Issue 1646 - Fortnightly, 2012

• "Secret of the Templar Knights" - story by Claes Reimerthi and art by Kari Leppanen.

We turn the clock back many centuries as writer Claes Reimerthi continues his saga of a possible, earlier than believed, start to The Phantom legend. The Secret of The Templar Knights story in this issue is well worth some careful scrutiny!

Many of the Phantom symbols are there...the familiar skull head and angled lines symbol now incorporated into The Phantom’s uniform gun belt...the use of skulls as a backdrop in the hero’s private castle room...the importance of his highly-trained and loyal horse...his hatred of  villains who deliberately flaunt laws and morals...the fear those same roughnecks have of a man they call the Ghost Rider...the developing legend about a mysterious man who seems to have been around for a long time…and most important of all, the continuing spotlight on the skull ring worn by the hero...

All this hundreds of years before the accepted emergence of The Phantom we know! I recommend you dig back through your Frew collection to brush up on earlier episodes of the story.