has teased a potential comeback in 2026. However, as of the time of reporting, there has been no announcement so far.

We were also able to get in touch with Regal who had neither denied nor confirmed their comeback or closure. In our last communication, Regal stated that nothing had been decided yet. 

What does it mean for Regal? Have they ceased publication? It is a question that Regal can only answer. We know that Regal has their contract with King Features for at least 77 issues in English and Malayalam, out of which they have published 5 issues in Malayalam and 39 (40 including ‘The Chatu Saga’ TPB) in English, which means they still have issues left in their contract. Now, we don’t have an exact idea of what their revenues were, but we assume that they were quite successful but not successful enough to sustain their publication on a regular schedule.

We know for a fact that ‘The Chatu Saga’ trade paperback hadn’t been that sucessful to guarantee a follow up. 

Regal still has all of their comics in stock and are available through their website as well as other ecommerce platforms, which suggests that they had a larger print run which is still not running out of stock. Eager phans have also noticed Regal selling bundles of comics for a rather cheaper price. Regal’s website, quite surprisingly, also lists Shakti Comics’ publications of Rip Kirby, Popeye, no Phantom as of yet. 

Regal was known for their quality and attention to detail that reflected on their publications. That is the reason many phans worldwide are concerned with their absence. However, it is best to keep hopes up as we still have the rest of the year and hope Regal comes back as strong as ever. Meanwhile, supporting Regal would probably be a great idea.

Shakti Comics

Shakti Comics, a newer publication compared to Regal, is now probably the only active publisher of The Phantom in English in India. However, aside from English, Shakti also publishes the charecter in Hindi and Bengali. With quite a few ups and downs in their five years of publishing since 2021, they have managed to put out an impressive number of 23 regular issues in English (25 including 2 TPBs), 13 in Hindi and 12 in Bengali (15 including 3 TPBs).

They were the first to explore and experiment with different formats and strategies, launching variant covers of their comics starting from their second issue. They had also experimented with sizes and formats before arriving at a stable one since #9. In the last five years, besides the comics, Shakti has also launched merchandise including posters, calenders, mini figurines and clothing through their sister brand.

Shakti’s main strategy, which is perhaps their strength, are their experiments, which in turn have made them sustain in a market like India. Through their experimentations, they were able to find their current model that while not perhaps entirely effective, has enabled them to put out comics in semi-regular schedule.

Shakti also prints their comics in limited quantities, which prompts them to be sold out in some time. Shakti works with the ‘supply and demand’ model to then again reprint some of the comics or bring out a new collected edition altogether. We recently saw it happen with #18 and #19 where a new collected edition replaced the comics following them being out of stock.

Shakti’s strategy with the comics in their other two languages has been quite the same but it has seen some mishaps. Following the publication of #12, Shakti had paused their publication in Hindi and Bengali for an indefinite period of time, citing lower sales as the reason. Both the languages were absent from their publishing catalogue for about a year until collected editions were released in both languages following the publication of #19 in English.

Shakti’s new distribution partnership with Bhasa/ Read Bengali Books prompted them for the newest Bengali publications which has proven to be quite successful, leading to Shakti to have their own stall in the 49th Kolkata International Book Fair held in 2026. 

Shakti’s last set of comics #20 and #21 were released in November 2025. With #21 Shakti started their ‘Indrajal Series’, reprinting classic stories originally published in Indrajal Comics in an unedited form starting with ‘The Belt’. Their strategy with a mixed bag of stories, both modern and old seems be working as they are also publishing the complete ‘The Death of the Phantom’ daily newspaper strip saga in their next issues (can read about that here). 

On speaking with Shakti by ourselves, we have learned that Shakti’s goal is to publish the next chapters of the saga along with the ‘Indrajal series’. The newest issues #22 and #23, announced April 2026 are going to features two stories from ‘The Death of the Phantom’ saga while one of the next issues are expected to feature the reprint of ‘Prince Orq’, originally published in Indrajal Comics #2. Shakti had also shared a while ago glimpse at two of their future covers on their social media. 

Shakti’s primary goal right now seems to be reducing the delays and putting out comics on a regular schedule. We learned from Shakti that they plan to publish the plan to publish the English version first followed by the two regional languages leading to the ultimate goal of putting out comics per month. Shakti also has got an impressive expansion of their catalogue with characters like Popyeye, which they are putting out in regular intervals.

Shakti is currently the one of the only two publisher carrying The Phantom’s banner in India and only one publishing in English, Hindi and Bengali. Whether through their social media marketing and engagement or attending various conventions and book fairs, they seem to be actively involved in the popularisation of the charecter.

Their partnerships and extention of catalogue with merchandising seems to have paid off. The very experiments and risks that they were not favoured for taking have helped them sustain. Whatever the future holds, we can confidently say that they aren’t going anywhere.

Prakash Publishers

Prakash Publishers, unike Shakti aren’t new to publishing The Phantom as their earliest titles under the ‘Muthu Comics’ banner dates back to 1972. Based in the state of Tamil Nadu, their foucus predominently has been on the Tamil Language and readers.

After being absent from publishing the character since 1980, they were back publishing the character in 2022. After producing two hardcover collections, they launched a new series titled ‘V Comics’ in 2024. Starting 2025, they have launched an anthology collection titled ‘The Kings Collection’ under the Muthu Comics Banner.

Muthu Comics’ current catalogue is impressive no doubt, so is their value. Compared to the other two publications, their comics are priced at a much cheaper rate while maintaining good production value (glossy, full colour, binding). Even though their colouring work as well as censorship on some of their previous ‘V Comics’ have been criticized, the newer issues with the colourings by Nilanjan Sayed (previous colouring at Shakti) has seen much improvement.

All these elements together along with their pricing make them such a value for money item. But what is their greatest strength also probably is their weakness, its readership, especially the language. 

It is not deniable that the Tamil phanbase is probably among the strongest readership of the Phantom in the country. But being limited to one language limits for such quality products to reach phans all over India and the world. Prakash Publishers’ great production value is something that the other companies may take a lesson from.

Regardless to say, Prakash Publishers’ Phantom comics are a very important part of their publishing catalogue and it is evident from him having own separate section on their website and promotions. Prakash Publishers is also actively participating in book fairs where the Phantom is getting his separate focus.

As of May 2026, Prakash has had three comic books released so far, a new issue of V comics in January coinciding with the Chennai Book Fair in January, ‘The King’s Special #2’ in February, and the new ‘The King’s Special #3’ in April and it seems their schedule is packed for the rest of the year. 

In a country like India, publishing the Phantom and sustaining it does take a great effort and require a lot of problem solving. With two of the active publishers putting out content one after the other, the charecter seems to be doing quite well. While it would be great to have potential comeback for Regal as the third publisher as it was a year ago, the character will live on as strong if the other publishers put out content in a timely manner and maintaining their quality. 

Alongside the comic books, the Phantom continues to have his presence in several newspapers and magazines in India. While the number of newspapers and magazines are handful, the charecter does live strong on his original medium in his 90th year.