New Phantom series for Zauberstern printing Team Fantomen stories starting with 'The Empty Throne' saga
- Christian Möller
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
"The Empty Throne" saga was first created in 2016 and is set a few years in the future, with the 21st Phantom separated from Diana Palmer; an earthquake has devastated Bangalla, and the 21st Phantom has disappeared. The first episode takes place one year after the Phantom disappeared, and his adult children Kit and Heloise have to learn how to cooperate and share the role of the 22nd Phantom. The series will be on sale in shops and online from August 25, 2026.
Zauberstern first made mention of this series featuring Team Fantomen stories back in our 2024 interview with Simeon Hrissomallis and Charles Bone from Zauberstern. This sees more than a Phantom comic per month being published in Germany by Zauberstern on top of other regular comics by ECR Comics with other series by Wick Comics and Comics & Mehr. The last time Germany had regular ongoing Phantom comics like this was in the 1980s. It is a good time to be a Phantom phan in Germany. As per usual, we will include regular reviews on the Chronicle Chamber platforms.
This new series will be released every 3 months—four issues a year—and will range from 50 to 70 pages per issue, full colour at 7.99 Euro. To celebrate the release of issue #1, it will feature two covers for sale, including a new cover by Timo Weurz and the original cover created by Henrik Salhstrom as published in Fantomen back in 2016.
The first comic will feature two stories:
"The 22nd Phantom, Part 1: The Empty Throne", written by Claes Reimerthi, with art by Paul Ryan. It was first published in Fantomen 16/2016 and Frew #1792 (2017).
"The 22nd Phantom, Part 2: Baptism of Fire", written by Claes Reimerthi and Alex Saviuk. It was first published in Fantomen 21/2016 and Frew #1793 (2017).
It is worth mentioning that this series is still being created and published in the Fantomen and Frew comics. So far 14 stories have been published. After the death of Claes Reimerthi, Team Fantomen have hired David Bishop to take over the direction and creation of the series.
For those who have come in late and need a refresher on the series, we have created this attached video of the first seven stories.
