Giovanna

Giovanna
Produced for:	Fantomen 9/2003
# of pgs:	31
Writer:	Ingebjørg Berg Holm
Artist:	Dick Giordano
Original colorist:	Reprostugan
Producer:	Egmont Kärnan

"Giovanna" is a 2003 Team Fantomen story, written by Ingebjørg Berg Holm, with art by Dick Giordano.

Plot synopsis

Kit and Heloise wake up at night when The Phantom is performing a ritual in memory of an infant buried in the Phantom Crypt.

A young couple , Pedro and Giovanna, moves to a convent to study, Giovanna dressed as a boy, calling herself Giovanni. She studies well and many years later she has become a cardinal in Rome (still pretending to be a man), Pedro a monk. Enemies within the church want to have Giovanni killed but instead it is Pedro who drinks poisoned wine and dies.

The 4th Phantom, who knew Pedro's father, comes to Rome to visit him but instead receives the news that Pedro has died. Giovanni does not tell him that Pedro was murdered but this detail The Phantom find out for himself. They spend the next couple of days together with long discussions and grow very fond of each other. Visiting Giovanni's room at night, The Phantom discovers that Giovanni likes to sleep in the nude and that he is in fact a woman. The next day he is chained to the wall of a dungeon to be tortured by Giovanni's master torturer. When instead Giovanni is attacked by the torturer, The Phantom manage to knock him down and Giovanna professes her love for The Phantom.

The Phantom decides to investigate Pedro's death and discovers that he was poisoned by one of the servants, acting under orders by the pope and cardinal Mantovani. The Phantom decides that Giovanna shall marry him and go with him to Bengali. She refuses to give up her post as cardinal. The Phantom spends the next two months out of town searching for The Skull Ring and when he returns Giovanni has been elected pope (still under the pretense of being a man) after having murdered the previous pope. She also tells him she is pregnant. With conflicting emotions, The Phantom walks the streets of Rome when he is captured by cardinal Mantovani.

The cardinal tells him that the new pope will be killed by being served poisoned wine at a ceremony the following day. The Phantom is tied up and arrives too late to the church of Saint Peter to stop the murder. Pope Giovanna dies in his arms after giving birth to a girl. The Phantom buries the body of the dead infant in the Skull Cave.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• The 4th Phantom
• The 21st Phantom
• Kit and Heloise

One-time characters

• Giovanna / Giovanni
• Pedro
• Cardinal Mantovani
• Salvatore
• Signore Kharelli (only mentioned)

Locations

• Italy
  • Rome
    • Church of Saint Peter
• Bestia
• Bengali
  • Deep Woods
    • The Skull Cave
      • The Phantom Crypt
      • The Chronicle Room

Behind the scenes

• The name of the character Signore Kharelli is a tribute to Team Fantomen writer Idi Kharelli (Eirik Ildahl).

Related stories

Refers to

• "The Ring of Death, Part 1" by Kari Leppänen and Ulf Granberg

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "Giovanna", The Phantom #1358 (2003)

Finland

• "Giovanna", Mustanaamio 9/2003

Norway

• "Giovanna", Fantomet 9/2003

Sweden

• "Giovanna", Fantomen 9/2003
• "Giovanna", Fantomen Krönika 3/2006
• "Giovanna", Fantomen 17/2024