To find that so many of those panels from Phantom strips were based on original
layouts from
Prince Valiant
was one thing. But while reading through some original
Prince Valiant
Sunday pages recently, we made an amazing discovery.
One of the most memorable panels used throughout Sy Barry's tenure on The
Phantom, shows The Phantom fighting off pirates aboard a sailing ship. This
panel first appeared in 1967 and has been repeated numerous times since then,
often as part of a "For Those Who Came in Late" sequence. The layout
of this panel has also been used as a basis for others. For example, it was
used to illustrate a panel where The Phantom is fighting off "demons"
in
The Name
. The common thread in all cases is that the layouts were prepared by George
Olesen. Even after the retirement of Sy Barry in 1994, George Olesen has
continued to use this famous panel, now inked by Keith Williams or Fred
Fredericks.
And now the discovery ... you guessed it, all of these panels were originally
based on an old panel from
Prince Valiant
(see below). In doing so, George Olesen made a truly wonderful tribute to Hal
Foster, one of the greatest adventure strip artists of all time!
© 2000 KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC. THE HEARST CORPORATION
