Fantomen Nr.4/2007
by Rolf Gohs
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- Return of the Commander Pt.1
- Plot: Claes Reimerthi
- Art: Joan Boix
- First published in Fantomen Nr.4/2007 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Ulf Granberg.
- Message from the Publisher:
The Phantom faces enormous challenges in part one of this new adventure! Return of the Commander includes a plot to shut down the financial backing of the Jungle Patrol and a fiendish plan aimed at causing a loss of public confidence in the Patrol - all masterminded by the dregs of The Singh Brotherhood.
Yes - the dreaded Singh are back in town! The pirates, introduced to the world by Lee Falk in the 1936 launch of The Phantom, have been around for centuries. As has the line of 21 Phantoms! The Singh Brotherhood simply refuses to be crushed, constantly reappearing despite the best efforts of The Ghost Who Walks to wipe them from the face of the earth.
Return of the Commander is actually a follow-on from a 2005 miniseries which ended with Frew issue #1412 (the miniseries was #1408, #1409, #1410, #1411, #1412; also see #1380 from April 2004 for background on Sandal Singh). Enthusiasts are strongly advised to go back to the 2005 series, just to remind themselves of the gruelling battle The Phantom experienced!
Now, in this first part of Return of the Commander, The Phantom resumes the ceaseless battle with his arch enemies. In many ways, this new series is similar to Lee Falk's original story. The new leader is oriental with a love of underwater hideouts and a tank full of man-eating sharks and hanging around the edges is a mysterious female villain reminiscent of the even more mysterious Sala, who featured in the 1936 classic, The Singh Brotherhood and who returned in following stories about the all female gang known as The Sky Band.
Part two of Return of the Commander will appear in Frew #1471, which goes on sale on 16 March. The issue which follows is the BIG ONE - Frew's 1500th Issue. This will be an edition of comparable size to our traditional Annual Special and will be plastic sealed, because it will include a second issue! I've been hinting for some time about something really special for our 1500th Issue and now I can tell you that the secret second edition will be the world's first Phantom Encyclopaedia! It has been almost two years in the making and as the title suggests, will be a complete A to Z compilation of every major event and character ever to appear in Lee Falk's entire chronology of Phantom adventures! The Phantom Encyclopaedia will not be sold separately. The only way to obtain a copy will be to purchase the 1500th Issue. That's the good news!
Now, I have to apologise to Queensland fans who experienced difficulty buying copies of Frew editions #1466 and #1467 (respectively, Murder in the Eyes and the 2007 Annual Special). The distribution truck carrying both editions overturned en route to Brisbane and the entire Queensland shipment of #1466 and most of the Annual Specials were destroyed. There was no time to reprint, but distributors Gordon and Gotch worked a few minor miracles transferring as many extra copies as possible to Queensland from other centres. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, Queensland was severely under stocked for both issues and many fans were disappointed. To my knowledge, this is the first time such an accident has happened. In the next month or so, we will attempt to accumulate copies of both editions for mail order. Let you know just as soon as possible!
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