The Poisoned Land

The Poisoned Land
Produced for:	Fantomen 14-15/2012
# of pgs:	32
Writer:	Falco Pellerin
Artist:	César Spadari
Original colorist:	Reprostugan
Producer:	Egmont Kärnan

"The Poisoned Land" is a 2012 Team Fantomen story, written by Falco Pellerin, with art by César Spadari.

Plot synopsis

The Phantom is visiting the Onawey village who have to suffer earthquakes and poisoned wells. Suddenly an exhausted elderly man in a gray suit walks into the village. He tells them that he works for the crooked Coke Oil, then is shot in the back. A man in a cowboy hat drive off in a jeep and another earthquake stop the Phantom from catching him.

The Phantom visit Morristown Library to learn about fracking, the technique to extract oil by using hydralic pressure. When he visits the Coke Oil plant, he receive the cold shoulder and the man in the cowboy hat, Smith, tell him to leave. When the Phantom break into the plant at night, he is captured by Smith and security staff and thrown into a snake pit.

After getting out of the snake pit, he search the plant for evidence and call the Jungle Patrol. In the final showdown, Armstrong Smith is operating a hydralic pump to run the Phantom over. In a sudden earthquake, Smith is crushed to death by the hydralic pump.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• The 21st Phantom
• Diana Palmer-Walker
• Devil
• Hero
• Colonel Worubu
• Jungle Patrol Officer
• Sandal Singh (mentioned)

One-time characters

• Chief Lambago of Onawey
• Dr Gordon Terranova, geologist
• Armstrong Smith of Coke Oil

Locations

• Bengali
  • Deep Woods
    • The Jungle Patrol Headquarters
  • Morristown
    • Morristown Library

Tribes

• Onawey
• Ogele (mentioned)
• Llongo (mentioned)
• Wambesi (mentioned)

Organizations

• The Jungle Patrol
• Coke Oil

Newspapers

• Clarion

Old Jungle Sayings

• When the Phantom moves, lightning stands still.

Behind the scenes

• When this story was published in Scandinavia, Diana's hair was cut short as this story takes place after her head was shaved when she was imprisoned in Rodia.
• When this story was published in Australia, Diana's hair was long.
• The story codes FP-2/CS-74 in the credits box indicates that it is the second story written by Falco Pellerin and the 74th story drawn by César Spadari. This practice of indicating the creators by initials and a serial number on the first page is still used on some comic strips produced in Sweden, but was abandoned rather quickly for "The Phantom". It only made a bried comeback in 2012.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "The Poisoned Land", The Phantom #1636 (2012)

Norway

• "Forgiftet land", Fantomet 13-14/2012

Sweden

• "Förgiftat land", Fantomen 14-15/2012