Some Egmont readers may have noticed an article in the 18-19/2017 Fantomen comic (released September 7, 2017) talking about some new facts emerging about our earlier article on the first Phantom comic. This article (translation below) has been jointly written and researched by a few phans from around the world, including Andreas Eriksson, Swaroop Chand, Jermayn Parker, Helio Guerra, Sérgio Takara and Marko Davidovic . As outlined in our original article, we identified that a Brazilian comic was in fact released before the Italian comic - you can read the whole article here . Now thanks to Indian collector Swaroop Chand who hunted down these two Yugoslavian comics, they identify important dates that make these the new FIRST Phantom comics published in the world. Some feedback from the first article: people asked questions about magazines and newspaper supplements or paper booklets and if they count along with the first appearance of the Phantom inside a comic. We are talking here about a FULL comic dedicated to the Phantom and not just as a backup character or a 'throwaway' supplement. For the record, the first newspaper supplement or paper booklet featuring the Phantom was " L'avventuroso, " a weekly Italian magazine published from 1934 to 1943 by the editor Mario Nerbini, with the first appearance of the Phantom in issue #101, dated September 13, 1936. Now back to the first comic featuring the Phantom, which was Mika Miš 68 , published February 2, 1937. English Translation of the article published in Fantomen 18-19/2017 For a long time, it was believed by Phantom collectors all over the world that the world's oldest publication dedicated to The Phantom was released in Italy in May 1937. This has been mentioned in several books and articles. The second place would then be a Brazilian publication, long believed to have been released later in the same month of May, 1937. However, closer inspection has confirmed that the release date mentioned in this publication is April 25th, 1937. But both these publications are already beaten! It was a known fact that the Fantom publication from former Yugoslavia was released early on and that the first issues should have been released sometime during 1937. Lack of a printed publishing date in this publication made it difficult to determine the exact release date—until now! Sharp eyed Phantom collectors who have found this rare comic noticed that it contains an advert for a lottery. The date for the lottery draw is mentioned in the ad as April 14 and 15, 1937. We can thereby confirm that both issue 1 and 2 of Fantom were released before the Brazilian and Italian publications, as the advert is printed in the two first issues of Fantom. The Yugoslavian Fantom series lasted 32 issues, and worth noting is that the same illustration was used on the first nine covers - only the background colour was changed! We have also looked at the first Phantom collectible item , which you can read here. If you would like more research into more historical Phantom items, collectibles etc, please let us know.

The 1950s saw an explosion of Phantom-related comics and non-comic items. In a past article we explored the very first Phantom comic , which was released in 1936, and now we are going to try and explore 80+ years of history to identify the contenders for the first non-comic Phantom collectible. Back in the late 1930s and early 1940s, copyrights and records were flimsy at best, products starting to be mass-produced, the world at war, and copyrights more of a suggestion than law. This became not an easy task to identify the first Phantom collectible, but with some help from phans and expert collectors around the world, we think we have the answer. In the third Phantom price guide created by Nigel Johnson , he mentioned a "1937 Voodoo Pendant"; however, it comes with a warning that it is unlikely a Phantom-related item. In talking to several highly respected Phantom phans, collectors, and historians, everyone all agreed it is not Phantom-related with no evidence or even a photo of its existence. We are led to believe that a Hakes' price guide to character toys specifically indicates the voodoo pendant is not a phantom-related item. I think it's fair to come to the conclusion that we can ignore this item, so let us focus on three other items instead. One has a date of 1939, and another two both have copyright dates of 1940. As they have no other forms of date identifications, we can only speculate on the specific dates they were released. Now the reason we are including the 1940 items along with the 1939 item is that it is a promotional giveaway item to very few selected parties. Because of this, some may claim it is a true non-comic Phantom item. We will include the 1940 items for completeness' sake and let you discuss the merit yourselves. 1939 Christmas card set with a Phantom card The 1939 item is a set of Christmas cards given from King Features Syndicate to the editors at various newspapers as a promotional item, so its distribution was low, and they are quite rare. The set includes 32 cards. 1940 & 1944 Easter egg transfer set The most likely contender to the first non-comic Phantom collectible that was widely available to the consumer is the Pass Easter Egg Transfer . It was previously thought it was a 1944 release, but some transfers have been found in a Pass envelope with a 1940 copyright on the envelope. There are two Phantom Pass transfer designs, one with the green head and torso and one with the red head, so it is highly likely that one was released in 1940 and the other in 1944. With Easter at the beginning of the year, it is highly likely this is the first of the two 1940 items. 1940 Phantom Halloween costume The other 1940 Phantom collectible is a Phantom Halloween costume. The costume has a 12.5" tall hood and a 32.5" long one-piece bodysuit, which is both purple cotton with white trim and drawstrings. The 6x7" oilcloth wrist cuffs and 7.5x25.5" oilcloth belt are both black leatherette-covered fabric. At the center of the belt are the words "Phantom" on it with the Phantom's skull and crossbones. This is very rare, with only one full costume known to exist, and interestingly, it has been sold and resold at Hakes auction house three times over a 12-year period. There are at least two surviving copies of the belt left—maybe more, with Chris Smith selling another one 10-15 years ago. While the complete costume is amazing, the 'money shot' is the belt. A collector who owns two copies of this belt has taken photos for us to share here, which include two dates — a 1942 and 1940 date. With this item likely released for the Halloween market at the end of 1940, it is likely the Easter item did come first between these two. If you like this article and would like to hear about other 1940 items, let us know and we will continue our research. Also, it is worth noting that we did not include the Big Little Books in this list, which saw the first one released towards the end of 1936. We have also looked into the first Phantom comic ever published , which you can read about here. A huge shout-out to Jon Cookson , Paul Moloney , Chris Smith and others for their help with information and photos from their collections and own research.

