Issue 1554 - Fortnightly, 2009

Here’s a most unusual story about Hero, The Phantom’s giant white stallion!

Originally published in Scandinavia in 1984, it appears in a Frew edition for the first time.

The script was written by the late Donne Avenell and illustrated by veteran artist Jaime Vallve, who rendered The Phantom in an often unusual style, but never failed to project intense drama.

Avenell’s script is bound to create some controversy, because he sets the adventure somewhere in India and gives the impression that part of the world was home base for The Phantom.

India (or somewhere near there) was originally thought to be The Phantom’s home, but well before Avenell’s story was published, Lee Falk had made it reasonably clear Phantom country was to be found on the African continent.

In 1962 to be precise (in the Sunday story, Treasure of the Skull Cave)!

In 1964, Lee made it crystal clear when, in the daily adventure, The Reef, he gave The Phantom’s postal address as….‛Mr Walker Box 7, Morristown, Bengali, Africa….’

Then, in 1971, in the Sunday story, Tale of the Good Mark, a map (drawn to Lee’s instructions by Sy Barry) was incorporated, showing that Bengali was on, or at least near, the west coast of the African continent.

Like a little more confusion?

Hero actually made his debut in the 1944-45 daily, The Maharajah’s Daughter!

In the wonderful world of comics, none of the above really matters.

Characters, both human and animal, are not intended to age.

The entertainment value of stories is all that really matters!

I’m certain you will be highly entertained by Donne Avenell’s script.

It stresses the mighty power and bravery of Hero, his heart-warming friendship with Devil and the stallion’s intense loyalty to The Phantom.