Fantomen Nr.8/2003
by Hans Lindahl
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- The Pirate Queen
- Script: David Bishop
- Art: César Spadari
- First published in Fantomen Nr.8/2003 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Brian Jensen.
- This story is a prequel to Convent Island by the same writer & artist team (Fa26/01, Frew #1311).
- Jungle Mystery
- Script: Tony De Paul
- Art: George Olesen & Keith Williams
- 207th daily newspaper story; 30 Dec 2002 - 26 Apr 2003.
- First Frew appearance
- The White Monkey
- Script: Lee Falk
- Art: Wilson McCoy
- 39th daily newspaper story; 11 Sep - 2 Dec 1950.
- Previous Frew appearances: #52 (1952), #114 (1957), #204 (1962), #317 (1966), #471 (1972), #645 (1978), #854 (1986).
- The Smugglers
- Script: Lee Falk
- Art: Sy Barry
- 86th Sunday newspaper story; 13 Feb - 14 May 1972.
- Previous Frew appearances: #485 (1972), #664 (1979), #873 (1987).
- This story was previously known as The Flying Drug Smugglers.
- Message from the Publisher:
A wonderful mix of new and old stories in this special 100-page issue!
The lead is The Pirate Queen, a new adventure written by David Bishop and illustrated by César Spadari. In this story, we meet up again with the mysterious Kate Somerset, who made her first appearance in Frew No 1311, Convent Island. This time, we find out more about her background and especially her childhood. Obviously, we are to catch up with her again, because her full story has yet to be revealed!
Another new story in this edition is Jungle Mystery, the recently completed new American daily with art by George Olesen and Keith Williams. Backing the new offerings are two vintage stories ... The White Monkey by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy, a 1950 classic last seen in Frew #854, published in 1986 and The Smugglers, by Lee Falk and Sy Barry, which was last published in Frew #873 in 1987. The splash pages will tell you more about these two old stories, but briefly, The White Monkey has been out of print for almost 17 years and true to our policy of bringing back every Lee Falk story in its entirety, this time it is unedited and reprinted from new masters. The Smugglers (originally published as The Flying Drug Smugglers) is also re-presented in unedited form and this time, with the correct title, which you will see on the first page of the story.
The Smugglers is a perfect example of how far Lee Falk was ahead of the times, with his predictions of future developments in organized crime (and in this story, drug trafficking especially). Eagle-eyed fans will probably notice that the Good Mark sign (seen on the metal door to the "Eyrie") is the third variation from the original and that the location Bangalla is mentioned for only the second time in Lee's career. There are also some interesting items to seek out in The White Monkey! Look for the scene in which The Phantom addresses Toma (Hero's native stable keeper and groom) by name - this was the first time this occurred in a daily story. (An unnamed "Toma" previously appeared in Lago the Lake God, Princess Valerie, Mister Hog, The Devil Road, The Lady Luck, Fathers and Sons (daily), had his first spoken words in The Thuggees, (daily) and was first mentioned in the Sunday story, Jungle King, which immediately preceded The White Monkey).
Our next edition (Frew #1355, on sale 6 June) will showcase another new story featuring the dreaded Singh Pirates in more modern times, equipped with not only airships, but fantastic underwater headquarters. Antonio Lemos created the covers for this 100-page special and for Frew #1355. There will be much more from Antonio before the end of 2003!
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