By Paul Jonassen
It might be a bit misleading to say that Claes Reimerthi is “back with a
bang!” since he writes most of Egmont’s new output anyway, but
damn, for this thriller, the description would fit perfectly. It’s been a
long month of waiting for this issue to arrive, but it was all worth it.
I’ve said it dozens of times before, and I repeat it: Claes Reimerthi
should be given a lot more creative freedom while writing Phantom
stories. It’s remarkable how good he is when he’s allowed to evolve
the Phantom and his universe further, and after having read this
story, I can say that the future of Bengalla appears even bleaker.
The script is just amazingly tight, leaving the reader with little room to breathe. The plot is
also far more intelligent than the average Phantom adventure, and you’ll have to pay close
attention to details to not miss important stuff. As the title says, the story is about a deadly
new virus let loose in Bengalla, all orchestrated by the Singh Pira… sorry, the Singh
Corporation.
The art of Cesar Spadari is, as always, awesome. I would consider him only second to Hans
Lindahl when judging today’s Phantom artists, and I really wish he would have the time to
draw even more stories. He also makes the Phantom himself look a lot cooler than some
artists do, for reasons difficult to explain properly.
Speaking of the Ghost Who Walks, Reimerthi’s characterization of him is just spot-on in this
story. The Phantom is portrayed as very menacing to evildoers, yet still trustworthy for those
who need his help. He is even given something of an attitude in this adventure, appearing
slightly more cynical than what we are used to (maybe Claes has been re-reading early
Falk/Moore stories?), and going all Clint Eastwood on a bad guy: “Stop the car, or I’ll break
your neck!” (Before all you countless Falk-purists out there tear all your hair in anger, keep
in mind that he doesn’t really MEAN he wants to break the man’s neck… He just wants to
make him piss his pants in sheer fright, right?). The Phantom is supposed to be a
complicated man, ruthlessly scaring the crap out of those who cross him while still being a
good, kind hearted soul when together with good people. In this issue, we mostly see the
“scary as hell” side of him, which is perfectly fine with me.
Egmont’s doing a bloody good job with updating the Phantom and his world a bit (at least
that’s what it seems like), and I can hardly wait to see where things go from here. The
Phantom’s going to go through a hard time, but that will surely only make for better and
more interesting stories for his many followers.
5/5
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