The most recent Phantom Sunday comic story, titled “1536”, commenced on 1 February 2026 and has just concluded on 27 September 2026. It was written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by Jeff Weigel, and was published weekly on Sundays via King Features’ digital comics platform, Comics Kingdom.

This adventure recounts the origin story of the Phantom and has been further developed to address gaps and refine elements of the version familiar from classic Phantom adventures, which was originally presented by creator Lee Falk and illustrated by numerous artists, including the original Phantom comic-strip artist, Ray Moore.

---

This story follows Kit Walker, an English sailor who becomes the sole survivor of a pirate attack on his father’s ship, the Carrack Matilda, by the Singh Brotherhood. Washed ashore on a foreign beach in 1536, Kit is taken in and cared for by the local Bandar tribe, including their chief Mwamba and the chief’s wife, Bandarmoyo. As his wounds heal, he learns their language, adapts to their culture, and recovers an English sword from the underwater wreckage of his ship. Despite the warmth and hospitality of the Bandar people, Kit remains determined to find a way back home to England.

Night after night, Kit keeps a watch with torches along the coastline, desperately hoping to signal a passing European ship to rescue him. Over time, his longing for home evolves into deep self-reflection as he recalls his father’s final moments during the pirate ambush. In a poignant vision, the ghost of Kit’s father appears to him on the beach, reminding him of his duty and calling upon him and his descendants to fight against the evil cutthroats and villains who plague the seas. Confronting the reality of the tragedy and fueled by his father’s memory, Kit prepares to arm himself and step into his destiny as a force of justice.

The story continues as Kit Walker relive the harrowing battle on the Carrack Matilda, haunted by memories of fighting alongside his father against overwhelming pirate forces before their ship was destroyed.

Consumed by grief and bad dreams, Kit prays for relief from these nightly horrors. To help him, Bandarmoyo and the Bandar people guide him into the ancestral Deep Woods, taking him through a hidden entrance behind a waterfall to a carved stone cave. There, they show him stone statues of a figure they call the “Phantom” or “The Ghost Who Walks”, explaining their ancient prophecy that a man from the sea is destined to reside there and fight evil for all time. Although deeply shaken by the revelation, Kit struggles to reconcile this grand destiny with his desperate wish to return home to England.

By late summer 1536, Kit spots two ships offshore, the Singh pirate vessel pursuing a Portuguese caravel and later witnesses the aftermath of another brutal attack. Realizing the pirates remain active in these waters and that waiting passively on the beach will not bring a rescue ship, Kit decides to take action.

When members of the Mori, a friendly sea-going tribe, arrive in the Bandar village, Kit asks Bandarmoyo to translate his request: if a ship will not find him, he must go out into the sea himself. He entreats the Mori to take him out on the water so he can locate a passing vessel, while the Bandar gently lament that despite his looming destiny, he remains a lost boy seeking his way home.

Kit Walker learns that the Mori traders are bound for Mvita (Mombasa), an ancient trading hub where European and Asian ships dock. Eager to secure passage back to England, Kit prepares to leave, receiving gifts from the Bandar people, including a walking stick and a pouch of gold, though they lament that he is a “lost boy” yet to embrace his true destiny.

Just before setting off along the coast toward Mombasa, the waves wash ashore the rotting corpse of the pirate captain who murdered Kit’s father. Seeing his father’s killer dead brings Kit a momentary sense of vengeance, but as he begins his long trek, he starts wrestling with the moral implications of taking satisfaction in revenge.

Upon arriving in Mombasa, Kit seeks a berth on a ship home, but his thoughts continuously drift back to his father’s values and the Bandar’s prophecy. He reflects on how his father never preached revenge, but rather noble action and justice, realizing that rejoicing in a killer’s death makes him no better than the villains he opposes. Sitting by the docks, Kit realizes that simply returning to his old life or taking delight in vengeance goes against the man he is called to become. This internal moral crisis marks a pivotal moment in his transformation, pushing him closer to accepting his true calling as the Phantom, a champion dedicated to fighting evil rather than seeking mere retribution.

In Mombasa, Kit Walker experiences a profound awakening, realizing that the sea delivering his father’s killer to his feet was not a coincidence, but a lesson on what true justice demands. Deciding to fully embrace his purpose as a champion of the innocent, Kit uses the gold given to him by the Bandar to purchase flintlock pistols, a sword, and purple fabric, the iconic elements of his future attire.

Returning to the shoreline by December 1536, he builds a bonfire beside the skeletal remains of his father’s killer. Holding the pirate’s skull over the flames, Kit swears the legendary Oath of the Skull: devoting his life, and ordering that all his sons follow him, to destroying piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice in all forms, while the Bandar watch on and hail him as the Phantom.

The story then transitions to the present day, revealing that this origin tale is being read late at night from the ancestral chronicles by the current 21st Phantom. His wife, Diana, enters the room and gently asks what story has kept him up half the night. Clad in his costume and wearing the skull ring, the Phantom reflects deeply on his ancestor’s journey, explaining to Diana that it is a story about clarity, loyalty, destiny, and duty, a tale of a lost man who ultimately found his way and established the beginnings of their legacy.

---