In June 2023, we announced that King Features had a new TV show in development , and now nearly 30 months later, we have another new announcement that Netflix will be the streaming company that will be partnering with KFS to produce the new show. In the past we were told Netflix was the company involved, but now it seems official. X (formerly Twitter) account @MyTimeToShineH has posted the news on their subscription account. We have included a screenshot of the announcement. Pop Cultcha website ComicBookMovie.com has also posted about the news, which you can read here . At this stage, no official news on who will play the Phantom or other characters or when the show will be released has been posted. 2026 is the Phantom's 90th birthday, and it would be a great celebration. It will also time very well with Mad Cave Studios' new Phantom comic book series. There will be plenty of rumours that will now flutter their way onto social media and various phan groups. To add to the first rumor, Billy Zane in 2025 at several Q&As in the USA and Australia expressed an interest in playing a key role as the father who passes the mantle onto his son. If you hear of any further news related to the TV show or anything else, please let us know. Thanks go to Jaime Diaz and Scott Burkhart for the heads-up on this news.

The Phantom series published by DC Comics called, you guessed it!, The Phantom, ran from 1989 to 1990, and has always been dear to my heart. Created by the, to use a cliché, dynamic duo of writer Mark Verheiden and artist Luke McDonnell , the series made a lasting impression on the character much bigger than its mere thirteen issues would suggest. You can watch or listen to our interviews with writer Mark Verheiden  and artist Luke McDonnell on our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast . 1988 marked the release of DC’s miniseries based on Lee Falk ’s comic strip crusader. Written by the talented Peter David , drawn by Joe Orlando on top form, with excellent covers by Orlando and Watchmen -artist Dave Gibbons , the series was both a commercial and artistic success. While a very good read in almost every way (only minor, but apparent, nitpicks prevent the story from being a true Phantom classic, such as turning Colonel Worubu into a white man!), the series’ greatest achievement must be the regular series it spawned: the Verheiden/McDonnell created book, which premiered in 1989. It sported a tone and feel very different from that of the newspaper strip, thereby probably alienating some traditional fans but also likely winning the character many new ones. Mark Verheiden ’s Phantom is a much more introspective character than the one we read about in the newspaper every day. He can often get into deep reflections on his purpose in life – fighting a battle he knows for sure he can never win, potentially sacrificing his own happiness and life to follow an oath sworn by a man almost five hundred years ago. He is a man clearly marked by what he does with his life, something we have never seen before or after this series. This is perhaps the only take on the Phantom to be far more concerned with the man behind the mask than seeing the legend from an “outside” perspective. Though I am not sure if it was the creators’ intention, they made a series about what it means to be the Phantom and what such a heavy burden can do with a person, something that nobody has really succeeded at since (Egmont’s Year One stories kind of tried, but ultimately collapsed under the weight of unforgivable continuity problems). This Phantom was, by Verheiden’s own admission, slightly angrier than the one seen in the comic strip, but given the gritty tone of the series and the realism of the situations The Man Who Cannot Die faces here, it’s absolutely appropriate. The charming, funny Phantom of the early Falk stories would not really work in this kind of setting, and Verheiden knows it. It’s strange that despite coming out twenty years ago, these stories still feel like the most modern adventures told with the Phantom. Lee Falk 's stories became increasingly more concerned with the Phantom fighting problems straight from the headlines as the mastermind got older, and both Egmont and Moonstone have made an effort to make their respective universes more up-to-date and realistic of late (which I applaud), yet none of them have managed to feel quite as REAL as what Verheiden and McDonnell managed. The reason might be that both companies still have one foot in the camp of classic Phantom stories, with pirates with scimitars, eye-patches and really bad hair, evil witch-doctors, countless hidden civilizations popping up again and again in Bengalla, and so on. Verheiden pretty much threw out these types of elements, and placed the Ghost Who Walks in the most believable Africa I’ve ever seen depicted in a comic (despite taking place in a country you won’t find on any map, of course). Gone are the slightly over-the-top villains we see frequently, this Phantom fights enemies that might not even be evil when all things are considered. Gone are the Singh Brotherhood, in its place we get the kind of pirates that we read about in the newspapers right now: real people committing terrible, cowardly crimes, real evil. Antagonists have more shades of grey than the sometimes black and white villains found in Falk and Egmont comics: some of them are not really bad at all, but act the way they do out of what is expected of them. A prime example of this is the captain who commits toxic dumping in Bengalla in the story Waste, which according to an interview done by Friends of the Phantom is Verheiden’s favourite of his own Phantom stories. Waste also happens to be this writer’s favourite of the bunch, and if I were to make a top 10 list of the all time best Phantom stories (I probably will, so watch this space) this would surely be on it somewhere. It is certainly the most moving story ever crafted with the character (though Donne Avenell and Hans Lindahl ’s masterpiece Eden gives it real competition), and I remember shedding a tear while reading the ending for the first time, around a decade ago. A haunting tale of a poor father trying to support his family by driving the poison that eventually ends up killing his own son, it has a maturity and honesty to it that assures that even if you only