Moonstone Forums

I finally received my copy a few days ago. This is the kind of story that the Phantom is tailor-made for. I was amazed not just at each Phantom and his adventure, but how it was so well finished. Yes, Temur is still alive, but the Phantom has (at least partially) put to rest the ghosts of four ancestors. The art and writing really served to convey the weight that each Phantom feels from his legacy.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone that made this possible.

Kevin

Thanks for the response, Kevin. I'm very proud to have been involved with the talented group of creators that brought this book to life. I'm equally impressed at how well the final product turned out.

Now that the annual's done so well, can we expect to see another one next year? It would certainly be fine with a new tradition.

Well, I will welcome a bit more quality from Moonstone, annualy or not! But this is no "new" tradition, Frew have been doing their annual for years, and Egmont are putting out big issues with a lot Pahntom stuff 8 times every year.

BTW. How well is the sale?

Ivan

This annual is a bit different to Frews though (cannot comment on Egmont though). Frews Annual is a has been with old stories and the same format that is 15 years old. Moonstones annual is a bit more modern with new stories and a more exciting format....

Got the annual in the mail yesterday, so here's a very quick review of my opinions:

Part one:
A good enough start, the art may be a little too "cartoony" for me but overall very nice.

Errors:
*Wrong year (as mentioned before)
*Do the first pages take place in present day? If not, Devil is out of place here.
*The Phantom's horse being called Hero (that's not a "family name" for all the Phantoms' horses, just the name of the current Phantom's horse. Sure you can argue that the 3rd Phantom's horse just happened to be named Hero, but I think this was just a mistake)

Part two:
Probably the most dark and interesting tale. A very interesting insight in the life of the 11th Phantom, and I wonder if this is something that will be picked up again in future Phantom tales. It was great to see the 11th come to life as a very unique character (not one of 21 identical Phantoms) in just 10 pages!

Part three:
Very nice western, with great art by Graham Nolan. I sure hope Moonstone is offering him to work on more Phantom material for the future! (AND I can't wait for the final TPB of Nolan's Sundays!)

Part four:
Very interesting setting, felt a bit like "Indiana Jones" though (not necessarily a bad thing!)

Part five:
I don't really like when supernatural elements are mixed with the Phantom too much, although I guess it was inevitable in the finale. I liked it however, and especially the "open ending". I look forward to how this ties in with the Phantom's current affairs with the Singh!

Errors:
*Not necessarily an error, but it would have been nice to know how the Phantom was contacted in the first place. He's not listed in the phone book, is he?
*There is no language called "Egyptian". Egyptians speak Arabic.
*The look of Guran is from the movie, and not from his comic apperances.

conclusion:
I agree with previous opinions that it was probably Moonstone's best Phantom story yet. I'd love to see a similar project next year. Not necessarily that you repeat the concept of multiple Phantoms (that can become a bit of a cliché), but that you bring in new artists and writers and make sort of a "jam" story. It's a great way to try out new talent and there are several of the creators in the annual that I would like to see do a full Phantom story. So, I hope you are already planning the next annual!

And for the nitpicks on small mistakes, well I'm afraid that's still what a lot of longtime Phantom fans find most disturbing. The details can make or break a story!

PS. The annual may be sold out but I bought my copy from Moonstone's web shop. For those who can't find the annual elsewhere they should buy it straight from Moonstone (while it's available).

Agree wholeheartedly. This was a story with a unique perspective.

The finale would have been more powerful if the question of a dragon had been left as mere speculation. Well, as we are aware (from other stories elsewhere) The Sing(h) seem to have a hotline to the Phantom.

In my opinion, the single panel illustration of Guran is a deal-breaker.

Guran sort of reminded me of the guards at the front of palaces that just stand their doing nothing....

Yeah, I don't know how they let that one slip.

Too lazy (or should I say ignoramus?) to quote anything, so friends, please refer to Andreas’ post above.

Andreas, I know such little details hardly matters, but I don’t think the presence of a wolf in the skull cave during the story of the third phantom is a mistake. We can confidently assume that third phantom also had a pet wolf. Remember, in the 1991 Falk story “The Fourth Son” (S137), the then Phantom (can’t remember his number right now, sorry) too had a wolf which Barry showed as a mirror image of our own Devil. So it looks like the third phantom too shared this hobby of his descendents of domesticating wolves.

Similarly, it can be argued that our phantom named his white stallion “Hero” getting inspired from the name of the third phantom’s horse. Again, can’t really call that an error.

If anything, it’s Moonstone’s claim that this is the first ever phantom annual that is a bit hard to swallow. Agreed, this annual can’t be compared to frew’s annual (which contains a collection of old falk stories). In that sense, Moonstone’s annual is certainly on a different level featuring a new story showcasing the talents of five writers & five artists. But as far as bringing out a special, jumbo-sized issue once a year is concerned, frew has been doing it for more than a decade.
It is more or less similar to the case of frew shouting from rooftops that the encyclopedia they will publish along with their 1500th issue is the “first ever” phantom encyclopedia, conveniently developing amnesia about the exhaustive encyclopedia that egmont gave to its readers just a year ago. But then, I suppose, when publishers use phrases like “first ever”, “best ever”, hardly anyone gets super-excited. At the end of the day, all one wants is to read an exciting, action-packed phantom story. In that sense, Moonstone’s annual certainly delivers (despite that Guran fiasco) and I really want the annual to justify its name & become an annual feature.

Coming to another point (this post is becoming much longer that I originally intended it to be, sorry again, friends), if you ask me, Sy Barry & Graham Nolan are two of the best phantom artists ever. And yes, any new fan here who is puzzled as to what am I talking about, here’s a very small list:
The Slave Market of Mucar (D82)
The Island of Dogs (D86)
The Drummer of Timpenni (D87)
The Adventures of Lucy Cary (D89)
Old Baldy (S62)

If you can find them, read them, keeping in mind that Barry drew these stories as two-panel newspaper strips, & than you will probably agree that Barry is the best phantom artist ever.
We have already seen Nolan’s terrific work in Sundays & in annual. So I will be thrilled if moonstone can utilize his all-too-apparent artistic talents for future phantom stories also. We have seen, first with Bruce Wayne and now with kit walker, that given the freedom of space that comics provide to artists, Nolan is among the best in business. So now that he is no longer drawing Sundays, if he somehow drifts away from phantom completely, in my opinion that will be a loss for phans. So moonstone, hopefully you will give us the opportunity to enjoy Nolan’s art in future phantom comics also.

As for Barry, what can I say? If moonstone can convince him to come out of his retirement & draw, even if just one, phantom story for them, and hopefully Mike Bullock will write a special story for that issue(but featuring our 21st phantom), then that certainly will be a collector’s item.