#332 - Mad Cave Studios Phantom issues 1-5 review

In this episode, Jermayn Parker and Stephen East are joined by Scott Waldyn, Chronicle Chambers USA's correspondent, to review the first five issues of the new series from Mad Cave Studios. 

The Singh Brotherhood is on the hunt for their missing drug cargo. Little do they know they have landed in the Phantom’s backyard. What they think will be a quick and easy track, retrieve, enslave the village, and be out again turns into a dire game of cat and mouse, with the cat not realising it is actually the mouse. But it's no walk in the park for the Phantom, though; this is the jungle, and the jungle has its own mind. There is beauty in its danger, and if you can be at one with it, then you may just get out alive. 

We have 5 copies of a variant cover by Boom Tube Comics exclusive drawn by Keith Williams and one copy of Cover 1G by Natacha Bustos to give away. To enter, we will need your review and/or thoughts of the series on either the social media post promoting this podcast or on YouTube.

We discuss many topics and we would love your input on what we have raised plus what we may have missed. We discussed: 

• Did the showing of the Phantom eyes in the first issue straight away turn the hardcore fans off?
• What do we think of The Phantom’s characterization along with the other main characters like Guran, Diana and Asif Singh?
• Was Guran's redesign a sign of the times to ensure we did not have a fat black man being featured?
• The Bandar are a “poison tribe,” and this story seems to suggest it’s because they’re all skilled and lethal. Does this newer definition make sense to us?
• Has the village ever been depicted in other comics by Frew or Fantomen or by creators like Lee Falk and Tony DePaul?
• Scott Waldyn called this series an “adaptation” of The Phantom in his last review. Do we agree or disagree?
• Are we happy with the balance Ray tiptoed with the white saviour concept? 
• The Singh pirates called themselves tigers on the radio. Is this a nod to the "Ten Tigers" Old Jungle Saying?
• Does the Phantom need his stripped jocks back?
• Did we have too many covers by Mad Cave Studios?
• Do we like Ray Fawkes work as the writer of the series?
• Do we like Russell Olson's work as the artist of the series?
• This series featured a quick-witted Phantom, so we like this?
• The drugs came from the mountains. Is this the Eastern Dark? The Phantom as the Guardian of the Eastern Dark was mentioned on page 9 in issue 1 by the wife of Guran's dad.
• Lee Falk never got in-depth with other characters. In this we see the minds of Asif Singh and Guran. Do we like getting to know these secondary characters better?
• Did Lee Falk ever have the Phantom think to himself as much as Ray Fawkes?
• Who's the real hero here? Guran or the Phantom?
• Do we like the Sky Band being featured?
• Should Mad Cave Studios do a Phantom crossover with another character, and if so, who?
• What's next?

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