read it once you will never forget it. The excellent two-parter Hate , on the other hand (Verheiden seems to have a thing for one-word titles), is the first ever story to make Kit confront his past in the US, as he travels back to the peaceful town he spent many happy years in to find out things have changed for the worse, with a group of racists terrorizing black inhabitants. Once again we get scarily believable villains; these people could be your neighbours. This is probably among the Phantom stories I’ve read the most times in my life, its impact and message of tolerance always powerful. It also has a moral that I try to live by to this day: do not judge people because of the colour of their skin, sexual preferences, etc., judge them by their character. The only bizarre element is that US authority clearly knows very well who the normally mysterious Phantom is, and gives him permission to do whatever it takes to clean up the mess created by the antagonists. Maybe they knew him from reading the Phantom comic strip in their local papers? The series’ best villain is easily British arms dealer Cammel, appearing in the two-part story that appeared in issues 1 and 2, Guns . Wicked, nasty and generally despicable in every way, he’s the kind of villain you wish would show up in that great Phantom movie we will likely never get. His ”I don’t care about what my actions do to people as long as I benefit from it” attitude is one found everywhere bad things happen in this world. Like so many of Lee Falk ’s stories, this is a very romantic take on the Phantom. The writing really makes the reader feel that Kit and Diana are destined to be together, and Verheiden adds a sense of melancholia not found in the newspaper strip: Kit knows that he could possibly have been even happier with Diana if he didn’t have to follow his family legacy. This is a take that focuses heavily on the darker aspects of being the Ghost Who Walks, and Diana Palmer is here shown as the light in Mr. Walker’s at times dark existence. The story in issue 7, Gold Fever! (which deals with the cheery subject of death), ends with a lovely three-panel sequence of Diana walking towards a clearly shaken Phantom, putting her hand on his shoulder with him gratefully putting his left hand (with the Good Mark ring prominently displayed) on top of hers. No dialogue is needed, the sequence perfectly illustrates their relationship without a single word uttered. Mark Verheiden ’s words frequently feel like poetry, with beautifully constructed sentences and a real sense of depth. While too many comics that prominently features the lead character’s internal monologues end up pretentious, pointless and downright laughable by not really adding anything to the story and being poorly written, Verheiden never falls into these traps. The Phantom’s thoughts really add depth to the tales being told, and usually have some kind of relevance to the plot. Issue 3’s superb adventure Pirates is a great example of this, as it shows Mr. Walker’s disdain for this breed of criminal better than any other Phantom story by connecting the chilling story of a modern day pirate with the 21st Phantom reminiscing about something as normal as going to the movies with his father, to see a movie featuring, yes indeed, pirates. Luke McDonnell ’s artwork matches the prose perfectly, giving the book a moody, gritty and almost sketch-like look unlike anything I have seen before or since in comics. I really like the body language he gave the character, his Phantom moves in a way different than other interpretations. Like he should, this Ghost Who Walks looks terrifying when angry, and like somebody you’d trust and respect when he isn’t. Some of the book’s best and most memorable illustrations are not found in the action scenes. My favourites are the stunningly beautiful, intimate scenes of Kit and Diana together at Eden, where the terrific script is brought to life in a way reminiscent of a beautifully shot feature film. Marvellous stuff. A minor nitpick is the fact that the colourist arguably gave the purple costume much too light a colour (a colour more like the one seen in recent Moonstone stories would have been far more appropriate for a series as realistic as this one). The series finished with issue 13 (according to Verheiden because of dropping sales and licencing issues), which ended beautifully with the Phantom and Diana’s marriage. I would have loved to see at least another year’s worth of stories, but hey, that’s life, and the US just isn’t as big a market for the Phantom as the rest of the world. You can watch or listen to our interviews with writer Mark Verheiden  and artist Luke McDonnell   on our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast . Mark Verheiden has since moved on to become a successful writer for both film and TV, working on hit-movies such as The Mask , Timecop , the upcoming Teen Titans and Quartermain (starring Sam Worthington, who was at one point rumoured to be starring in the now likely dead The Phantom Legacy ), as well as two films starring and directed by Bruce Campbell (who thankfully lost out on the title role of The Phantom to one Billy Zane ) My Name is Bruce and the recently announced Bruce VS Frankenstein (the greatest title in motion picture history? Maybe). He has also executive-produced TV-shows such as Heroes , Smallville and most importantly, the remake of Battlestar Galactica , the best work of fiction this writer had the pleasure of following last decade. Mouthwateringly, the man was also in talks to write what eventually became the 1996 Phantom movie. I can only imagine how much better the picture would have ended up being then. Luke McDonnell has continued to illustrate comics, among them Batman , and he also designs toys and figures, among them a beautiful, and these days very rare, Phantom figure that was released in the early 90s. He also revisited the Phantom in another way, drawing a superb, haunting cover for Friends of the Phantom’s Lee Falk memorial issue. It goes without saying I would kill to see them both creating Phantom stories again one day, as, the world of the Ghost Who Walks would be an even richer and more complex place for it. Thanks to Ed Rhoades , whose wonderful Friends of the Phantom magazines allowed me to find some of the information used in this article.

