260 pages, , this Annual is highly collectible. Images to the left look "shiny" due to plastic wrapped. Mint condition - never opened - plastic wrapped with Replica print of original Issue 19 from very early 1950’s! Contains Classic Stories: LAGO THE LAKE GOD Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy Daily story May 28 –August 11, l945 One for the Phantom historical buffs! Lago is the first living ‘God ‘ to appear in a Phantom adventure, daily or Sunday. He is also the first white man to be left in the custody of the natives he tried to dupe—and Hero is billed as the ‘Wonder Horse’. The character masquerading as Lago the Lake God is Trader Smith, who is the forerunner to the much better known Trader Joe. THE WILD GIRL Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy Daily story August 13—November 10, 1945 Lee Falk clearly had a love of inventing oddball characters he placed in the jungle or nearby remote islands. Dara—The Wild Girl and her pet lion Tabby, is one of the many, but one of the first. THE MERMAIDS OF MELO STRAITS Lee Falk and Ray Moore (officially) Daily story November 12 1945—February 16, 1946 Many Phantom historians now believe some doubt exists over authorship by Falk and art by Moore because the creative quality is below the normal high standard of the pair. It is a comparatively minor issue and more interesting are two strange pieces of continuity detailed on the splash page. THE MYSTERY OF THE ISLAND OF DOGS Lee Falk and Sy Barry. Daily story, June 03—December 14, 1963 Sy Barry’s fifth daily story as illustrator—and one of his longest Lee Falk leaned heavily on a major world crisis of the time to help maintain reader interest and succeeded admirably. The story remains high on the most requested list, not only with Frew, but with major Phantom comic book publishers throughout the world. Lee keeps up a furious scripting pace and Sy almost goes overboard with many dramatic Phantom poses, some of which have almost ’superhero’ overtones! From this time onwards, Sy admitted he began easing back on such depictions of The Phantom. Buffs have plenty of interesting avenues to explore….Look for Colonel Weeks explaining the Jungle Patrol uses ’carrier pigeons’ to take messages to The Unknown Commander. (In The Slave Market of Mucar, published the year before, they were called ‘homing pigeons’). The character Janice has a maid called Gooley. In 1971 the name was to become famous with the publication of the story, The Gooley-Gooley Witch! Colonel Weeks makes an interesting observation. He says he suspects the Unknown Commander is, in fact, The Phantom. However he adds…‛That doesn’t help much—who is The Phantom?’ THE VEILED LADY Lee Falk and Sy Barry Sunday story, October 31, 1965—May 08, 1966 Both Lee and Sy excelled themselves on this classic creation….Lee with his special feel for fantasy and Sy with his well-honed skills in illustrating science fiction stories. More than a few touches of Jules Verne’s famous Journey to the Centre of the Earth novel! The giant creatures The Phantom and various scientists encounter in the giant volcano are brilliantly described and depicted. REX KING Lee Falk and Sy Barry Sunday story, May 15—December 11, 1966 This story introduced Rex! He was to be extensively written about in following daily stories. There are many firsts contained in the story….first appearance of Kateena the lioness and Joomba the elephant, first depiction of a school in the Deep Woods (and an unnamed teacher who is to become Miss Tagama) and first appearance of Tom-Tom. THE LIONS OF KUKHAN Lee Falk and Sy Barry Sunday Story, April 09– August 06. 1967 An almost over-the-top action thriller which includes scenes of The Phantom actually killing man-eating lions. (The slaying of animals was almost taboo in Phantom stories during Lee Falk’s lifetime.) Lee was obviously making a special point about tyrants and how they should be kept under control. Not one, but three jungle tribes are mentioned and there is powerful use of Old Jungle Sayings and Old Native Sayings. THE HYDRA Lee Falk and Sy Barry Daily story, July 08—October 12, 1968. Did you know that this adventure was never quite finished by Lee Falk? At the end of the adventure, The Phantom promises that some day he will wipe out the Hydra gang. He never does….Lee Falk never returned to this fascinating theme! More’s the pity. The Hydra remains a spine-chilling thriller, brimming over with wonderful characters and action and historical and legendary links dating back to Hercules! Collectible! -- We now offer this as a physical paper comic or as a digital comic.Please be aware that if choosing a Digital Comics from the dropdown menu below they are for private usage only! For copyright security the link is valid for 2 downloads and will expire in 7 days after purchase, downloads are limited to 2 IP addresses only.
