Issue 1630 - Fortnightly, 2012

• "The Pirates' Prisoner" - story by Janne Lundstrom and art by Hans Lindahl.

Accept the new adventure in this issue in the light of....suppose this had happened?

Lee Falk never wrote a story along the same lines, so Janne Lundstrom is probably entitled to stretch his imagination to explore the possibilities of a kidnapped Heloise scenario.

Lundstrom has a great ally in Hans Lindahl who has generated some superb art to bring The Pirates’ Prisoner alive!

The story literally explodes off the pages and will leave you impatient for the inevitable follow-up episode. Rest assured there will be one—but exactly when is not yet known.

Now, I accept true-blue Phantom enthusiasts are certain to shake their heads as they read this adventure! 

For surely, Lee Falk not only wrote detailed stories about the origin on the name ‘Heloise’, but devoted quite a few stories to the growing up years of the ‘modern day’ Kit and Heloise.

(I stress stories—plural. Lee wrote a 1965 story called The Hanta Witch, without mentioning the name of the witch. He finally revealed the name as Heloise in a paperback novelette called ‘The Vampires and the Witch’ published by Avon in 1974. The Phantom’s daughter was given the name ‘Heloise’ in the 1979 Sunday story, The Name’)

Without once mentioning anything about an earlier Heloise being kidnapped by pirates!

Perfectly true. Absolutely no arguments!

However, everything is not quite as simple as it sounds.

When you have read this story, spend a little time reading our editorial feature on page 39.

In that article, we trace the background on the former pirate Flame (mother of Kit and Heloise in this story) and Lee’s famous story about the origins of the name ‘Heloise’.

You will discover our Scandinavian creative colleagues have filled in some gaps left by Lee in his own Phantom history—and expanded some of their own earlier Phantom adventures.

Other than blurring Phantom history, there’s nothing seriously wrong with that.

However, it once again reinforces the argument that the only official Phantom history, despite its many inconsistencies and blank spaces, remains that written by Lee Falk.

The Phantom was his creation. End of story!