Fantomen Nr.16/2003
by Rolf Gohs
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- The Lyre of Homer
- Script: David Bishop
- Art: César Spadari
- First published in Fantomen Nr.16/2003 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Brian Jensen.
- Message from the Publisher:
The Phantom runs into a highly unlikely opponent in The Lyre of Homer, an historical fantasy written by David Bishop and illustrated by Cesar Spadari!
We bring you truly superb covers for this edition - the 100th created for Frew's The Phantom by the always inventive Antonio Lemos. In case you have just come in, Antonio was a commercial artist in Uruguay before settling in Sydney and putting his multi-lingual skills to use in a new profession. I'm just delighted he decided to continue as a freelance artist and that Frew managed to secure his services! To save you the trouble of trying to locate the first covers he produced for Frew, they appeared on The Phantom #1056 (the climax of the three-part thriller, Kukailomoko) way back in 1993. Since then he has created a special set of Phantom posters and even a small comic book (in which The Phantom stars) for the Publications Office of the Family Court of Australia. This very special comic book was designed to provide counselling information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Needless to say, it is now a much sought-after collectible among Phantom enthusiasts! Let's hope Antonio will be aboard with Frew Publications for many years to come!
As mentioned in our last issue, author Bishop has mixed fact and fantasy in The Lyre of Homer. That's all part of the fun side of comic book stories! The vital point is that Lee Falk placed Homer's Lyre in the Major Treasure Room in the Skull Cave and like so many of the other priceless Phantom dynasty treasures, never got around to explaining how it came to the Deep Woods! A pity! Lee was passionate about ancient history and mythology and could have created a wonderful Phantom adventure based around Homer and his lyre had he had the time. Writing the daily and Sunday adventures of not only The Phantom, but Mandrake the Magician, writing and directing stage plays and his public appearance schedule, left precious little spare time for research.
On 12 September, Frew #1363 will be on sale, featuring another new adventure, The Treasure in Ronda. This story was written by Per-Erik Hedman and illustrated by Carlos Cruz and among the many highlights you will discover is The Phantom in action in a bull ring!
That story will be followed by yet another new adventure, The Witches of Carpatia, written by the late Donne Avenell and drawn yet again by Carlos Cruz. It was first published in Scandinavia in 1989, but this will be the first appearance in Australia and New Zealand. Do not be misled by the "Witches" tag! This is a thoroughly modern story! That story will be on sale on 19 September and will be followed by a 100-page special, which will include, among many classic Lee Falk stories, The Goggle-Eye Pirates and Mystery of Wamba Falls Inn. The 100-page special (#1365) will go on sale on 3 October.
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