Fantastic Four #1

History

Gotham Entertainment Group LLC was founded in 1997 with the explicit aim of establishing a leadership position in the Indian comic-magazine and children's book market, and began publishing licensed comics in India in 1998. Under CEO Sharad Devarajan — who had prior experience at MTV Networks and DC Comics — the company secured licensing arrangements with Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse, MAD Magazine, Panini, and Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing, giving it access to over 10,000 character properties. Gotham's Fantastic Four #1 (2003) emerged during the period when the company had consolidated itself as one of the leading providers of international comics in South Asia, and was distributed in multiple languages including English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and Malayalam. Gotham comics were typically published in a standard format of approximately 22 pages, with double-issue and giant-special variants also produced across the line.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Publisher: Gotham Entertainment Group LLC, an American-registered company that operated as a licensed publisher and distributor of US comics across India, Singapore, and Malaysia.
• Founded in 1997 and publishing in India from 1998, Gotham held formal licensing agreements with Marvel Comics that authorized it to reprint Marvel content for the South Asian market.
• This issue is a licensed Indian reprint edition — not an original story — reprinting contemporary Marvel Fantastic Four material for the Indian subcontinent audience.
• The eBay-listed copy carries the subtitle 'Doomsday' on the cover, suggesting the reprinted content draws from a Marvel Fantastic Four storyline or one-shot of that name circulating in Marvel's continuity at the time.
• Gotham published its comics in multiple Indian languages (English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam) as well as English editions for Singapore and Malaysia, making this one of the most linguistically diverse Marvel reprint programs of its era.
• Standard Gotham issues ran approximately 22 pages; the company also produced double issues (~48 pages) and giant specials (six standard issues in one volume), though the specific format of this Fantastic Four #1 is not independently confirmed.
• Gotham's publishing operation gave Indian readers access to over 700 monthly comic magazine titles spanning characters from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and others — the Fantastic Four series was part of that broader Marvel portfolio.
• Gotham Entertainment Group's most prominently documented Marvel partnership was the creation of an Indian version of Spider-Man; the Fantastic Four line was part of the wider licensed reprint catalog rather than an original co-production.