The Secret of the Golden Ransom

The Secret of the Golden Ransom
Produced for:	The Phantom #30 (1969)
# of pgs:	9
Writer:	Pat Fortunato
Artist:	José Delbo and Sal Trapani
Original colorist:	unknown
Producer:	Charlton Comics

"The Secret of the Golden Ransom" is a 1969 Charlton story, written by Pat Fortunato and drawn by José Delbo (pencils) and Sal Trapani (inks).

Plot summary

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Appearances

Recurring characters

• The current Phantom
• Julie
• Maru
• The Phantom, Julie's twin brother
• Flash
• Fury
• The Witch of the Dark Cliffs (mentioned)

One-time characters

• Pete "Pirana Pete" Davis
• Tumbaro
• Pirana Pete's Band of River Pirates
• Warriors at the Dark Cliffs

Locations

• Bengali
  • The Deep Woods
    • The Skull Cave
      • The Skull Throne
• The Dark Cliffs
• The river

Tribes

• Maru's tribe
• The warriors' tribe

Behind the scenes

• Julie's brother is said to be the great-great-grandfather of the current Phantom.
• The story has no credits and it has been discussed for a long time who the creators are, as the art style does not look like any other Phantom stories from this time. Don Perlin and Sal Trapani was one speculation, but in an e-mail to PhantomWiki on March 16, 2008 Perlin stated that he only drew back-up stories for Charlton and never a Phantom story. A speculation was posted online that Trapani's frequent collaborator José Delbo could be the penciller, and this was confirmed in an e-mail from Delbo to PhantomWiki on January 2, 2022.
• The online post also shows evidence that the writer of the story is Pat Fortunato, who wrote a previous story about Julie and The Witch of the Dark Cliffs. Since Fortunato never worked for Charlton, this would have to be a script written for King Comics before they cancelled their Phantom series.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "The Secret of the Golden Ransom", The Phantom #1774 (2017)

Brazil

• "O Segredo do Resgate Dourado", Fantasma #147 (1968)
• "O Segredo do Rochedo Negro", Fantasma #314 (1982)

Canada

• "Le secret de la rançon dorée", Le Fantôme #2 (1975)

France

• "Le prix de la rançon", Le Fantôme #372 (1971)
• "Le secret de la rançon dorée", Le Fantôme #1 (2021)

India

• "The Golden Ransom", Indrajal Comics #156 (1972)

Italy

• "Il prezzo del riscatto", L'Uomo Mascherato #16 (1971)

Mexico

• "El Secreto del Rescate de Oro", El Fantasma #68 (1972)
• "El Secreto del Rescate de Oro", Domingos Alegres #1339 (1980)

Singapore

• "The Secret of the Golden Ransom", The Phantom #2 (1982)

Thailand

• "ค่าไถ่แสนกล", Phantom #8 (1994)

USA

• "The Secret of the Golden Ransom", The Phantom #30 (1969)
• "The Secret of the Golden Ransom", The Complete Series: The Charlton Years: Volume #1 (2012)
• "The Secret of the Golden Ransom", The Complete Sundays: Volume Four 1950–1953 (2017)

West Germany

• "Das Mädchen und der Pirat", Phantom #9 (ca 1980)