Fantomen Nr.6/2007
by Hans Lindahl
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- Duel in Cyberspace
- Story & Art: Hans Lindahl
- First published in Fantomen Nr.6/2007 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Ulf Granberg.
- Message from the Publisher:
The battle in cyberspace is drawing to a close! The Phantom, however, has a few more tasks ahead of him before he can be positive his role as a keeper of the peace will continue. Once again, I must stress that anyone new to The Phantom should make every effort to track down earlier episodes of this most unusual saga. Without a comprehensive understanding of how and why it all started, this latest chapter may be a little difficult to understand! If you have no affinity with the computer world, treat the story as basic science fiction - and enjoy the brilliant art! [Comment from Guran: Better still, don't bother reading the words, just look at the pretty pictures and imagine this is a Flash Gordon comic. This story-line is the worst I've encountered in the two decades I've been reading The Phantom!] The cyberspace adventure is almost certainly the most mysterious story in the long history of The Phantom. Doubtless, in future years Phantom historians will have loads of fun trying to find hidden messages. All will be resolved in two future episodes and (hopefully) life will return to what passes as 'normal' in the day-to-day existence of The Phantom!
I can promise you the adventure in our next edition will take place almost entirely on Mother Earth. The Phantom finds himself in Scotland and becomes involved in an adventure loosely based around what can only be the legendary Loch Ness monster! The location is in fact a small village on the shores of Loch Ness. There are many people who believe in the existence of a monster lurking in the Loch - and at least as many who scoff at the idea. There have been plenty of 'eyewitnesses' and more than a few photographs of the monster have come to light. Sadly, for the true believers, the most famous photograph has turned out to be a fake and the two men who were involved, long ago confessed to a practical joke which somehow fooled everybody for years. Other photographs and some short grabs of film and videotape also exist and to date have stood up to the most complicated scientific scrutiny. The biggest mystery of all surrounding the possible existence of a monster (or monsters) in the ice cold Loch is how such a creature came to be there in the first place. The most popular theory is that one or more of the creatures were trapped in the Loch during some sort of massive upheaval which blocked an original passage to the sea - and that somehow, they survived and adapted to the now land-locked stretch of water. It is almost certainly more myth than fact, but there are still many thousands of believers. And of course, the legend of 'Nessie', as the locals like to call their creature, has generated huge profits for the tourism industry! It will be worth your time exploring the Internet for more information about the Loch Ness Monster. Fake or not, one thing is especially interesting - while existing photographs are inconclusive (and there are only a few!) the many sketches by observers are close to being identical. The Loch Ness monster, if it exists, has a long neck, a very small head and a series of 'bumps' (usually three are depicted) along its back. Quite cleverly, artist Heiner Bade has refrained from showing the monster in detail in this adventure, but has included some illustrations of 'props' which are similar to many used by hoaxers.
Finally, many thanks to everybody who has contacted the Frew office to pass comment on The Phantom Encyclopedia which accompanied our 1500th Issue.
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