Mikael Lyck from Chronicle Chamber reviews the Heart of Darkness Hardcover collection which is this years secret project from Egmont.
What an amazing publication! The art on the cover on the dust jacket is made by Luca Erbetta and looks mysterious and inviting, the weight of it feels good in my hands, even when I removed the dustjacket the cover is amazing with all the relief and the brotherhood symbol on the front, wow.
Before I even open this up I feel that this is the most luxurious Fantomen release made in Sweden, at least I cannot think of anything even remotely like this.
It is also numbered, there are only 1000 printed copies of these and I believe they will be sold out soon!
There is a foreword written by Andreas Eriksson that is very nice and highlights some nice things before you get into reading this.
Then the comic part, first "The Fire of Life", by Claes Reimerthi and Hans Lindahl that works like a prologue. Then the huge multipart story and ending with the epilogue made for when the Heart of Darkness was published in the Fantomen Krönika.
To be honest this is the first time I read it all within a short amount of days, Andreas wrote in the forward that Claes did not know where this would go when he started and I can tell, but in a nice way, since it is less predictable.
The whole story feels very inspired by Indiana Jones, with so many elements, the arc of covenant, the Nazis the riddles. And I do love Indiana Jones so that is great!
The one caveat I do have with this book is that it is in black and white. I know there are a multitude of Swedish phans who love to read Fantomen in black and white, so I understand the reasoning, but I would have enjoyed it even more in colour.
Hopefully this was only the first of many books in this style. I want more!
We have received lots of comments from phans about this being an English publication. If you would like to see an English publish, do not contact Egmont, email Frew who have the license for printing in English.
You can read the concept and plot over at Phantom Wiki and the list of the episodes are:
1 "The Heart of Darkness - Prologue: The Stone of the Gods"
2 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 1: The Grave of Imhotep"
3 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 2: The Other Grave"
4 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 3: Nightmares"
5 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 4: Pharaoh’s Curse"
6 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 5: The Secret of the Scroll"
7 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 6: Unmasked murderer"
8 "The Heart of Darkness I - Part 7: In the Darkness of the Tomb"
9 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 1: Secrets of the Temple Ruins"
10 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 2: The Omen"
11 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 3: The Escape"
12 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 4: The Trap"
13 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 5: Death has Many Shapes"
14 "The Heart of Darkness II - Part 6: The Secret of the Force"
15 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 1: Intermezzo in Cyprus"
16 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 2: The Death Squad"
17 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 3: The Body in the Swamp"
18 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 4: The Ship"
19 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 5: The Prisoner"
20 "The Heart of Darkness III - Part 6: From the Other Side"
21 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 1: The Missing Pages"
22 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 2: The Traitor"
23 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 3: The Tawny Owl Inn"
24 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 4: A Failed Attempt"
25 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 5: Hide and Seek"
26 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 6: The Seventh Rider"
27 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 7: The Key of Solomon"
28 "The Heart of Darkness IV - Part 8: Death in the Catacombs"
29 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 1: Jerusalem"
30 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 2: The Ark of the Covenant"
31 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 3: The Secret of the Temple Mount"
32 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 4: The Hideout"
33 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 5: The Sword in the Stone"
34 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 6: Fight in the Underground"
35 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 7: The Booby Trap"
36 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 8: In the Shadow of Death"
37 "The Heart of Darkness V - Part 9: Uninvited Guests"
38 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 1: The Stowaway"
39 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 2: In the Dungeons of the Tower"
40 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 3: The Madman in Glastonbury"
41 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 4: The Bleeding Crucifix"
42 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 5: The Hidden Message"
43 "The Heart of Darkness VI - Part 6: The Secret of the Crypt"
44 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 1: The Apostate"
45 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 2: The Ethiopian Link"
46 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 3: The Saboteurs"
47 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 4: Operation Götterdämmerung"
48 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 5: The Ark of the Covenant"
49 "The Heart of Darkness VII - Part 6: In The Heart of Darkness"
50 "The Heart of Darkness: The Island of Death"
All Fantomen reviews will be included in our monthly X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts. You can find out more at our website and or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos.
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