In this episode, Jermayn Parker  and Stephen East are joined by Scott Waldyn, Chronicle Chambers USA's correspondent, to review the first five issues of the new series from Mad Cave Studios . The Singh Brotherhood is on the hunt for their missing drug cargo. Little do they know they have landed in the Phantom’s backyard. What they think will be a quick and easy track, retrieve, enslave the village, and be out again turns into a dire game of cat and mouse, with the cat not realising it is actually the mouse. But it's no walk in the park for the Phantom, though; this is the jungle, and the jungle has its own mind. There is beauty in its danger, and if you can be at one with it, then you may just get out alive. We have 5 copies of a variant cover by Boom Tube Comics exclusive drawn by Keith Williams and one copy of Cover 1G by Natacha Bustos to give away. To enter, we will need your review and/or thoughts of the series on either the social media post promoting this podcast or on YouTube. If we get more than 6 copies, we will do a draw. If we only get 6, everyone will get a copy. All comics will be posted FREE. We discuss many topics and we would love your input on what we have raised plus what we may have missed. We discussed: Did the showing of the Phantom eyes in the first issue straight away turn the hardcore fans off? What do we think of The Phantom’s characterization along with the other main characters like Guran, Diana and Asif Singh? Was Guran's redesign a sign of the times to ensure we did not have a fat black man being featured? The Bandar are a “poison tribe,” and this story seems to suggest it’s because they’re all skilled and lethal. Does this newer definition make sense to us? Has the village ever been depicted in other comics by Frew or Fantomen or by creators like Lee Falk and Tony DePaul ? Scott Waldyn called this series an “adaptation” of The Phantom in his last review. Do we agree or disagree? Are we happy with the balance Ray tiptoed with the white saviour concept? The Singh pirates called themselves tigers on the radio. Is this a nod to the "Ten Tigers" Old Jungle Saying? Does the Phantom need his stripped jocks back? Did we have too many covers by Mad Cave Studios ? Do we like Ray Fawkes work as the writer of the series? Do we like Russell Olson 's work as the artist of the series? This series featured a quick-witted Phantom, so we like this? The drugs came from the mountains. Is this the Eastern Dark? The Phantom as the Guardian of the Eastern Dark was mentioned on page 9 in issue 1 by the wife of Guran's dad. Lee Falk never got in-depth with other characters. In this we see the minds of Asif Singh and Guran. Do we like getting to know these secondary characters better? Did Lee Falk ever have the Phantom think to himself as much as Ray Fawkes ? Who's the real hero here? Guran or the Phantom? Do we like the Sky Band being featured? Should Mad Cave Studios do a Phantom crossover with another character, and if so, who? What's next? Will we see just one offs issues like the Sky Band or will we go back to the ongoing regular series? Will we see a copying of the stories? I.e., the first Singh Brotherhood story. Then Sky Band . Then War in the Jungle . Then Little Toma , etc.? You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com  or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook , Twitter , and/or Instagram . We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel .

