An interesting poll was featured in the classic Yugoslavian comic magazine Politikin Zabavnik, published in issue #1043 from 1971. The magazine set up a rivalry poll to let young readers decide which legendary comic strip hero reigned supreme in their pop-culture hierarchy.
The headline of the original announcement asked readers a direct question: “WHO IS BETTER: PHANTOM OR SUPERMAN?” The prompt originated from a playful friendly debate sent in by a young reader named Dragan Grbić from the town of Drvar. This announcement of the poll published in Politikin Zabavnik #1043 can be seen below, with the original poll seen on the left and the translated version seen on the right.
In his letter, Dragan wrote: “Dear Zabavnik! My friend claims that ‘The Phantom’ is the best comic in the world, while I think that ‘Superman’ and ‘Batman’ are better. Please answer who is right.”
The editorial team responded by explaining that in a poll conducted the previous year, the Phantom took first place, but at that time they had not yet started publishing Superman and Batman. To settle the debate once and for all, the magazine launched an urgent postcard campaign asking readers to vote on their favorite.
Instructions were clear and direct: readers needed to write either “I vote for The Phantom” or “I vote for Superman” on a postcard and mail it to the magazine’s office at Makedonska 29 in Belgrade, marked with the tag “Great Vote”.
The grand resolution came a few issues later, as documented in Politikin Zabavnik issue #1049 from 1972. The magazine published the final contest results underneath an illustration of the Phantom accompanied by a bold headline: “PHANTOM IS BETTER!”. This announcement of the result can be seen below, with the original poll seen on the left and the translated version seen on the right.
The editors wrote: “In issue 1043 of Zabavnik, we published an invitation to readers to write to us about which comic they like more: ‘The Phantom’ or ‘Superman’ and ‘Batman’. In a short time, 364 votes arrived for ‘Phantom’, and 182 for the other two comics. We thank everyone who participated in this ‘Big Vote’.”
The Phantom scored a decisive victory by securing exactly double the total combined votes of Superman and Batman, highlighting the immense popularity of the Phantom in early 1970s Yugoslavia.