Egmont India started off under the name of Indian Express Egmont Publications Ltd, then became Egmont Imagination India Ltd, and is currently operational as Euro Books.
Whatever the name, Egmont India took up the task of publishing Phantom comics in India as Diamond Comics ceased regular publication of their Phantom comics. Unlike Diamond Comics which published Phantom stories by Lee Falk, Egmont India published Scandinavian Phantom stories (translated into English), originally published by Egmont Scandinavia.
In June 2000, Egmont India released the #1 issue of its original monthly Phantom comic book series along with a Phantom Adventure Kit that contained two more comic books besides the #1 issue plus some goodies.
Because of the two extra books contained in the promotional pack, there was some confusion in the numbering of the subsequent issues. The second issue released as part of the original comic series was not contained in the pack and hence, was numbered #2 (Book No. 4) and similarly for #3 (Book No. 5). Subsequent issues were numbered normally as #4, #5 and so on.
Besides Phantom stories, the first 13 issues also contained Mandrake stories by Lee Falk & Phil Davis. However, these stories were discontinued later on to reduce the number of pages, resulting in lowered prices. It may have been that Egmont India was not doing good business with these comics because of high pricing (Rs. 30). Issue #14 onwards, the comics were reduced from about 50 pages to 30 pages, and priced at Rs. 20.
Things may not have improved for Egmont India, and they finally decided to cease publication of this monthly comic series after issue #21 (April 2002). That said, Egmont India continued to bring out Phantom comic books from time to time as reprints of the earlier stories, just in a different format or with a different cover.
Egmont India had experimented with the idea of same stories but different formats even while the regular comic book series was running. In November 2001, they released the Action Adventure Series, a collection of 8 books, each containing two stories from the first sixteen stories released by Egmont. Initially priced at Rs. 110, these later sold at Rs. 85. The quality of these books was excellent, both paper-wise and printing-wise.
In July 2003, Egmont India came out with Adventures of the Ghost Who Walks, a set of 15 volumes. These also contained two stories each. While most stories were reprints, eight of these were not part of the original comic series. Interestingly, the price was not printed on the books; however, book sellers were selling them at Rs. 85.
In 2007, as Euro Books, a wing of EuroKids International Ltd., Egmont India published the same stories as Phantom Series - 6 in 1, a collection made up of 5 hardcover books, each priced at Rs. 450, six stories per book. In April 2011, Euro Books printed stories from Phantom daily comic strips, all post-Falk except one. These stories appeared in paperback as Phantom Mini Series, containing 24 books, each priced at Rs. 50, one story per book. These newspaper strips were also published as a series called Phantom Mini - 3 in 1, containing 8 books, each priced at Rs. 125, three stories per book.
Egmont India will probably continue its presence in India, under one name or another. Phantom fans can only hope that more Phantom stories will make an appearance, rather than a limited number of stories being reprinted in different formats, time and again.
