Mad Cave Studios: The Phantom Battles The Red Dragons in June 2026!
- Scott Waldyn
- 16 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Coming June 2026, Mad Cave Studios is pitting The Phantom against The Red Dragons in a new one-shot!
In their first two installments of this new take on the Ghost Who Walks, Ray Fawkes, Russell Olson, Federico Sabbatini, and team have had Phantom square off against the first two enemies he encountered in the original Lee Falk and Ray Moore-helmed newspaper strip. First, Phantom overcame the Singh Brotherhood in The Phantom issues 1-5. Then, it was announced that the Guardian of the Eastern Dark would go up against the Sky-Band in The Phantom vs. The Sky Band #1.
This latest one-shot, The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1, breaks the trend, introducing a new spin on a ragtag fleet of pirates originally created by Team Fantomen in the "Pirates of the Red Dragon", a three-part story originally published in Sweden in 1979. This storyline was republished by Frew in The Phantom #1781 through issue #1783 in 2017 before being collected in Frew's Treasures of Drakon trade paperback (2021), which paired it with two other Red Dragon-focused storylines.
Title: The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1
Release date: June 17, 2026
Synopsis: THE PHANTOM MUST DIE! But how do you kill a Ghost? The Red Dragons are gonna try—and anyone who gets in the way is just collateral damage! When someone in The Phantom’s familiar cowl starts sinking the Dragons’ pirate operations, Princess Sin goes on the warpath. The South China Sea belongs to the Red Dragons—and they’re not afraid of one man in a mask. Not yet. Another thrilling installment in Ray Fawkes’ action-packed adventure with guest artist Lynne Yoshii!
Along with Fawkes and Yoshii, Juancho! joins the team as colorist, and Taylor Esposito provides letters for the one-shot.
Isn't it Red Dragon and not Red Dragons?
In previous lore, Princess Sin's band of pirates were referred to as The Red Dragon or The Red Dragon Pirates. In this new Mad Cave Studios-led interpretation, the name seems to be changed to "The Red Dragons." It's a small but noticeable difference, and whether that means a drastic change to how these pirates operate remains to be seen. From the synopsis, Princess Sin is still in charge, and with any luck, maybe Orkhan, her hook-handed enforcer, will join her evil crusade.
The Swedish name "Drakön" means "The Dragon Island". When the story featuring the island first appeared in English by Frew, the translators missed that the name was in Swedish and left it untranslated. We must admit, the island sounds better as "Drakön".
