Review of Mad Cave Studios 'Defenders of the Earth' issue 6

Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth #5 was originally published 30 April 2025. This issue features two covers with Garax having his time to shine on the variant cover. Please note, this review will have spoilers.

Have you been following the series and what are your thoughts on what is happening with the Phantom? Please note, issue 7 comes out at the end of May 2025 and will feature Jim Calafiore as the returning artist.

Credits for the issue are:

Title: "Brief Interludes" Writer: Dan DiDio  Artist: Matt Horak with Brent Schoonover (pages: 1-10 & 16-20) and Sal Velluto (pages: 11-15 and 21-24) Colourist: Juancho Velez  Letterer: Carlos M Mangual  Editor: Chas! Pangburn and Sarah Brunstad Cover A: Jim Calafiore  Cover B: Djordje Djokovic and Jack Tsai

You can learn all about the artists Matt Horak with Brent Schoonover (pages: 1-10 & 16-20) and Sal Velluto (pages: 11-15 and 21-24) in our article here. While the artwork is different, it does not feel the different artwork causes too much disruption with the issue.

The synopsis: A battle over bits and bytes! Kshin betrays the team to unleash Kro-Tan’s deadly serpent, Mongor. Meanwhile, Dynak-X faces off against Octon, only to discover Kro-Tan’s shocking secret: her body is still alive in stasis!

This issue feels like the action of the new story is starting to take shape after catching up the readers in the first five issues. We are introduced to Lothar's ex-wife and Jedda and the Phantom are reunited after their battle in issue five.

There are short stories in the Flash Gordon regular series which are important to this storyline. Keep an eye out on our website for the new one in Flash Gordon #3. You can watch our review of the short story in Flash Gordon #2 here.

We end the issue with a major stand off outside the League of Nations.

We would recommend you checking our platforms as we have published three interviews with the creator team for the series in Dan DiDio the writer, Jim Calafiore the illustrator and Chas! Pangburn the editor.

A huge shout out to our reviewer Scott Waldyn who will reviewing Phantom comics from USA. You can follow him from his Instagram and or website.

All Mad Cave Studios comics and other comic reviews will be included in our monthly X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts. You can find out more at our website and or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos and reviews.