Fantomen Comic Book Display Sign

The Fantomen Comic Book Display Sign was produced by Serieförlaget (which later became Semic Press) in Sweden in the 1950s. The shop display (or skyltställ) was produced to promote Fantomen comic books in retail outlets throughout Sweden, a comic book series which has been in print since October 1950.

Serieförlaget was a Swedish comic book publishing company that operated for a relatively short period, from 1950 to 1955. It was established as a subsidiary of the well-known Swedish publishing house Åhlén & Åkerlunds Förlags AB.  

The primary reason for creating Serieförlaget was that Åhlén & Åkerlunds reportedly wished to keep their main company name untarnished by association with comic books, which were perhaps not as highly regarded at the time. Thus, the separate imprint “Serieförlaget” (which translates to “Comics Publisher”) was created for this specific purpose.

During its brief existence, Serieförlaget published several popular comic titles, including:

  • Fantomen (The Phantom): This iconic comic strip, created by Lee Falk, has a long and enduring history in Sweden and was one of Serieförlaget’s key titles.  
  • Blondie: The popular American comic strip featuring the Bumstead family.  
  • Buffalo Bill: Western-themed comics featuring the famous American frontiersman.  
  • Tarzan: Adventures based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ legendary jungle hero. Notably, the comic Tarzan also featured Mandrake the Magician as a backup feature during 1954.

Serieförlaget was preceded by another comics imprint under Åhlén & Åkerlunds called Alga (which ran from 1942 to 1950) and was succeeded by Åhlén & Åkerlunds Youth Magazines (from 1955 to 1962). The latter eventually evolved into the much larger and longer-lasting comic book publisher Semic Press in the early 1960s.

Interestingly, later in the 1980s and 1990s, another entity associated with Hemmets Journals förlag (which was part of the Danish Egmont Group) also used the name “Serieförlaget” or “Serieförlaget Svenska” for some of its comic book publications before the entire operation was integrated into Egmont Serieförlaget in 1997 following Egmont’s acquisition of Semic Press. The “Serieförlaget” name was eventually phased out of the Egmont name in 2003, with the company now known as Egmont Publishing.

Therefore, when referring to Serieförlaget, it typically points to the original publishing arm of Åhlén & Åkerlunds that was active in the first half of the 1950s and played a role in establishing some enduring comic book titles in Sweden.

The Fantomen Comic Book Display Sign is made of cardboard with print found on the one side in full color, measuring 33cm x 22cm. The Phantom is pictured with his faithful mountain wolf, Devil, appearing in the older, more sketched artistic style characteristic of the mid-century.

The yellow placard on the front of the shop display provides a snapshot of the Golden Age of Swedish comics:

  • Serietidningen Fantomen: Which translates to ‘The Phantom Comic Magazine’, the Swedish Fantomen title is one of the longest-running and most successful comic publications in the world, having started in 1950.
  • Serier i Fyra Färger: Which translates to ‘Comics in Four Colors’, a common marketing phrase of the time to emphasize that the magazine was printed in full color rather than black and white or duotone.
  • Co-Stars: The list on the right shows the backup strips that shared the magazine’s pages during that decade, including:
    • Hopalong Cassidy: The famous Western hero.
    • Knockout Charlie: Known in the US as Joe Palooka.
    • Lisa och Sluggo: The Swedish name for the classic Nancy comic strip.

At the base of the Fantomen Comic Book Display Sign, there exists a fold-back flap seen at the rear, which contains assembly and display instructions provided by the publisher for shop retailers. The instructions, when translated into English, state:

Fold the sign along the dashed line and stick a strip of paper on the back as a support so the sign will stand steady (see the picture). Place the sign in the window or on the counter next to your pack of the Phantom comic magazine.