This is a significant Phantom tale in the history of the Phantom, as it's the only time the Phantom has gone to fight, deliberately, unlike his usual peace making. The Phantom, although he has guns, prefers to talk to people and resolve issues peacefully. He very rarely kills anyone, usually using his guns to shoot a gun from the bad guy's hands.
Read the editorial included in this significant story, which explains the history of this comic:
The Phantom fan club started around this time, I joined up - of course. It was really around to promote a cartoon and other collectible store in Melbourne (owned by the chap administrating the Fan Club), in the Royal Arcade. They also sold a lot of Elvis stuff, and ran an Elvis fan club too.
As luck would have it, at the time I worked in the city and my hairdressers were in the Royal Arcade, so I would visit this store every week or two. And slowly got a few Phantom items. Like my Phantom bomber jacket, purple leather sleeves and all. A treasured possession, it comes out at winter time.
I love the wrap around cover art on the Frew comics - but the old advertisements are a hoot too. Mind you, I think a lot of the companies who advertised, no longer exist. Frew only runs one ad per issue, unlike the Marvel and DC comics, every second page appears to be an ad in those.
A Lee Falk story, this one uses Alice in Wonderland and space ships in a tale of mystery and fantasy.
To kick off 1993, the third in the blockbuster issues, this edition has 13 Phantom tales in it!
Front and back cover - Diana is on the spine and unfortunately lopped off:
Stories published
A four story special issue for Christmas.
Stories published:
The 'current' Phantom is the 21st in the line to be the Phantom. This tale covers the 21st Phantom as a teenager, in his training towards taking over from his father.
Love the cover art on this one, it's really striking stuff.
And the Phantom kangaroo is a hoot!
Notable trivia - Keith Chatto, the only Australian to illustrate a full length Phantom comic up until this point, passed away October 22, 1992, before this issue was published. He designed covers for the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, another Lee Falk creation.
Stories published:
I have one of the profile shot tshirts - the bottom right one. It's gone from purple on black background to purple on grey, and is very faded and worn, and now hidden in the back of my wardrobe to prevent further fading. You could find some Phantom merchandise in the nineties, including a Phantom Phan Club, which I was a member of, naturally. Very hard to find it now though.....poop.....
Another special edition, with four stories instead of the usual one.
Frew publishes every two weeks, and is the best value comic book around - for the (current) price of $2.50 you get a new Phantom tale, and for $5 you might get 3 or 4 stories in one of the special editions. The Annual Special is $11 for ten stories. Whereas most of the other comic books published (Marvel, DC, Futurama, X-men etc) are usually $6.95 each or more.
This is another special one - Rex is king of a land that borders on Bengali, the land the Phantom rules peacefully over. Well, the Phantom is not a king, but a guardian of Africa, to ensure peace and no piracy. Anyway, Rex was the Phantom's ward for some time until the Phantom found out Rex was the next in line to the throne of Baronkhan. He pops up in Phantom stories from time to time, and sees the Phantom as a father-like figure. This tale ("Prince Rex and Princess Alicia") introduces another royal to the Phantom Chronicles, Alicia, who finds a friend in Rex. Both 12 years old, it may well be that these two are matched up in later issues.....
Stories:
First penned by Lee Falk in 1934, Mandrake the Magician is a beloved comic crime-fighter. With a wave of his enchanting hand, crooks and gangsters are hypnotized into submission. Believing the illusion that their weapons are deadly snakes and red-hot irons, criminals cast aside their defenses and are easily apprehended by the cunning magician and his allies. With his dapper mustache and top hat, Mandrake the Magician is an unforgettable classic comic hero.
