A Fantomen comic book cover has been nominated for Cover of the Year by Sveriges Tidskrifter.

Sveriges Tidskrifter is a Sweden based organization focusing on the media industry described on their website as:

Sveriges Tidskrifter has 383 members who represent everything from commercial lifestyle brands to trade union newspapers and purely digital actors. We pursue common issues, work with politicians on media issues, set standards, protect press ethics, educate and inspire our members and highlight good examples from the industry through experience exchanges and awards. And we know from experience that industry development must take place with broad support from the various players in the industry and linked to their needs.

Amongst an overall of 12 categories for their yearly Journal Prize, 7 categories have been posted with their respective nominees listed. These 7 categories listed are Design of the Year, Review of the Year, Journalist of the Year, Sound of the Year, Cover of the Year, Mobile of the Year and School Magazine of the Year.

Under the category of Cover of the Year, we find Fantomen comic book number 8, released in April 2024 by Story House Egmont in Sweden. This comic book was a special release edition, published in conjunction with the Uppsala Comix festival held on the 14th of April 2024 in Sweden. The front cover nominated for the award is illustrated by Henrik Sahlström, with the front and back cover seen below.

The Phantom stories featured in the edition are:

• The Demon’s Image – written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by Heiner Bade. An ancient curse leads both the 19th and 21st Phantom to the Swedish university city of Uppsala! One fateful drama, which began over 60 years ago, is heading towards his easy going full table…!
• The Slaves – written by Peter Mennigen and illustrated by José María Ortiz Tafalla. A young Englishman visits Grenada, a hub of the slave trade in the 18th century. Disturbed by what he sees, he wants to fight slavery. But the slave trade has powerful protectors in the form of the island’s governor, and perhaps even the governor’s long-term guest, the mysterious Mr. Walker…

The nomination on the Sveriges Tidskrifter website for the Fantomen comic book reads:

The Phantom/no. 8 2024
“There are nights when the Phantom leaves the jungle like an ordinary man” is a well-known jungle saying. In No. 8 this year, he does just that, and the city he visits is Uppsala. The editors clearly wanted it to be clear already on the cover that the Phantom is in Uppsala, and after six sketch suggestions from cartoonist Henrik Sahlström, they landed on this cover with the Phantom in front of Uppsala Cathedral. Inside the newspaper, the extra-long adventure takes us to, among other things, a reading room in Carolina Rediviva. A legendary and beloved series that still finds its audience!

Winners of the Journal Prize will be revealed at the Journal Gala held at Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden on the 23rd of October, 2024.

The full press release on the Sveriges Tidskrifter website listing all nomination can be found HERE

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