If you grew up in the mid-90s, chances are you remember the striking, neon-drenched cyberpunk aesthetic of the Phantom 2040 animated series. Fast forward to late 2025, and Comics Kingdom did something incredibly bold: they brought that dystopian future back to life.

Masterminded by award-winning writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci, with stunning art by John Amor (who illustrated the image above) and George Kambadais, the 19-episode vertical webcomic Phantom 2040: A New Shadow series aims to reinvent the legacy. Instead of sticking strictly to the Walker bloodline, the mantle falls onto a completely new kind of reluctant hero.

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The series is set in Metropia (the dystopian remains of New York City), a world fractured by ecological decay and controlled by fortified tech megacorporation’s. The story follows Carlos Osorio, a former rising soccer star whose career was cut short by a brutal injury. Drifting through life as a skeptical sports journalist, Carlos wants absolutely nothing to do with saving the world.

But when the legendary Phantom gear actively rejects tech billionaire Charles Tyrus (the power-hungry CEO of ZERO Corporation) and bonds with Carlos instead, he is forced into hiding. Guided by an older, scarred Kit Walker Jr, the previous living link to the Phantom legacy, Carlos has to learn what it truly means to become the Ghost Who Walks.

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Comics Kingdom has officially announced through their social media channels that a second season will be made available for the readership of the Phantom 2040: A New Shadow webcomic. The inaugural season consisted of 19-episodes, which were released on the Comics Kingdom website, typically on Fridays, and are accessible for reading HERE.

Here is the full breakdown of the first season’s 19-episode run, tracking Carlos’ journey from a target on the run to a symbol of justice:

Episode 1: “Ghost in the Machine”

• Release Date: September 24, 2025
• What Happens: The series kicks off in high gear. Carlos is running for his life through the mutated undergrowth of the Ghost Jungle, desperately clutching a mysterious purple suit. Cornered at a cliffside by ZERO Corporation’s lethal combat androids, he is unexpectedly saved by an older Phantom riding a mechanical horse. Carlos is told he has been given a “wonderful, difficult gift.”

Episode 2: “Fallen Star”

• Release Date: October 1, 2025
• What Happens: Carlos deals with the shock of his encounter. This entry takes a personal turn as he reflects heavily on his past on the soccer pitch, mourning the tragic career-ending injury that stripped away his dreams and left him aimless.

Episode 3: “Ghost Jungle”

• Release Date: October 22, 2025
• What Happens: While the mysterious veteran Phantom races back to his hidden base at Walker’s Table, Carlos reconnects with his childhood friend Melinda. Together, they reminisce about their youth before the world completely fractured.

Episode 4: “Heir Apparent”

• Release Date: October 29, 2025
• What Happens: The primary antagonist takes center stage. Billionaire tech magnate Charles Tyrus holds a massive public broadcast to reveal a staggering secret: he claims the historical legacy of the Phantom belongs to him by birthright.

Episode 5: “Stolen Legacy”

• Release Date: November 7, 2025
• What Happens: Tyrus deepens his propaganda machine. He lays out the extensive history of Christopher Walker and the centuries-old Phantom lineage, detailing his corporate plan to rebuild the Ghost Who Walks as a tool under his direct control.

Episode 6: “Unmasked”

• Release Date: November 14, 2025
• What Happens: With the corporate forces closing in, Carlos faces an intense internal crisis. He has the gear, but he doesn’t want the target on his back. He is forced to decide whether to officially take up the mantle or throw it away.

Episode 7: “Borderlands”

• Release Date: November 28, 2025
• What Happens: Carlos continues to grapple with his dark past and his deep-seated skepticism of heroes. By the end of this reflective chapter, the final choice is made: he will stand up and fight.

Episode 8: “The Phantom We Need”

• Release Date: December 5, 2025
• What Happens: Things go wrong when corporate forces connect Melinda to Carlos right around the time the Phantom suit went missing. A frantic, high-stakes chase erupts as Melinda tries to evade ZERO’s surveillance grid.

Episode 9: “Wasteland Justice”

• Release Date: December 12, 2025
• What Happens: The mid-season finale before the holiday break drops a massive payoff. Carlos finally dons the iconic purple suit in earnest, stepping out to face down ZERO Corporation’s robotic enforcers in front of a stunned crowd of ordinary citizens.

Episode 10: “Twists, Reveals”

• Release Date: January 9, 2026
• What Happens: Returning from the winter hiatus, this chapter sets off a chain reaction of narrative shifts, revealing deeper conspiracies regarding ZERO’s ultimate plans for the dwindling Earth.

Episode 11: “Repeat Offender”

• Release Date: January 16, 2026
• What Happens: The narrative slows down just enough to unpack more of Carlos’ family history. An old ally manages to track Carlos down to deliver a deeply personal, hidden keepsake left behind by his mother.

Episode 12: “Tabula Rasa”

• Release Date: January 23, 2026
• What Happens: Carlos attempts to reinvent his fighting style, realizing that relying on raw athleticism isn’t enough to beat calculated corporate AI. He begins learning the tactical espionage side of the Phantom legacy.

Episode 13: “Fat Accompli”

• Release Date: January 30, 2026
• What Happens: Tyrus accelerates his plans, choking off resources to the lower city sectors to flush out the new vigilante. Carlos realizes that staying passive will only cause the innocent to suffer.

Episode 14: “Bait”

• Release Date: February 6, 2026
• What Happens: ZERO Corporation sets a carefully calculated trap for the new hero, utilizing a faked environmental emergency inside the precious Ghost Jungle to draw the Phantom into the open.

Episode 15: “TKTKT”

• Release Date: February 20, 2026
• What Happens: Operating under a stylized placeholder title, this chaotic chapter ups the ante by introducing a terrifying obstacle: hints of a terrifying, corporatized “Anti-Phantom” designed by Tyrus to tarnish the legend.

Episode 16: “Breakdowns”

• Release Date: March 13, 2026
• What Happens: Pinned down and severely overwhelmed by Tyrus’ elite robotic tactical squad, Carlos looks like he’s out of options. Luckily, classic series favorites Fitzroy and the cybernetic police dog D.V.L. step onto the scene to turn the tide.

Episode 17: “York’s Most Wanted”

• Release Date: April 10, 2026
• What Happens: Following the explosive fallout of the previous battle, the corporate-controlled media brands Carlos an existential threat. He becomes Metropia’s public enemy number one, hunted by both robots and corrupted law enforcement.

Episode 18: “Hold the Line”

• Release Date: April 17, 2026
• What Happens: Carlos, Melinda, and their small band of underground rebels make a definitive, desperate stand to protect a vital communications array that connects the lower city to the outside world.

Episode 19: “Into the Blackout”

• Release Date: May 20, 2026
• What Happens: The grid drops. With Metropia thrown into complete digital darkness, Carlos uses the shadows to take the fight directly to ZERO’s fortified headquarters.

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While King Features hasn’t locked down an exact premiere date or episode schedule for the next batch of chapters, the explosive events of the Season 1 finale give us a very clear roadmap of what writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci are building toward. Season 1 was entirely about a reluctant, broken athlete fighting against a mantle that chose him. In Season 2, the training wheels are gone. Carlos has accepted the purple suit, meaning we are about to see a much more confident, lethal, and proactive Ghost Who Walks.

Phantom 2040: A New Shadow successfully honors the dark, environmentally conscious roots of the 1994 animated show while offering a fresh, character-driven story structure tailored beautifully for the modern vertical-scroll webcomic format. It’s commendable to see the Phantom depicted in diverse visual styles and settings, striving to appeal to a wider readership audience.

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