Phantom phans are very familiar with the variety of posters used to promote the 1996 film starring Billy Zane . Most serious collectors would have at least one of these in their collection. However, very few phans would be aware that, in 1996, Drew Struzan painted a number of prototypes for what might have become the official movie posters. Even the most cursory of Google searches reveals why Struzan is so renowned among film poster buffs as one of the greatest exponents of the art form. The Phantom paintings by Struzan are, in short, wonderful. It remains unclear why Paramount Pictures chose not to use them in their promotional material, but in this author's humble opinion, it's a real shame they didn't. The montage images created by  Drew Struzan look to be almost photo-quality and a beautiful representation of the film. With depictions of Billy Zane as The Phantom, Kristy Swanson as Diana, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kabai Sengh, Hero, Devil, the Skull Cave, Sala's Sky Band biplanes, jungle... they certainly tell more of a story than the final posters chosen ever could. Fortunately Dietmar Lederwasch , co-curator of The Phantom Art Show (which toured eastern Australia) is in possession of one of the originals and is looking forward to launching it at the Newcastle leg of the Show's tour (10th June - 20th August 2017). This composition (below) will be one of the highlights of the Newcastle exhibition. This composition contains many of the same elements as the two designs that Struzan features on his home page , and every one one of them really does look magnificent. Another thing that may surprise the most phanatic collectors is that Dietmar Lederwasch re-used one of the original prototype images as the label on a bottle of wine that he had previously issued as part of his 99.94 releases. It's going to be a long wait until June next year, but it will certainly be worth it. It will be a real treat for phans to be able to see this in all its glory. However, the revelation does also raise some questions: How many different designs did Struzan create? Why weren't they used? Where are the other originals? Were prints ever made? How can I get ahold of one of those prints? How fantastic would these look as one of the Pholio sets put out by Frew?

Everyone loves a bad guy! I take a look at ten of the best thieves, murderers, and evil types that have come up against The Ghost Who Walks over the years. Once you have read this, go and watch or listen to the X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #172 - Our Top 10 Phantom Villains to learn about the other teams' thoughts on their top 10 villains. “Villain” might be a rather ambiguous term in a Phantom story. After all, nothing seems to scare the man in purple more than his own mother-in-law, Lily Palmer, but we should obviously use the word solely on the many misguided souls giving the Phantom REAL trouble. So, here is the top 10 most memorable proper baddies in the Phantom’s 90+ year history, counting down from 10 to 1. Feel free to argue. 10. The Marshall Sisters No, Lee Falk's Marshall sisters are not really bad at all, but regardless of this, they managed to make the Phantom more nervous, confused, and bothered than the Singh pirates did in 400 years by doing nothing else than desperately trying to marry him. Our hero always had an almost supernatural appeal to the opposite sex, but the Marshalls were particularly taken by his charms. The sisters desperately need a proper resurrection. Do you hear me, Mike Bullock or Claes Reimerthi ? 9. Goldhand Not necessarily the villain with the most memorable or fleshed-out personality, but for a gimmicky physical appearance that rivals the famed assassin in Jaws, Goldhand had to make this list. As his nickname says, his right hand prosthesis is made entirely of gold and seems to be a surprisingly effective weapon (the Phantom managed to beat him by pure coincidence in both their physical fights). Created by the great Janne Lundstöm , he returned in a story called, well, Goldhand Returns , written by Tony DePaul , in 1998. Died (?) in an unfortunate encounter with some sharks. 8. Sala Sala, created by Lee Falk , might not really be considered a villain, as she fell in love with and helped the Phantom out in some rather problematic situations, but she was an important member of the criminal Sky Band, after all. Other than Kabai Singh and the Fire Princess, she is also the only villain from the strip to appear in a Phantom film adaptation, perfectly played by Catherine Zeta-Jones . It’s a great shame she’s only appeared in three stories, excluding her tiny look-in in Moonstone’s The Aviatrix . The character is obviously popular among fans, as I seem to recall members of a Phantom forum having a serious discussion about how much cooler it would have been had the Phantom ditched Diana and married the air pirate. At least she would not have gotten herself kidnapped all the time, I guess. 7. Rama Singh Rama might not have the most memorable personality of the series' many crooks, but he killed the 20th Phantom. That’s got to count for something, right? Treacherous to both our Phantom’s father as well as his companions in the Singh Brotherhood, the guy helped the Phantom blow the fleet of the pirates, only to stab him in the back immediately after, stealing his gun belt in the process. He then hid at the island of Gullique for quite some time; before the 21st Phantom finally tracked him down to avenge (if one can use that word) his father and reclaim the belt. Last seen blowing up both himself and his island, in one of Falk’s most memorable stories, The Belt . Rama also appeared in early drafts of the screenplay to the 1996 Billy Zane movie, but was ultimately ditched and morphed into a character called Quill instead, played by James Remar . 6. Bail A.k.a. Liba, Abil, and Ib-al, Bail originally worked as the supervisor of King Salomon, and appeared to menace different Phantoms in Norman Worker 's The Mystery of the Golden Rune saga. The seemingly immortal man tried to open the gates of hell (in Bangalla!), and almost managed to kill the Phantom by controlling Guran into shooting him with a poisoned arrow (which was not that poisonous after all! Thank heaven!). You have to be bad to the bone to use Guran, of all people, as your hitman. 