The Black King

The Black King
Produced for:	Fantomen 24/2013
# of pgs:	32
Writer:	Jens Hansegård
Artist:	Kari Leppänen
Original colorist:	Reprostugan
Producer:	Egmont Kids Media Nordic AB

"The Black King" is a 2013 Team Fantomen story, written by Jens Hansegård, with art by Kari Leppänen.

Plot synopsis

The 5th Phantom returns to southern Italy, a country plagued by bubonic plague, to search for his love Juliana.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• The 5th Phantom
• The 5th Phantom's mother (mentioned)

One-time characters

• Kuran
• Juliana Della Bartolo
• Father Aldo
• Father Giuseppe
• Doctor Gratiano
• Signor Ambruzzi
• Romano, Juliana's brother (mentioned)

Real-life characters

• The King of Spain (mentioned)

Locations

• Bengali
  • Deep Woods
• Italy
  • Benevento
  • Naples
    • Garduna's headquarters
    • Ambruzzi Palace
• Spain (mentioned)

Organisations

• Garduna

Old Jungle Sayings

• The Phantom's blood runs cold.

Behind the scenes

• According to this story, the mother of the 5th Phantom died in the Skull Cave in 1656. But the 5th Phantom's mother died during his birth in 1626 Plague Infected, so this must be the first appearance of his stepmother.
• The 5th Phantom's love interest Juliana della Bartolo is 22 years at the time of this story, so she is not the orphaned Italian opera singer that was the 5th Phantom's wife and the mother of his son the 6th Phantom (10 years old at the time of this story).
• In the story Father Aldo thinks he sees Lucifer when the Phantom first appears. This makes more sense picturing a red Phantom of Italy than a purple one of Frew or a blue one of Fantomen.
• The secret knock to get into the Garduna headquarters is "three knocks then two then three again" 3-2-3.
• The story is set in 1656 with Juliana living from 1634-1656.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "The Black King", The Phantom #1680 (2013)

Norway

• "Den svarte kongen", Fantomet 25-26/2013

Sweden

• "Den svarte kungen", Fantomen 24/2013