Best Phantom Story 2002

The winner of a one year subscription to Frew's Phantom comic, courtesy of Frew Publications, is Marcus Cristy.

Phans were asked to vote for their favourite stories in Frew's Phantom comic for the year 2002. Since Frew publish a range of Phantom stories from different sources, I thought it would be fair to divide them into the following groups: new comic book stories from Egmont Scandinavia; Semic classics featuring old stories from Scandinavia; Lee Falk classics reprinted in complete and unedited form; and new comic strip stories from American newspapers. Each entrant than had to nominate their Best Phantom Story 2002 by selecting the matching category. The results of the poll are shown in the following lists.

The runaway winner of the Best Egmont Story 2002 was The Long Bow of Little John written by David Bishop from New Zealand (living in Scotland), and illustrated by Paul Ryan from USA. This is the second year running that Paul Ryan has taken out the Best Egmont Story, proving that he has been a highly successful addition to Team Fantomen. David Bishop also made his debut on The Phantom this year and an enormous number of Phans have clearly enjoyed his work so far.
In distant second place, was Patrolman Weeks Suspended by Claes Reimerthi & Romano Felmang. Third place was tied with The Hellhound by Claes Reimerthi & Carlos Cruz, and The Outcasts by Hans Lindahl.

Place	Votes	Frew	Story Title	Writer	Artist	Source
1	24	1329	The Long Bow of Little John	Bishop	Ryan	F 15/02
2	12	1337	Patrolman Weeks Suspended	Reimerthi	Felmang	F 23/02
3	6	1321	The Hellhound	Reimerthi	Cruz	F 8/02
3	6	1334	The Outcasts	Lindahl	Lindahl	F 21/02
5	5	1323	The Clock Maker	De Paul	Bade	F 10/02
5	5	1338	The Eye of Merlin	Moberg	Cruz	F 25/02
7	4	1336	The Highland Murders	Bishop	Ryan	F 22/02
8	3	1316	The New Pupil	Reimerthi	Boix	F 4/02
8	3	1322	The Floating Cemetery	Lindahl	Lindahl	F 9/02
8	3	1328	The Bandani Pirates	Frognes	Felmang	F 14/02
8	3	1332	In A Strange Land Pt.1	Reimerthi	Spadari	F 19/02
8	3	1333	In A Strange Land Pt.2	Reimerthi	Spadari	F 20/02
13	2	1311	Convent Island	Bishop	Spadari	F 26/01
13	2	1313	The Witch Hunt	Reimerthi	Boix	F 1/02
13	2	1320	The Wizard's House	Longstreet	Giordano	F 7/02
13	2	1327	The Inquisitor	Longstreet	Spadari	F 12/02
17	1	1314	The Search for El Dorado Pt.1	Frognes	Frognes	F 2/02
17	1	1331	The Mute Avenger	Hedman	Bade	F 17/02
19	0	1315	The Search for El Dorado Pt.2	Frognes	Frognes	F 3/02
19	0	1318	The Bank Robbers Pt.1	Moberg	Felmang	F 5/02
19	0	1319	The Bank Robbers Pt.2	Moberg	Felmang	F 6/02

• The "Source" column in the above list refers to the original Fantomen issue number for each story.
• This year Egmont cut back on the number of new stories they created. They were replaced with reprints of old Semic (Egmont) stories, under the banner of Team Fantomen Presents. A total of 5 issues of Fantomen contained such reprints: Nr.11, 16, 18, 24, 26 / 2002.
• Fantomen Nr.13 / 2002 contained a new story called The Bengali Triangle by Mats Jönsson and Don Perlin. Frew did not print this story.

This year Frew reprinted several old stories that were originally created by Team Fantomen from Semic (now known as Egmont). Most were simply reprints of stories that Frew had already published, and in three cases they even included the cover art from that previous edition (#1324, #1325, #1326). However, The Ghost Pirate (#1330) had not been published before by Frew, and this was followed by the first two stories in a new series of Semic Classics that have never appeared in Australia.
The winner of the Best Semic Classic 2002 was The Ring written by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé. This landmark story about how the 1st Phantom was given his legendary skull mark ring, was obviously very popular amongst Frew readers. The result of this poll is also a great indication that the new Semic Classics series should be a success for Frew.
In distant second place, was Hoogan's Revenge by Lennart Moberg & Jean-Yves Mitton. In third place was Kingdom of the Amazons by Scott Goodall & Romano Felmang / Germano Ferri.

Place	Votes	Frew	Story Title	Writer	Artist	Source	Reprint of
1	30	1341	The Ring	Granberg	Vallvé	F 11/77	n/a
2	15	1324	Hoogan's Revenge	Moberg	Mitton	F 12/92	1028
3	12	1326	Kingdom of the Amazons	Goodall	Felmang/Ferri	F 10/91	993
4	10	1339	Escape from Devil's Island	Granberg	Bade	F 7/77	n/a
5	6	1330	The Ghost Pirate	Avenell	Bade	F 19/87	n/a
6	4	1312	The Master Magician	Worker	Lindahl	F 25/83	853A
6	4	1317	The Last Assignment	Worker	Eralp/Wilhelmsson	F 2/77	776
6	4	1325	The Fire of Life	Tierres	Lindahl	F 19/85	1031
9	2	1312	The Floating Island	Darell	Lindahl	F 2/84	850

• The "Source" column in the above list refers to the original Fantomen issue number for each story.
• The "Reprint of" column in the above list refers to the Frew edition in which the story first appeared.

