Writer – Peter David
Artist – Sal Velluto
Colours – Eugenio Mattozzi
Letters – Kenneth Bruzenak

Confronted by The Baroness, a villain whom The Phantom thought dead and in the company of the man named Jimmy Wells, he is thrown for a bit of a loop. It is shocking to him on one level but he keeps a cool head and immediately tries to take control of the situation. Suffice it to say, he is met with resistance even with the revelation that she is a criminal and further information comes to light when she reveals that Jimmy is her husband, a surprise to Diana and The Phantom. This all leads to a bit of backstory involving The Baroness which tells readers what happened to her after her previous run-in with The Ghost Who Walks and how her new husband rescued her. Even more interesting is the origin of Jimmy Wells which is akin to that of Tarzan, so much so that one has to wonder if this is indeed Tarzan going by another name. Be that as it may, author Peter David does a good job in the telling and makes it quite compelling though the rest of the tale has to wait for another issue as Wells and company are interrupted and attacked by enemy planes. As one might guess, The Phantom steps up and does what he always does – try to save the day. Sal Velluto returns to illustrate this third issue and the man does a fantastic job, even more so during the final act that finds The Phantom in action. It all starts off dramatically, but when those last pages hit, the pace picks up exponentially and ends things off on a cliffhanger in the best ways. The only downside to this series now that it has hit the halfway point is that while it is all interesting and it reads and looks great, the story has hardly moved forward from where it was during the first issue. There are positives to that, such as introductions, histories, room to explore the characters and so forth, but there comes a point when one has to get to the meat of the story and taking three issues to do so seems excessive. While it is a negative on one hand, at least the creative team is good at what they do and it never really drags or lets the attention of its audience wander. Still, with only three issues left to go, it would be great if things picked up, with the heroes getting to that lost city, defeating the villains and delivering perhaps a bit of mystery along with all of it just for added measure. A good book overall that leaves one wanting more.

3.5 out of 5