Phantom at the Window: Phantom and Colour.

It's been a while since we've properly visited the world of the Phantom. So how about we do it in style this time? Fairly recently I picked up this incredible volume of Phantom reprints from Hermes Press -- a break from my usual loyalty to Frew comics.

This never actually happens in this volume, sadly.

This volume reprints Phantom Sundays from the very first one in full glorious colour. It's gorgeous and something I'm not used to since the Phantom is printed nearly exclusively in black and white by Frew (nearly exclusively -- they do have colour covers.)

I won't be going into terribly much detail on the stories here, but let's talk a little bit about the Phantom's relationship with colour, and about the Sunday stories in general, shall we?

Phantom at the Window: Frew #1623

What's going on with that kid's hand?

Well it's been a while since we've seen the Phantom stalking people, so let's talk about Frew #1623, and maybe add a few more images to our already legendary collage.

Maybe? Son we found *seven* new images!

Frew #1673 is Frew's 2012 Annual Special. The Annual Specials are a tradition that's been going since 1991, and this is the 21st Annual Special ever. These books are enormous -- 250-300 page comic books. The equivalent of a trade paperback, and a large one, released to news agents as a regular comic book for $11. It's frickin' awesome.

And this is my first one since getting back into Phantom last year, so I'm totally chuffed to get Frew #1623. So why don't we take a little look at it together?

The Phantom Goes To War

That "By Popular Demand" caption isn't just bull crap
like on American comics, this is the most requested
Phantom reprint of all time.

The Phantom Goes To War (also known as The Inexorables) is the sixteenth Phantom story ever published. It began on the 2nd of Febuary, 1942, only a little less than 2 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's a somber, violent story, and a lot of it is very out of character for Lee Falk's Phantom. It's rife with racism, hatred and even the story's hero killing. Things Falk avoided all through his career, otherwise.

The story was written entirely by Falk, and drawn by Ray Moore and (after Moore enlisted) Wilson McCoy. Falk himself enlisted while still writing the story, but never missed a single deadline, despite active service.

I guess I should start by saying that this story does not feature a Phantom at the window moment! It's mostly set outdoors, in the jungle. And it's mostly about the Phantom killing Japanese people, not peering at them through windows.