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The Black Gold Pirates
The Black Gold Pirates | |
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Start date: | August 18th, 1968 |
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End date: | December 29th, 1968 |
# of strips: | 20 pages |
Writer: | Lee Falk |
Artist: | Sy Barry |
Original colorist: | KFS staff |
Preceded by: | "The Little Ones" |
Followed by: | "Walker's Table" |
"The Black Gold Pirates" is the 74th Phantom Sunday story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Sy Barry.
Plot Summary
In the jungle, Rex and Tom-Tom are playing pirates, with Rex having to walk the plank. Back in the Skull cave, Tom-Tom asks the Phantom if there are still pirates today. "There will always be crooks", the Phantom replies.
A big oil tanker has left the Persian Gulf. In the middle of the ocean, men in diving gear climb aboard and take the crew hostage. No other ships are nearby. While the crew is locked up, the men unload all the oil in the tanker, although it is not explained how since they do not appear to have any vessel with them. The incident becomes a major news item.
Diana Palmer is enjoying time off in a country club. Count Petro, an oil millionaire, asks her to have a drink with him at his table. She asks him how a large oil tanker could have its oil stolen. Count Petro is just as baffled as everybody else. The count promises her that he will take her for a visit on a large oil tanker. When she is picked up she is instead taken to the count's private yacht. At dinner with champagne he explains that he is a terribly lonely man.
The Jungle Patrol has had a tip that somebody is recruiting divers in Morristown. Asking around for information, the Phantom visits the bar The Anchor and asks the bartender if he knows of any vacancies for a professional diver. The bartender denies knowing anything but the Phantom gets into a fight with five men who think he is asking too many questions. After having beaten them up, the Phantom follows the limping men to the docks where they go aboard on a tugboat which is heading for a submarine offshore. The Phantom changes places with one of the divers, tying him up in a cabin. With the other divers, they leave the tugboat and climb into a submarine. The Phantom overhears the other divers talking about the big boss coming to oversee the operation himself.
At count Petro's yacht, the count is becoming grabby and Diana performs a judo throw on him. The count finally agrees to let her visit an oil tanker. When Diana tries to leave, she is locked up in a cabin. When the yacht meets up with the submarine, Diana is allowed to climb into the submarine, immediately spotted by a surprised Phantom.
The divers board the oil tanker Gold Star, quickly locking the crew up and unloading the oil into an enormous plastic bag. Now that Diana knows that count Petro is responsible for the recent daring raids on oil tankers, he plans to have her killed. Before he can do anything, the Phantom steps forward and interrupts the count. With both Diana and the Phantom holding an automatic rifle, it is not long before aircraft and destroyers arrive to have the count and his men arrested. The Phantom vanishes, the news headlines telling the story of how a single woman could stop a criminal gang using a submarine to raid oil tankers.
Appearances
Recurring characters
One-time characters
- Count Petro
Locations
- Bengali
- Deep Woods
- Morristown
- Fat Cow bar
- Persian Gulf
- USA
Organizations
- The Jungle Patrol (only mentioned)
Vehicles
- Gold Star, super oil tanker
- There are times when the Phantom leaves the jungle and walks the streets of the town like an ordinary man.
- The Phantom is rough with roughnecks.
Reprints
This story has been published in the following publications:
Argentina
- "Los piratas del oro negro", Fantasía #161 (1971)
Australia
- The Phantom #392 (1969)
- The Phantom #558 (1975)
- The Phantom #744 (1982)
- The Phantom #1073 (1994)
- The Phantom #1690 (2014)
Brazil
- "Os Piratas do Ouro Negro", Fantasma #156 (1969)
- "Os Piratas do Ouro Negro", Fantasma #309 (1981)
Canada
Colombia
- El Tiempo November 17, 1968 – March 30, 1969
Denmark
Fiji
- Bera-Na-Liva #7 (1978)
Finland
- Seura 11-31/1969
- Comics - suuri sarjakuvakirja #1 (1970)
- "Öljyrosvot" Mustanaamio 8/1971
- "Öljymerirosvot", Mustanaamio 15/1978
- "Öljyrosvot", Mustanaamio 13/1985
- "Öljymerirosvot", Sarjakirja 2/1988
- "Öljyrosvot", Mustanaamio 20 - 22/2001
- "Öljyrosvot", Mustanaamio 1971 (2014)
France
- "Les pirates de l'or noir", Le Fantôme #289 - #290 (1970)
- "Les pirates de l'or noir", Le Fantôme #449 (1973)
- "Les pirates de l'or noir", Le Fantôme Album #51 (1974 or 1975)
Iceland
- Vikan May 29, 1969 – October 2, 1969
India
- "The Black Gold Pirates", Indrajal Comics #157 (1972)
- "In the Demon's Clutches", Indrajal Comics Vol. 22 No. 5 (1985)
- "Pirates of Black Gold", Phantom #1 (1990)
- "அதிரடிப் பெண்" (romanized as "Athiradi pen"), Rani Comics #170 (1991)
- Comic World #1 (1998)
- "கறுப்புத் தங்கக் கொள்ளை" (romanized as "Karupputh thangak kollai"), Muthu Comics #472 (2023)
Ireland
- Sunday Independent December 29, 1968 – May 11, 1969
Italy
- "I pirati dell'oro nero", L'Uomo Mascherato #132 - #133 (1969)
- "I pirati dell'oro nero", Phantom – L'Uomo Mascherato #63 (1974)
Mexico
- El Informador October 27, 1968 – March 9, 1969
Netherlands
Norway
- Vi menn 17-36/1969
- "Oljepiratene", Fantomet 17/1978
- "Oljepiratene", Serie-pocket #140
- "Oljepiratene", Fantomet 20 - 22/2001
- "Oljepiratene", Krønikebok #44 (2008)
Portugal
- "Os Piratas do «Ouro Negro»", Mundo de Aventuras #1222 (1973)
South Africa
- Landstem ?, 1968 – ?, April ? 1968
Spain
- "Los piratas del oro negro", The Phantom - El Hombre Enmascarado #5 (2019)
Sweden
- "Oljepiraterna", Fantomen 25/1969
- "Oljepiraterna", Fantomen 7/1978
- "Oljepiraterna", Comics - Den stora serieboken #1
- "Oljepiraterna", Fantomen 20 - 22/2001
- "Oljepiraterna", Fantomen - Den inbundna årgången 1969, Del 5 (2020)
Turkey
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske #58 – #59 (1974)
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske Albüm #15 – #16 (197?)
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske #2 (19??)
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske Albüm #51
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske #10 – #11 (198?)
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske Süper Albüm #3
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske Süper Albüm #60
- "Denizde Heyecan", Kızılmaske Büyük Albüm #16
- "Kara Altın Korsanları", Kızılmaske #10 (2014)
USA
- Anderson Herald August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- Charleston Gazette-Mail August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- Cumberland Sunday Times August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Danville Register August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Democrat August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Gadsden Times August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Montgomery Advertiser August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The News Tribune August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- La Opinión August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- Orlando Sentinel August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- San Antonio Light August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- San Francisco Examiner August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- Spartanburg Herald-Journal August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Tampa Tribune August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Tuscaloosa News August 18, 1968 – December 29, 1968
- The Complete Sundays: Volume Nine 1966–1970 (2021)
West Germany
- Comics - Weltbekannte Zeichenserien #1 (1971)
- "Die Ölpiraten", Phantom #32 (1975)
- "Die Ölpiraten", Phantom Das große Album #6
Yugoslavia
- "Гусари XX века" (romanized as "Gusari XX veka"), Politikin Zabavnik #1161 (1974)