By Paul Jonassen
The idea is simple, but excellent: Tell the life story of Dogai
Singh, leader of the Singh Brotherhood and all-round
eeeeeeeevil guy. With the first appearance of Kabai Singh
since 1936, a quick glimpse of Sala the aviatrix, and the kind of
mysterious, dangerous, yet kind-hearted Phantom that Falk
used to write in his early career, this is poised to be a fan
favourite in almost every way (did I mention Hans Lindahl is
drawing?).
It’s been a very good year for Egmont, much thanks to the
tireless Claes Reimerthi. It’s amazing how one person can write
so much without any noticeable drop in quality. Quite the
opposite, as I think that the Swedish writer is easily delivering
some of his most interesting work ever at the moment, being responsible for writing the stories about Bengalla’s continued political evolvement. This
adventure doesn’t really touch upon that subject, however, but instead focuses on telling a
tight, imaginative story that touches as much upon Dogai’s life as the way the Singh
Brotherhood is built (man, are they a treacherous bunch of people).
The story follows something that has been pointed out as an increasing trend in Egmont
stories: The Phantom only appears very briefly, seen through the eyes of Dogai and the
Singh-pirates. I personally think this is a cool and refreshing thing, as the Phantom is one
of few fictional characters that have the potential to be at his very best when seen through
the eyes of the ones that fear him. He’s not called The Ghost Who Walks for nothing, you
know. We don’t even learn which Phantom appears, but I would guess it’s the 19th, 20th, or
possibly both. Nevertheless, it all adds to the mystery of the character.
I have to come back to Lindahl… The man is pretty much the most talented man drawing
the Phantom today, and, dare I say it, he keeps improving. Every drawing is full of details,
and it’s easy to see the man absolutely loves his job.
On the negative side, the long overused cliché of the Phantom passing out after being hit
in the back of his head also makes an appearance… How many times can the exact same
thing happen to the same guy? He is supposed to be a very intelligent man, but man, does
this make him look a lot more stupid, walking into the same trap in what feels like almost
every episode. The writers have to think of something new now, maybe him actually losing
a fight with an antagonist for a change (oh, and while we’re at it, please get rid of the thing
where the bad guys trip over and falls on their own knife/sword/gun/helmet too).
Another minus is that we have to wait a few issues for the second and final part. Although
These things work so much better when they are published without the long breaks in
between. Although this story has a subtler, while still exciting, cliffhanger than what is
common, it’s nevertheless slightly disappointing having to wait until Fantomet issue 23
arrives. Still, the next issue will contain the continuation of the Bengallan Presidential
election, so who am I to complain.
These nitpicks aside, there are no real problems in this story. Reimerthi has managed to fit
in an awful lot of information and events in these 30 pages or so, without it ever looking the
slightest bit crammed.
This is a terrific tale in almost every way, and I can’t wait to see how it ends (or is that
“begins”?).
5/5