The Phantom Serial staring Tom Tyler is a Black and White, 15 Chapter production released in USA in 1943 by Columbia Pictures. Several posters, lobby cards, advertisements and other promotional paraphernalia were produced to coincided with the release of the Phantom Serial.
A unique poster promoting the Phantom Serial was produced in India approximately 30 years after the USA release in 1943. Very little is know about this Indian version of the poster, however some indicators lead us to believe that it was produced and issued in the early 1970’s.
Unfortunately there are no dates of manufacture or any NSS/National Screen Service number on either of the 2 variations of the Indian 30” x 40” Phantom Serial posters. Determining exactly when the 1943 Serial was released in India, has also presented a challenge. But with some observation we can narrow down both questions within a few years.
The Phantom logo/title seen on both poster variations suggest that they were printed sometime AFTER March, 1967. We can accurately come to this conclusion by seeing the exact stylized Phantom logo/title appearing on Phantom King Comics cover, issue number 21.
We also see the same stylized logo/title on the cover of issue number 20, but the skull symbol within the letter ‘O’ did not appear until issue number 21.
We know that the printer of this full color poster ‘Master Printers Bombay’ was a business incorporated ON the 28th of June, 1971. Its primary company activity was manufacturing paper and paper products, publishing, printing and reproduction. The address of the business at that time was 216 Neelam, Mumbai (formally Bombay) MH IN 400018.
There is even less information regarding the red duotone version other than it was ‘The Madras Litho Press’ that printed it, located at 73 Triplican High Road, Chennai, 6000005, India. Its primary company activity was printing.
Despite both posters being printed from the same original artwork, a signature of the artist, possibly read as ‘G.V. Raman’, is not visible on the color version. With close examination of both posters there is significant loss of line detail on the red duotone version, perhaps it was copied from the color version? This suggestion could also explain why the signature only appears on the duotone version. It should be noted that the signature was printed on the poster and not signed in ink.
The Phantom Serial released in 1943 in USA by Columbia Pictures can be viewed below.
Thank you Christopher Smith for assisting with images and information.
The Phantom 