Fantomets Krøniker – Det Første Fantomet (which translates to The Chronicles of the Phantom: The First Phantom) is a comic book published by Semic/Nordisk Forlag A/S in Norway in 1984. The one-shot hardcover album style comic book contains a collection of stories focused on the origin of the Phantom legend and the history of the very first Phantom (Christopher Walker).

It includes a mix of daily and Sunday comic strip stories and “Team Fantomen” stories (stories created specifically for the Scandinavian market). Also featured in the comic book are several pages dedicated to the Phantoms creator Lee Falk and also the various artists who have illustrated Phantom comic strip stories.

The stories published in Fantomets Krøniker – Det Første Fantomet are:

• Walker’s Table – by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
• The First Phantom – by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
• The Avenger – by Janne Lundström and Jaime Vallvé
• The Ring – by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé
• Mystery in Rome – by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé
• The Treasure from Rhodes – by Norman Worker and Kari Leppänen

Fantomets Krøniker – Det Første Fantomet is published in a mix of color and black and white pages measuring 22cm x 29cm in Norwegian text. The distinctive cover art is by the Norwegian artist Knut Westad, whose signature can be seen in the lower-left area of the front cover image.

In the 1980s, Semic produced several high-quality luxury albums and chronicles to celebrate the Phantom’s long history in Scandinavia. This specific book is a favorite among collectors because it compiles the most important lore regarding how the 1st Phantom survived the pirate attack that killed his father and how he swore the ‘Oath of the Skull’.

The cover art by Knut Westad is particularly iconic, featuring various elements of the Phantom mythos: the Skull Ring, the Skull Cave, Swearing of the Oath and the first Phantom’s origin by the sea.

The back cover provides a brief description of the contents found within Fantomets Krøniker – Det Første Fantomet. Translated to English, it reads:

Fantomets Chronicler is entirely devoted to The First Phantom. The book contains 6 important episodes that form the basis of the myth of The Walking Ghost – The Man Who Can Never Die. In addition to the series, the book contains background material about Lee Falk, the series’ creator, and the various artists who have been involved from the start in 1936 to the present day.

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