In a press release published by Story House Egmont (who publish Phantom comic books in Sweden), we’re informed that their Phantom comic book series has achieved a massive milestone, with the 1000th Fantomen story just being published.
With its first issue release in October 1950, Fantomen is one of the earliest Swedish regularly published comic books, with over 1,600 issues having been published since then, second only to Frew Publications in Australia.
Edition 25–26 which has just been published, carries the Phantom story “Singh’s True Brotherhood”. The press release notes:
The 1000th adventure, “Singh’s True Brotherhood”, follows in the same footsteps by highlighting the series’ many female characters while the Phantom stays in the shadows. Andreas Eriksson, the magazine’s editor and author of the adventure, has not only taken care to write a relevant adventure but also created a dignified anniversary adventure for the Ghost Who Walks biggest fans.
The Phantom is an extremely popular comic book character in both Sweden and the Scandinavian region of Europe. The press release notes:
For many, the Phantom is as Swedish as Bamse and Pippi Longstocking, despite the fact that he was created by an American and mainly fights crime in the fictional East African country of Bengali. In the 60s, just over a decade after the Phantom made its entrance on the newspaper shelf, the Swedish editorial staff began to edit the foreign Phantom adventures. There was not only an ambition to improve the quality of the content, but also to publish series whose values were in line with those of the readers.
Fantomen comic books are well known for publishing/creating their own content, both original story-lines and comic strip art, not relying on other publishers or King Features Syndicate for content. Other publishing houses in fact regularly publish stories which have appeared on the pages of Fantomen comic books, translating them from Swedish to their local language. We see Frew Publications in Australia for example, publishing such content and have done so for many years.
Story House Egmont also give us a peak into what they see is in store for the future of the Phantom in Sweden:
The Phantom has meant so much to thousands of readers for over 70 years and we at the editorial office are very proud of this historic milestone. We are passionate about the magazine and see the 1000th adventure as a taste of what the Phantom Stories of the future will look like. We work actively to renew the content of the magazine so that the Ghost Who Walks continues to be a strong and positive role model for both young people and adults, says Jacob Habinc, project manager for the magazine Fantomen at Story House Egmont.
The publishers of Fantomen comic’s not only bring our comic book hero to life in the adventures published within it’s pages, but the various publishers have drawn in their readers into the Phantom’s world via various activities, making a positive social impact on both young and old.
We see the publishers of Fantomen comics over the years actively running a Phantom club and even giving away free merchandise/collectables via contests or inclusions with comic books.
Quick links can be found below of various Fantomen initiatives we’ve seen over the years since 1950:
A huge congratulations go to the team at Fantomen and to Story House Egmont for this massive milestone, and wish them all the very best on the publication of future Fantomen comics and original stories still to come.
To read the full press release, click HERE
The Phantom 