5. Baron Grover Anybody else notice how much more colorful the baddies were in Lee Falk ’s earliest works? Grover is a good example of this, as the charming, elegant fellow constantly snaps memorable dialogue while committing memorable crimes. A former war pilot, peace bored him so much that he had to buy a yacht to become a modern-day pirate (with a cool hideout at a desert island). A great deal of old school Falk villains could have appeared on this list, such as Count Bart from The Prisoner of the Himalayas , and numerous others. They just seem to have a lot more personality than anyone that came after them. 4. Ralph Mars The one villain on this list even the most faithful fans might not be aware of, Mars' only appearance was in the 1995 Marvel Comic s miniseries written by David DeViris , The Ghost Who Walks , which also offered an excellent update of General Bababu. Based on Australian sportsman Merv Hughes , the borderline psychopathic bodyguard faced the 22nd Phantom, in what might be best described as an alternative future. It’s a shame, really, that he could never face the 21st Phantom. 3. Dogai Singh Kabai Singh might have been the leader of the Singh Brotherhood in Lee Falk ’s brilliant first story, but the old bastard was killed off before he could manage to do any serious harm to the Phantom despite throwing him into his own private shark tank, off course. Dogai Singh, on the other hand, has given our hero some serious struggles, whether it be tricking Mr. Walker into believing the first Phantom was actually a member of the Singh Brotherhood, or actually using the Ghost Who Walks as a helping hand in his search for a weapon of doom (the mythical Crystal Skulls). In one of his earliest appearances, Dogai was even a physical match for the Phantom, defeating him in hand-to-hand combat. However, after that encounter, the writers focused more on his intellect rather than fighting skills, although he was never smart enough to actually plant a bullet in the Phantom’s head rather than place him in some not-so-carefully thought-out death trap. 2. General Bababu The most frequently used antagonist in Lee Falk ’s stories and in fact, one of very few to show up on more than one occasion at all. The cowardly, self-obsessed, and constantly power-seeking Babo Bababu has been trying to take over Bangalla more times than even the most hardcore fan would bother to remember. Needless to say, due to his seemingly limited intelligence, at times ridiculously bad planning, sheer clumsiness, and the constant interruption of one Kit Walker, he has failed spectacularly every single time. His greatest loss, however, might be that his only daughter, Lila, actually ended up marrying Lon Luaga, son of his arch-enemy Lamanda Luaga. 1. Kigali Lubanga Without a moment of doubt, the Phantom’s most dangerous enemy, the Semic-created Lubanga got the upper hand on the Ghost Who Walks when he won the Bangalla Presidential Election, beating Lamanda Luaga. Had his identity been known, the Phantom would no doubt have been made an enemy of the state, as he continuously tried to stop the dictator from making bad things worse. Even worse, he is also one of too few villains to create major problems in the Phantom’s personal life, resulting in hostility between Kit and Lamanda, as well as forcing Diana and the kids to temporarily live in the USA. Killed due to unhealthy intercourse with an electric iron bar, he has since returned to terrorize the Phantom many times as something of an unusually healthy zombie. No, really. Editors Note: This original article was written December 20, 2007, before two of Tony DePaul' s fan popular villains in the newspaper stories debuted in The Python and The Nomad, who was taken down by Heloise Walker. On November 6, 2020, we released X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #172 - Our Top 10 Phantom Villains , which included these two villains in their top 10s. It would be interesting to see if Paul Jonassen would change his top 10 now.

Christian Moller  reviews Zauberstern #23 , which was out in late February 2026. The issue features the following stories that are a mix of stories first published in the USA by Charlton Comics in the 1970s, DC Comics in the late 1980s, and a modern-day daily newspaper story. It has been the same mixture since issue #21 and is a perfect blend of old, not so old, and modern. This is also the first time a story by Mike Manley is included in a Zauberstern issue. " Falsches Spiel " (" Framed, Part 1 ") by Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell " Die Hochzeit -Am Ende ist alles Liebe " (" Framed, Part 2 ") by Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell " Der Fluß der verlorenen Seelen " (" The River That Never Ends ") by Don Jon Arneson and Jim Aparo " Aufruhr in Baronkhan " (" The Baronkhan Sedition ") by Tony DePaul , Paul Ryan , and Mike Manley You can purchase this comic and other back issues of Zauberstern  Phantom comics from their website . This comic is of great value with 100 pages of comics in full colour on great-quality paper for 10€. This magazine sees Zauberstern  reusing a past cover instead of creating their own new covers, which they have done previously and seems to be done more and more often. Do you prefer the publisher creating their own unique covers? This cover was created by Luke McDonnell  and was originally an interior panel for the end of " Framed part 2 " which saw the Phantom and Diana get married. It is a great panel and is also used as a pull-out poster. It is worth noting that these DC stories have only been published in three other countries previously. The " Der Fluß der verlorenen Seelen " (" The River That Never Ends ") story by Don Jon Arneson  and Jim Aparo was previously published in a Bastei comic in red, black, and white in issue #97 from 1978. This time, it is published in full original colour. Ensure you read our interview with the publishers and editors behind Zauberstern  here - Interview with Simeon Hrissomallis  and Charles Bone . We also review Zauberstern special magazines on our platforms. All Zauberstern and other German 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. If you would like to join the team and review new comics being released around the world, please contact us.

