Any follower of the Australian Phantom comics publications? 1 1

[BA773]

For a while now i got some interest for this amazing serie who run since the 40s, interested to know the option of peoples who followed the publications for years. Few question below, do not need to answer them all, its just some exemples...

Are the stories are often just some reprint of old tales? They re seems to be a lot of contents with frequently several stories in a book so im not really sure that you get often some new stuff...

Are the plots varied or you r often bored by the ressemblance of the stories?

Is there a continuity or not?

When you started into it? and are the comics changed a lot since this time? 

Thanks 

[AJD]

I'm not a Phantom collector, but I've been dipping into the series from time to time for about 50 years. I still buy one every now and then, and usually buy the 200 page annuals. Here are some answers to your questions as I see it.

On 4/10/2024 at 3:27 PM, BA773 said:

Are the stories are often just some reprint of old tales? They re seems to be a lot of contents with frequently several stories in a book so im not really sure that you get often some new stuff...

They are a mix of reprints of old stories, compilations of the still ongoing daily and weekend strips and new specially drawn for comics stories from various parts of the world.

On 4/10/2024 at 3:27 PM, BA773 said:

Are the plots varied or you r often bored by the ressemblance of the stories?

There are many similarities between the stories, though some of the recent ones have gone into new territory, like the Sunday series last year set in an underground civilisation of 'almost humans'.

On 4/10/2024 at 3:27 PM, BA773 said:

Is there a continuity or not?

Yes, about 600 years of it, from the first Phantom on. The Phantom has aged verrrrry slowly, but he has married and had children in the time since the character first appeared.

On 4/10/2024 at 3:27 PM, BA773 said:

When you started into it? and are the comics changed a lot since this time?

They have been around all my life and as kids we used to get them as giveaways in bags of goodies at local fairs. The comics haven't changed much at all, other than the production quality and the layouts of the stories produced for comics.

Edited April 10 by AJD

[AJD]

Oh, and here's what #1 looks like.

[BA773]

On 4/10/2024 at 2:08 PM, AJD said:

I'm not a Phantom collector, but I've been dipping into the series from time to time for about 50 years. I still buy one every now and then, and usually buy the 200 page annuals. Here are some answers to your questions as I see it.

They are a mix of reprints of old stories, compilations of the still ongoing daily and weekend strips and new specially drawn for comics stories from various parts of the world.

There are many similarities between the stories, though some of the recent ones have gone into new territory, like the Sunday series last year set in an underground civilisation of 'almost humans'.

Yes, about 600 years of it, from the first Phantom on. The Phantom has aged verrrrry slowly, but he has married and had children in the time since the character first appeared.

They have been around all my life and as kids we used to get them as giveaways in bags of goodies at local fairs. The comics haven't changed much at all, other than the production quality and the layouts of the stories produced for comics.

Thanks! In fact i firstly tought to you when made this thread, your profil picture was in my mind

[AJD]

On 4/10/2024 at 10:42 PM, BA773 said:

Thanks! In fact i firstly tought to you when made this thread, your profil picture was in my mind

[Robot Man]

The Phantom seems to be more popular “down under” than anywhere else in the world. Seems like every time I have been there, I have seen quite a few. Have the older ones pretty much dried up there now? 

[BA773]

@AJD 

An other interesting point is to know if there are some keys issues in this series? We dont really hear of that, except the first issue which is an obviousness. it not seems to be some important facts or something else... 

As i know his opposition is relatively common and random and the serie is more appreciated by the quality of writing and art rather than the popularity of the Lore. So it explain a part of it i guess.

Opinion?

Edited Sunday at 03:21 PM by BA773

[BA773]

On 4/10/2024 at 5:16 PM, Robot Man said:

The Phantom seems to be more popular “down under” than anywhere else in the world. Seems like every time I have been there, I have seen quite a few. Have the older ones pretty much dried up there now? 

Sorry to be so low but what would you mean in your last sentance, i dont get what it mean... 

Edited Sunday at 03:23 PM by BA773

[Robot Man]

It means, is it hard to find the earlier issues there? 

[shadroch]

I didn't know they reprinted the newspaper strips. I've been looking for a newspaper arc from around 1965-66 where the Phantom battles The Roman who killed Jesus.  It was my introduction to the Spear of Destiny.

Any idea if that was reprinted down there?

[AJD]

On 4/29/2024 at 3:09 AM, shadroch said:

I didn't know they reprinted the newspaper strips. I've been looking for a newspaper arc from around 1965-66 where the Phantom battles The Roman who killed Jesus.  It was my introduction to the Spear of Destiny.

Any idea if that was reprinted down there?

It almost certainly was. And there's even an index of the comics that covers that period. Not being a collector, I don't have the index volume. @Duffman_Comics - do you have it, or know someone who does? The trouble is you probably have to know the story arc title.

Edit: The printed index probably isn't necessary. There's an online Phantom Wiki that lists all the daily and Sunday stories. You can click through the story title and the page (usually mostly blank, unfortunately) has a set of hyperlinks to reprints from various countries. None of the titles suggest the Roman soldier story, but they are all a bit generic anyway.

Edit the second: the complete dailies and Sunday strips have all been collected into books, and the Kindle versions are pretty cheap on Amazon, so you could get the 1965-66 volumes and see if you find your story.

On 4/29/2024 at 1:30 AM, Robot Man said:

It means, is it hard to find the earlier issues there? 

They pop up rarely, but I think I've seen most of them at some stage - I don't really track them though. To make life more complicated, back in the 90s the publisher started including replica copies with the annuals. The replicas of #1 and #2 were pretty similar to the originals and I've seen a few scam attempts on ebay - "I don't know much about this comic but I know it's very old"... #3 had a small 'R' printed on the cover villain's cufflink and I saw one for sale as an original 'with one small ink stain on the cover'. Guess where the ink stain was? From #4 on they have a barcode, so are easy to spot.

Edited 22 hours ago by AJD