The Phantom:
A Publishing History in India

by Bryan Shedden with thanks to Aman King and Ed Rhoades


Egmont Imagination India Ltd.

Action Adventure Series (2001)


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8
After the success of their Comic Series, Egmont Imagination India Ltd. produced a new Action Adventure Series of The Phantom. Distributed through bookstores rather than newsagencies, a total of eight books have been produced, each reprinting two Phantom stories that have previously been published in the Comic Series. The books first appeared in about November 2001 and it seems that all eight were published simultaneously. They are larger than the comic series (214mm x 276mm) with 68 colour pages, and are printed on glossy paper with cardstock covers. The printing is very clear and the colours bright. The much higher production quality justified a hike in cover price to Rs.110 each (compared with Rs.30 for the comics). Although these books were unnumbered, they have been assigned a number based on the order in which the stories were first published in the comic series. All of the Phantom stories from the first 14 issues of the comic series are reprinted in these first eight books of the Action Adventure Series. An index of their contents is shown in the table below - the Comic column refers to the Comic Series issue in which each story was previously published. The covers are interesting Photoshop productions which combine pieces of Egmont Scandinavia cover art, in addition to parts of artwork taken from the stories.

Indian residents can purchase these comics from the on-line bookshops at FabMart or First & Second. The latter of these two will also ship internationally, but postage charges are exhorbitant.

Action Adventure Series Index

Issue Story Title Writer Artist Comic Fantomen Frew
#1 Devil's Story Avenell Bess #1-1 23/1979
(24/1999)
#1013
(#1125)
Death in Central Park De Paul Boix #2 12/1998 #1209
#2 Hoogan's Revenge Moberg Mitton #1-2 12/1992 #1028
Aron De Paul Lindahl #5 15/1993 #1059
#3 Return of The Ghost Lundström Vallvé #1-3 24/1972 #730
(#1058)
Ku Klux Klan Granberg Bade #8 19/1978 #1210
#4 The Ghost Who Died Twice Worker Lindahl #3 9/1997 #1188
The Chief of the Stork People Avenell Lindahl #4 24/1985 #928
#5 Island of Death De Paul Spadari #6 23/1997 #1191
The Monument De Paul Boix #10 25/1999 #1248
#6 The Tiger Girl Falk &
Granberg
Felmang
& Ferri
#9 1/2000 #1252
Lord of the Jungle Johnsen &
Reimerthi
Bade #7 4/1999 #1225
#7 The Test Worker Leppänen #11 5/1993 #1029
(#1125)
The Barbary Pirates Worker Cruz #14 21/1999 #1245
#8 The Zombie Maker (Pt.1) Frognes Boix #12 19/2000 #1273
The Witchdoctor's Secret (Pt.2) Frognes Bade #13 20/2000 #1275

For more information contact the publisher at Egmont Imagination (India) Ltd., Dani Wooltex Compound, 158 Vidya Nagari Marg, Kalina, Santacruz (East), Mumbai 400098, India, Ph: 0091 22 6924700.



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© 2003 KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC. THE HEARST CORPORATION

Bryan Shedden / guran@deepwoods.org
Last updated 21 September 2003