Frew have gained much credit for their policy of producing complete reprints of old dailies and Sundays. A total of 16 stories were brought back to life in 2002.
The runaway winner of the Best Falk Classic 2002 was The Slave Market of Mucar, which captured 33% of the votes. This story marked Sy Barry's debut on The Phantom in 1961/62 and is clearly a favourite with the Phans. As one voter put it "this is a top action story that combines ingenuity, courage, and humour - great hallmarks of The Phantom!"
In second place was another clear favourite, The Phantom's Engagement from 1943 dailies. It is a source of some amazement that after The Phantom proposed to Diana in this story, Lee Falk managed to stretch out their romance for another 34 years before they finally wed in 1977.
Third place was closely fought, and eventually won by The Hanta Witch, a 1960s Falk-Barry classic followed by Wilson McCoy's The Chain, a wonderful story of patience and determination overcoming adversity.

Place	Votes	Frew	Story Title	Writer	Artist	Source
1	29	1312	The Slave Market of Mucar	Falk	Barry	D82
2	16	1340	The Phantom's Engagement	Falk	McCoy	D18
3	8	1312	The Hanta Witch	Falk	Barry	D91
4	7	1312	The Chain	Falk	McCoy	S34
5	5	1317	Colonel Winn's Secret	Falk	Moore	S2
5	5	1329	The Snake Goddess	Falk	Barry	D161
7	4	1312	The Lost City of Pheenix	Falk	Barry	D115
7	4	1335	Yes	Falk	Barry	D111
9	3	1335	The Golden People	Falk	Barry	S78
10	2	1340	Drug Busters	Falk	Barry	D157
10	2	1340	The Embassy Siege	Falk	Barry	D155
12	1	1312	The Sea God	Falk	Barry	D95
12	1	1335	The White Princess	Falk	McCoy	D66
14	0	1312	The Fence	Falk	Barry	D112
14	0	1312	The Heirs	Falk	Barry	D140
14	0	1317	The Trophy Bearer	Falk	Barry	S83

• The "Source" column in the above list refers to the daily and Sunday story codes.
• Colonel Winn's Secret and The Phantom's Engagement had been previously reprinted in complete and unedited form in #939A and #1154 respectively.

Yet another clear winner in this category. The Best New Strip Story 2002 was Shadows on Devil Road by Fred Fredericks. Fans of both The Phantom and Mandrake were obviously pleased with this unique crossover story. In distant second place was The Animal Collector by Tony De Paul & George Olesen / Keith Williams, and not far behind in a tie for third was The War Mongers and The Immortal Man.

Place	Votes	Frew	Story Title	Writer	Artist	Source
1	27	1340	Shadows on Devil Road	Fredericks	Fredericks	Mandrake
2	17	1323	The Animal Collector	De Paul	Olesen/Williams	D204
3	14	1323	The War Mongers	Reimerthi	Nolan	S155
3	14	1329	The Immortal Man	De Paul	Olesen/Williams	D205
5	8	1317	The Ghost Pirates	De Paul	Olesen/Williams	D203
6	7	1335	The Briefcase	Reimerthi	Nolan	S156

• The "Source" column in the above list refers to the daily and Sunday story codes.
• Shadows on Devil Road (#1340) was a Mandrake-Phantom crossover story from the Mandrake Sunday strips.

The outright winner of the Best Phantom Story 2002 was decided by voters selecting from their four choices above, the category of the story that corresponded to their favourite for the year. The vast majority chose stories from Falk Classics (45%), followed by New Egmont (33%), Semic Classics (11%), and lastly New Strips (10%).
The Slave Market of Mucar topped the poll earning the title of Best Phantom Story 2002. The Long Bow of Little John took out second place, and third was a tie between Shadows on Devil Road and The Phantom's Engagement. The top ten places are shown below.

Place	Votes	Frew	Story Title	Writer	Artist	Source	Category
1	16	1312	The Slave Market of Mucar	Falk	Barry	D82	Falk Classic
2	10	1329	The Long Bow of Little John	Bishop	Ryan	F 15/02	New Egmont
3	7	1340	Shadows on Devil Road	Fredericks	Fredericks	Mandrake	New Strip
3	7	1340	The Phantom's Engagement	Falk	McCoy	D18	Falk Classic
5	5	1341	The Ring	Granberg	Vallvé	F 11/77	Semic Classic
6	4	1312	The Hanta Witch	Falk	Barry	D91	Falk Classic
7	3	1312	The Chain	Falk	McCoy	S34	Falk Classic
7	3	1323	The Clock Maker	De Paul	Bade	F 10/02	New Egmont
7	3	1329	The Snake Goddess	Falk	Barry	D161	Falk Classic
10	2	1312	The Lost City of Pheenix	Falk	Barry	D115	Falk Classic
10	2	1324	Hoogan's Revenge	Moberg	Mitton	F 12/92	Semic Classic
10	2	1332	In A Strange Land Pt.1	Reimerthi	Spadari	F 19/02	New Egmont
10	2	1333	In A Strange Land Pt.2	Reimerthi	Spadari	F 20/02	New Egmont
10	2	1334	The Outcasts	Lindahl	Lindahl	F 21/02	New Egmont
10	2	1335	Yes	Falk	Barry	D111	Falk Classic
10	2	1337	Patrolman Weeks Suspended	Reimerthi	Felmang	F 23/02	New Egmont

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