Fantomen 14-15/2026 celebrates the Phantom's 90th birthday

What better way to celebrate the Phantom's birthday than with a celebrational story featuring Lee Falk's other hero—Mandrake the Magician? Fantomen 14-15/2026 was released June 24, 2026 and features a double issue with 124 pages of full colour with an amazing cover by Henrik Salhstrom and three (maybe four) stories.

The stories are:

• "Hur det hela började" (part of "The Spark") by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley

• "Intrikata intriger" ("Intricate intrigues") by Pidde Andersson and Alex Saviuk

• "Systrarna Marshall" ("The Marshall Sisters") by Lee Falk, Ray Moore, and Wilson McCoy

• "Vi står emot ondskan" ("The Commander Will See You Now") by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel

The birthday magazine also includes a poster of . It also features several editorial articles celebrating the Phantom which are a great educational read for those who may have come in late.

The first (part) story is the two weeks from the 268th Daily story, "The Spark" which features a detailed two-week "For those who came in late" retelling of the origin of the Phantom. This was drawn by Mike Manly. This is a great introduction and follows the tradition of Frew comics in the 1970s and 1980s when they featured a "For those come in late" in every comic. It must be remembered that any comic could be a fan's first Phantom comic.

The second story, "Intrikata intriger" ("Maze of Intrigue") by Pidde Andersson and Alex Saviuk is the flagship story of this issue. The title sounds like a movie title created by Alfred Hitchcock. Both Andersson and Saviuk are fan favourites and they bring a fun crossover story of Lee Falk's two creations. If I had to be critical, it would have been nice to have both featured in their costumes in more of the adventure. Yes, Mandrake in his classic-style top hat and coat is not practical, but it is iconic.

Every birthday needs a reflection of the past, and this issue is no different with a reprint of a classic Wilson McCoy and/or Ray Moore drawn story featuring the Marshall sisters. Are they baddies? Surely they cannot be friends to the Phantom or Diana?

In our past interview with Andreas Eriksson and Jacob Habinc (X-Band: Phantom Podcast #293 - Fantomen 2025), we asked if they would follow the lead of Tony DePaul and change the Unknown Commanders' office like the newspaper stories. The story has now been published in their magazine, so surely the office renovations has to follow in their created stories from now on?