Issue 1615 - Fortnightly, 2011

After a too long absence, we rejoin Kate Somerset in The New Abbess, a new adventure written by David Bishop and illustrated by Cesar Spadari.

Kate has been around for a long time now and it is always fascinating to delve through the Chronicles and re-live old adventures with an earlier Phantom.

We all make mistakes (and I was very remiss in our last issue referring to Kate Somerset as Kate ‘Sutherland’!) and I wonder if any lynx-eyed enthusiasts will find fault with David Bishop’s use of the term ‘mercenaries’ in this story.

These days, ‘mercenaries’ is the word used to describe professional, non-military ‘soldiers’ who offer their services to warlords anxious to put down rebellions, or eager to start one of their own to ensure they retain control of some profit-making deal, be it growing and manufacturing of drugs, or oil or precious metal mining .

Whether the word was used in the time of Sister Kate is highly debatable. Not really important in the full context of this story, but debatable just the same!

For Those Who Just Came In, explaining how Kate entered The Phantom’s life and her full background would take up far too much space in this issue.

The basic point is that she ruled the high seas for a time as a fearless and ruthless pirate until a meeting with The Phantom and a religious order changed her entire life.

The scar on her beautiful face could probably be largely remedied today, but certainly not in the time she lived.

In any event, do not expect it to be removed (even with the use of Bandar medicine!). The scar gives Kate a special character dimension and without it, she would doubtless fade into obscurity as a major player in comics!