Established on the 30th of June, 1969, The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier is a newspaper based in Konedobu, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier was the first national daily printed newspaper in Papua New Guinea.
On the 23rd of August 1974, it was announced by the editor in their ‘Big Drum’ column that the Phantom comic strip would be commencing print, replacing Big Ben Bolt comic strips.
On the 26th of August, 1974, the first Phantom comic strip was published, containing the Phantom story ‘The Pampered Princess’. The Phantom was published 5 days a week, with only daily comic strips appearing.
In August of 1974, the editor printed these 2 messages in the ‘Big Drum’ of The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, the same month as the Phantom comic strip commenced print.
On the 2nd of September, 1974, we see the first comic strip containing the Phantom in the The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, in the third panel.
Published on the 14th of July, 1975, a letter was sent in by one of the The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier’s readers title ‘The Phantom Must Be Stopped’.
2 days later, the editor replied to the above letter by J.A of Konedubu with the below in the ‘Big Drum’ section of The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier.
In August 1976, the Papua New Guinea Department of Health launched a campaign to educate the public in Chimbu Provence on the importance of eating peanuts as a source of protein. As the below article notes (which was published in The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier on the 10th of August, 1976), 1000 Phantom posters will be distributed in the following month of September in Chimbu.
Printed on the 13th of August 1976, the following article appeared in The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. The article continues to promote peanuts, but also talks about the Phantom posters to be distributed, and even notes the posters dimensions (508.0mm x 762.0mm), that it was in full color, showing the Phantom standing in front of a tropical background.
An example of the poster is shown below.
It seems that not everyone was happy with the poster, as on the 14th of January 1977, we see the following article printed.
An advertisement appears on the 18th of November, 1976, of a Phantom t-shirt iron-on transfer, with instruction on how to apply the iron-on and how to look after the t-shirt once applied.
Published on the 16th of February, 1978, a letter was sent in by one of the The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier’s readers title ‘PHANTASTIC!’
Published on the 13th of October, 1978, the following was published by the editor in ‘Big Drum’ in The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier.
On the 24th of November, 1978, an advertisement for a ‘Phantom Kit’ appears in the classifieds section of The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier.
On the 13th of June, 1979, an advertisement for the ‘Port Moresby Show’ appears in The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. It advertises an opportunity to have your photo taken as the Phantom by placing your head in a ‘face in the hole board’ of the Phantom.
On the 26th of September, 1980, an article was written by Susan Addison on the popularity of the Phantom in Papua New Guinea titled ‘Ghost Who Walks Always Talks, But Not On The Cover!’.
The Phantom comic strip would continue to be published until July 1981 in The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, with 19 stories published in total.
The Phantom 