The Phantom Viking is a British comic character, appearing in strips published
by Fleetway Publications. The character's alter-ego was weak-willed school
teacher Olaf Larsen, who gained the ability to turn into the Phantom Viking
when he dons a Norse helmet. The character first appeared in the debut
issue of the short-lived boys' anthology title The Champion on 26 February 1966,
and continued in Lion when it was merged with Champion a short while later.
Publishing history
The Champion was even less successful than Hurricane, only lasting 15 issues - the
shortest run of any of the company's weeklies up to that point - before being
merged into the established Lion, with Nevio Zeccara taking over on art duties
shortly afterwards.
The strip would run in the renamed Lion and Champion until 3 August 1968.
Due to Fleetway's policy of continuing to issue annuals for cancelled titles
(in order to have as many books as possible on shelves for the lucrative
Christmas market), parallel to the Lion run further adventures
(both in picture strip and text stories) appeared in the two Champion Annuals
issued, and then transferred to the Lion Annual until the 1970 edition,
despite having finished in the weekly. The character would then make one
final outing in the 1973 Jet Annual.
Since 2018 the rights to the Fleetway-originated contents
of The Champion and Lion, including the Phantom Viking,
have been owned by Rebellion Developments.
Publication date: 26 February 1966 – 3 August 1968
Creative team
Writer Donne Avenell
Artists José Ortiz, Nevio Zeccara
Lion and Champion #16 December 1967 Lion and Champion #23 September 1967
288 Pages
Compiled and edited by H. C.
We thank H. C. for his courtesy in offering our reader
this magnificent compilation.