Indrajal #1

The Phantom:
A Publishing History in India

by Bryan Shedden with thanks to Denzil Jones, Vineeth Abraham, Krishna Curam, Raja Shekar, Aman King, Ed Rhoades and E.R. Bhoopathy Sargunar.


India was first introduced to The Phantom in the 1940s via a magazine called The Illustrated Weekly of India which carried Phantom Sundays. Today, The Phantom is published in almost 20 different languages in a vast number of Indian newspapers and magazines. The first regular series of Phantom comic books in India were published by Bennet Coleman under the name of Indrajal Comics from March 1964 until April 1990. A total of 803 issues were published, more than half of which contained The Phantom stories. Publishing rights to The Phantom was then picked up by Diamond Comics and Rani Comics. In June 2000, Egmont Publications in collaboration with Indian Express Group (later became Egmont Imagination), launched the first of a new series of English-language Phantom comics, reprinting stories created by the Scandinavian publisher.

  1. Indrajal Comics (1964-1990)
  2. Diamond Comics Digest (1990-2000)
  3. Rani Comics (1990-present)
  4. Egmont Imagination India (2000-present)

Visit Aman King's web-site for more information on Indian Phantom comics.




© 2003 KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC. THE HEARST CORPORATION


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