The Comic Con Cruise 2026 has ended, and the Phantom, his Defenders of the Earth buddies, and other Comics Kingdom characters were featured in the Newstalgia Lounge. The Comic Con Cruise described it as A fully immersive fan experience inspired by the golden age of comics, designed to feel like you’ve been dropped right into the Sunday Funnies. In between themed events, games, and panels, you’ll love soaking in the playful, nostalgic vibe as you kick back with a comic-strip cocktail (or two!) while surrounded by vibrant artwork and decor celebrating characters like Prince Valiant, Hägar the Horrible, Blondie, Mandrake the Magician, and more. Thanks to the Comic Con Cruise , we have attached the photos of the Newstlagia Lounge, which included a much bigger appearance on the 2025 Comic Cruise. We even had a Phantom-inspired cocktail called " The Skull Cave Sour ." It is more known by the name She's Worth the Whiskey . While the Phantom doesn't drink, he can still fix his friends and phans a mean drink. As you can see, the lounge had pillows featuring the Phantom artwork on them, plus other decoratives on the columns etc. Like 2025, Comics Kingdom also had their patch set featuring Popeye, The Phantom and Flash Gordon.

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. The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1 cover A by Alessio Zonno 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. The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1 , cover B by Freddie Williams II and Andrew Dalhouse 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". Preorder your copy of The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1 here!

Robert J Griffin is a Phantom collector and historian from the USA who had one of the largest Phantom collections in the world. He also was instrumental in his Phantom research, providing information on comics and products produced around the world for the Deepwoods.org website as well as the popular 1990s Friends of the Phantom newsletters. What many phans may not know is that he is one of the key reasons Jim Shepherd and Frew were able to locate the unedited and uncensored Phantom Daily and Sunday newspaper stories and publish them in the 1990s. Whenever Jim wrote in the Frew comic about locating lost stories, that was due to Robert J Griffin . Even today when you read a Hermes collection book or one of the other publishers reprinting the Ray Moore and early Wilson McCoy drawn stories, these are the panels that Robert J Griffin  hunted and found for us to read and enjoy. Robert J Griffin was also featured in the 194th Sunday newspaper story on the 24th March 2024 strip, which is below, and it is a touching tribute to the friendship and mentorship he has provided Tony DePaul over the decades. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is the foremost center for the study and preservation of comics and cartoon art, proudly stewarding the largest collection of related materials in the world. Its galleries and reading room are free and open to all. Check out The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum  website Currently it houses over 300,000 original artworks and over 170,000 comic books, magazines, books, and graphic novels. It also houses over 2.5 million comic strip pages and clippings. It can now add to the pile of original artwork Phantom artwork like two Sunday Ray Moore pages and others by Sy Barry , Wilson McCoy , Don Newton , animated cels; and much more. These names go well with the other amazing artwork housed at the musuem including Bill Watterson , Will Eisner , Winsor McCay , Edwina Dumm , Walt Kelly , Ted Shearer , Dan DeCarlo , Jay Lynch , Ho Che Anderson , Trina Robbins , and Jeff Smith . All up, Robert J Griffin donated 16 boxes of original artwork, collectibles, and memorabilia. One interesting piece that surely will be the holy grail that is now housed at the museum is the skull ring that was worn by Tom Tyler when filming the 1943 15-chapter Phantom serial. Below you will see a close-up photo of the ring on Tom Tyler 's hand, and the second photo is Jim Shepherd, the Frew publisher at the time, wearing the ring when he visited Robert J Griffin . We have been lucky enough to communicate with Robert J Griffin about this donation and process, and with permission, we have been able to include his letter about the donation. After discussing the matter with my family, I have decided to donate my entire collection of original comic art and Phantom memorabilia to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio . What prompted us to seriously think about the disposition of the collection was when my son and I drove to Columbus (June, 2024) to see an exhibit of “ Calvin and Hobbes ” original art. John, of course, has been a Phantom “phan” since I began reading to him the adventures of “The Ghost Who Walks” when he was quite young. During his teenage years, he became particularly fond of the humor of “ Calvin and Hobbes ” and when he heard there was an exhibit featuring Bill Watterson ’s excellent strip in The Billy Ireland Museum and Library on the campus of Ohio State University , he asked me if I’d like to go with him. I was delighted not only to visit the museum but to return to Ohio State University for the first time since earning my PhD at that institution 52 years before. The library and museum far exceeded our expectations with its incredible inventory of comics, cartoon art and related materials. The galleries are large and beautifully arranged along with a reading room which allows one to request materials to examine personally. I took the opportunity to see the Phantom collection which proved to be sparse and fairly recent with just a few pieces of daily and Sunday strips. We were given a wonderful tour of the library by Professor Caitlin McGurk , Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art . It occurred to me then that they would very likely be interested not only in my Phantom materials, but in the broader collection of original comic art that I had compiled over many years. They included more than 50 items including Phantom , Tarzan , Popeye , Blondie , Li’l Abner , Mutt & Jeff , Brenda Starr . etc., etc. We discussed the scope of my collection and found that they would appreciate a donation of the original art as well as any and all Phantom collectible