Review Hungary “The Phantom: Daily Strips 1961-1963 (Fantom: A napilapcsík gyűjtemény (1961-1963))”

Long before the rise of the DC/Marvel superheroes, the Phantom was already serving justice in his mask and costume in the jungle and on the beaches of the fictional country of Bangalla. As a child reading these stories in the 1990s, I was amazed by this world filled with pirates, modern-day criminals, a masked muscular guy who could solve anything, and a skull-and-skeleton jungle setting.

Consumer demand for nostalgia led to the Hungarian re-release of a collector's edition in 2024. This also shows the uniqueness of the Hungarian market: while in Australia and the northern countries, new stories are still being published today with accompanying merchandise, and there is even a Phantom 2040 out there, in which the grandson of our contemporary Phantom takes on the gray costume, here the publisher only dared to take on the "classic" era, and only on an experimental basis, meaning they will publish more if the need arises.

Reading it today as an adult, both the character portrayal and the storytelling seem naive. The Phantom's horse and wolf appear repetitively again and again, and the biggest conflict is that drugs are being smuggled in the harbor using dolphins—all of which have a peacefully calming effect in today's world full of epidemics and wars. Thus, this collection resulted in quite a few weekend afternoons spent dozing off—in a good way, because I really liked the meticulous story building and the always happy endings.

This first volume contains five classic black and white Lee Falk and Sy Barry stories, of which I liked the most action-filled, “The Mystery of the Island of Dogs” the best, due to its current time connection and pace of the events unfolding.

The first volume is no longer available from the publisher Bubi Bolt, only from secondary distributors at a much higher price. At 5500 HUF, the 256-page publication, with its high-quality printing and translation, was well worth the price. The second volume is expected in 2026 and has been reported here by Chronicle Chamber. Contact us if you would like us to review the next issue.

[Editor's Note: Thanks to Szegedi Laszlo for reviewing volume one from the new Hungarian series. As mentioned by Szegedi, Bubi Bolt will publish the series while the demand is there—go and buy your copy. If anyone out there is interested in reviewing other comics from around the world, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com]