Feature Book #53

(1948?)

"War in the Jungle" (Table of Contents: 1)

The Phantom / comic story / ? pages (report information)

Script

Lee Falk

Pencils

Ray Moore

Inks

Ray Moore

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

In Llongo territory, prospectors Smiley and Hill make a discovery.

Genre

adventure; jungle

Characters

Phantom [Kit Walker]; Diana Palmer; Melville Horton; Guran

Synopsis

Rogue prospectors Smiley and Hill discover a rich deposit of diamond bearing clay in the Llongo territory but Llongo Chief Tari refuses to allow them to mine in the area. Smiley and Hill then kidnap the chief's daughter Ola and the blame is put on a neighbor tribe. War begins between the Llongo and the Osi-Wey starts. The Phantom rescues Ota from the prospectors and the war is stopped.

Diana returns to Frasertown and takes a safari to the jungle to find the Phantom. Smiley becomes the guide for her safari and kidnaps her. The Phantom rescues her killing Smiley in the process.

Reprints

• from The Phantom dailies (King Features) 1937-04-12 - 1937-09-18

Keywords

Aden; adventure strip; Bandar; Bandar village; Bombay; comic strip; Djarling; Frasertown; Llongo; Llongo village; newspaper strip; Osi-Wey; Osi-Wey village; Port Said; Skull Throne; The Bad Camp; The Phantom's Country; Wathacti

Indexer Notes

"The Diamond Hunters" (also known as "War in the Jungle") is the third Phantom daily story. Diana sees the Phantom without his mask for the first time, and has her first visit to the Bandar Village and the Phantom's home. This story features one of the rare occasions where the Phantom kills - Smiley is shot down and dies. The settlement at the outskirt of the Phantom's jungle is named for the first time: Frasertown. In the following story, "Little Toma", Frasertown is pinpointed to be in Bengal, India. This story has often been reprinted with the title "The Diamond Hunters". However, the actual title "War in the Jungle" appears in the last daily strip of the preceding story. This story marks the first appearance of the Llongo tribe.