This news has gone unnoticed by many, but last week and again this week news has been leaked out of Scandinavia that Egmont will be releasing in August a story line about the future of the 21st Phantom.
The translation of the above preview advert says:
THE TWENTY-SECOND PHANTOM Part 1: The Empty Throne by Claes Reimerthi and Paul Ryan (Cover by Henrik Sahlström)
In the near future… For over a year, the 21st Phantom has been missing without a trace. Kit and Heloise try to remain hopeful, but in a Bengali where troubles are increasing there is a desperate need for The Phantom. The day when the next generation must take over comes closer – but who is ready for the task?
Some sources on Facebook makes it sound like this is a ‘What If’ storyline but from what I can tell this is going to be a series of stories happening in the near future. I am happy with this and hope it doesn’t become like the unpopular The First Assignment (Frew 1349) which features Kit running around with a Tiger as a side kick –
honestly! Also worth noting that the panels show Kit and Heloise older as adults compared to what they are currently being shown in both Egmont and Newspaper stories which had them recently celebrate their 15th birthdays, so this is happening in the future at least 3-5 years away. I guess it could be similar to the Spider-man 2099 storyline, which features a Spider-man in that year while Marvel still created stories in today’s era.
In the recent Falkist/Modernist debate on Episode 41 of the X-Band podcast we briefly discussed how Falk should have passed the baton onto the next generation and it looks like it is possible Egmont could be doing what has been needed to be done years ago.
Frew has said in the past that they will NOT publish part stories scattered throughout like they did with the first few Nat Turner's Spirit parts, so I assume Frew readers will read these stories together maybe not even until next year.
The way I see it in short is:
This is NOT a WHAT IF storyline. It is happening and will be part of the official Egmont lore/canon.
This is happening in the FUTURE.
The 21st Phantom is still alive in 2016, today’s current Phantom world with new stories featuring the 21st Phantom.
IF there is going to be a passing of the baton full time, it will be a slow burn to keep the Falkists happy.
Below is a few pages of the first part with wonderful art by Paul Ryan.