merchandise of which they had nothing and I had a great deal. Part of our consideration was whether to forego the opportunity to sell all or part of the collection since I knew there were collectors who would welcome the opportunity to acquire many items, especially the two original Ray Moore Sunday pages. Our final decision was to transfer the entire collection to the Billy Ireland Museum & Library where anyone interested in seeing them would only have to come to that facility and request them. Returning home, the family discussed the matter and we decided to donate the entire collection without seeking a tax deduction from the IRS . On October 23, 2025, Professor Wendy Pflug and her assistant, Michelle Maguire , arrived with a university van and picked up my original comic art as well as over a dozen boxes of Phantom realia as a gift to the Billy Ireland Museum and Library where it will remain in toto. It will be designated as the “ Robert Griffin Donation .” The matter was finalized in December when the materials were deeded to the Billy Ireland Museum and Library . As a result, anyone with an interest in viewing the materials can request them at that location. Over the many years I have had them, only three Australian friends have actually been to our home and seen the collection. Now anyone who comes to Columbus, Ohio will have the same opportunity. Bob

After two years, the third TPB collection is now available to be purchased online for 15,00€ (160 sek/nok, $20US and $25AUD). Click here to buy! These TPB's are published by Egmont Kustannus which is a Finnish magazine publisher and subsidiary of the Danish media house Egmont. Petri Aarnio is the editor of these three books. This volume is printed in black and white, which the stories were originally created for, and the TPB is 104 pages. This volume the stories included are: "Sormus" ("The Ring") by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé "Rooman arvoitus" ("Mystery in Rome") by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé "Tuhon naamio" ("The Mask of Death") by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé On social media, the editor Petri Aarnio has informed phans that in autumn, for the northern hemisphere (September to November), the fourth TPB will be released, which will feature stories by Jim Aparo from the Charlton USA comic book series. This is great news to see Finnish phans being able to enjoy two of these collective TPBs in a year after the previous two-year gap. It would be interesting if there were any appetite for newer Team Fantomen stories that have been created since the regular magazine ended in 2010? We are looking for a Finnish Mustanaamio reader who would like to review the TPB for us. The review for the first TPB can be watched here.

As we (I) have mentioned many times here on ChronicleChamber , the Phantom 2040 video game is an absolute cracker on both the Sega Mega Drive/ Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System*. And while everyone can agree on this point, the one complaint that seems to come up again and again is how hard it is to achieve the game's elusive "good" ending. Well, worry not fellow phans! We have put TeamCC's the hardest of core geek to work creating the complete guide to help you save Metropia once and for all! Not only that, the guide will also clue you in on various hints, techniques and super secret secrets to aid your battle against the evil Maximum empire. You can view all three below. We'll post another update here on the site once all seven parts are available, so in the meantime be sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss a thing! * The game on both the Sega and Nintendo systems are, for all intents and purposes, the exact same game. As such, it does not matter which version of the game you play, this guide will be of assistance. If you do notice any variances though, be sure to let us know ! #Phantom2040 #Games #Nintendo #YouTube

In Phantom 2040: A New Shadow Episode 16, readers are treated to a rich, colorful tapestry of fisticuffs with Charles Tyrus' army of disposable biots. Our new Phantom, Carlos Oserio, plays beat-em-up with Tyrus' henchbots while on his way to stop the tech magnate from siphoning energy from the Ghost Jungle. We don't learn much this episode, but it sure is fun to look at! Read Phantom 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 16 here George Kambadais really brightens up the episode this time around, ditching the noir style that has been drenched throughout this series in favor of an old-fashioned tussle. While the action takes center stage, writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci make sure to fill in some of the missing information we're looking for, carefully weaving deeper ties between Fitzroy and Carlos Oserio. We also learn the name of our new villain! It's Anti-Phantom . Phantom 2040: A New Shadow Episode 16 art by George Kambadais Question for the Phans: Do you think Fitzroy is another secret character or someone entirely new? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Brazilian publisher Mythos Editora has announced a reprint Phantom TPB collection to be released in March 2026. It is currently available for pre order via their website for R$85 ($23AUD, $16USD, €14 EURO150 sek/nok). Buy your copy via their website This is a reprint of an earlier 2016 hardcover collection. This release will be a cheaper softcover album with a new cover and a few extras, including a copy of Jeff Parker 's complete original script for issue 1, character sketches, a complete cover gallery, and more. It will be interesting if they release the other Dynamite Entertainment series, including The Last Phantom drawn by Brazilian artist Eduardo Ferigato ( read our interview with him here), on top of the other collections they have released, including Hermes Press , Marvel , Charlton, and Fratelli Spada . From what we have been told, the Defenders of the Earth TV series was very popular with fans in Brazil, and we speculate that after this new release will see the new Mad Cave Studios series published next. Once we have confirmation, we will let you know. Thanks goes to Celso Nunes for the information. We are still after someone from Brazil to review these Mythos Editora comics and TPBs. If that interests you, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com .