Zigomar vs The Phantom
| Zigomar vs The Phantom & Bride of the Gods | |
| |
| Produced for: | Mikijevo carstvo #59 – #74?, #75 – ? |
|---|---|
| # of pgs: | 15 + 15 pgs |
| Writer: | Branko Vidić |
| Artist: | Nikola Navojev |
| Original colorist: | unknown |
| Producer: | Milutin S. Ignjačević |
"Zigomar vs The Phantom" is an unlicensed story where The Phantom meets Zigomar.
Plot synopsis
In the first part "Zigomar protiv Fantoma" ("Zigomar vs The Phantom") Zigomar is going to India, to find his girlfriend Laura Morgan, a rich American girl who was abducted to become a wife of an evil maharadja. In the Himalayan mountains he meets the Phantom, who journeys to the port (probably Bombay) to meet Diana Palmer, a girl for whom he cherished "a most esteemed feelings" (of course, they were still not married). They continue the journey together, becoming friends. Meanwhile, Chi-Yang and the Devil also became great pals and saved their "masters" from the evil baron. In the meantime Diana was abducted by the same gang of slavers, while she was searching for the Phantom.
In the second part "Nevesta bogova" ("Bride of the Gods"), Zigomar and the Phantom found a letter from Diana (hidden in the rocks), asking for help. They continue the search, but evil female gangster Lola North, who is secretly in love with Zigomar, sends them the opposite way. They eventually get caught by religious sect, whose members want to get a revenge from the Phantom. An old Yogi hypnotised the Phantom and Zigomar, commanding them to hate each other. In an old Indian temple these two fight to the death, with hungry crocodiles waiting to eat the loser. However, Zigomar manages to escape and later frees the Phantom from the sect, thinking that "the revenge would not be fullfilled properly if Phantom doesn't die by my own hand". In the end, they part ways, leaving the "final battle" for the next time.
Behind the scenes
It was never revealed if the hypnotic curse was lifted, because the Zigomar comic strip came to an end. The artist Nikola Navojev died from tuberculosis in 1940, at the age of 27 and the last Zigomar story was drawn by Dušan Bogdanović. In 1941, the war in Yugoslavia started and Zigomar's adventures never continued after that. The last part of the story drawn by Bogdanović was never finished in Mikijevo carstvo, but it was printed in a comic book by Serbian publisher Stella in 2008.
Reprints
This story has been published in the following publications:
Argentina
- "Zigomar", Ra-Ta-Plán #302 – #330 (traced)
Australia
- "Zigomar vs The Phantom" and "Bride of the Gods", The Phantom #1763 (2016)
Brazil
- "Zigomar", Suplemento Juvenil February 5, 1942 – August 18, 1942
Bulgaria
- "Зигомар срещу Фантома", Kartinen sviat #1 – ?
Italy
- Zigomar contro il Fantasma, parte prima
- Zigomar contro il Fantasma, parte seconda
Serbia
- "Zigomar protiv Fantoma", Zigomar
Yugoslavia
- "Zigomar protiv Fantoma", Mikijevo carstvo #59 – #74?
- "Nevesta bogova", Mikijevo carstvo #75 – ?
- Plavi Zabavnik #42 – #43
- "Zigomar protiv Fantoma", Pegaz #4-5
- Politikin Zabavnik #1935 – #1936