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The tough years of the 1930s created a need for escape from reality. The first real adventure series and the iconic superhero were born, and this was the start of a new major industry. Comics were no longer just something to laugh at; science fiction, adventure and detective series were now popular and became genres in their own right. People wanted to dream away to adventures and exotic environments, and this was also reflected in the demand for comic books, just like in the literature and films of the time. Adventure series such as Prince Valiant and Blixt Gordon were huge successes in the USA. They now had their own platform and were not only available in other magazines.

Harold “Hal” Foster’s Prince Valiant is a knightly romance with a lot of emotion that takes place in 5th century Thule, a kind of fictional Scandinavia and England during the time of King Arthur. The series first appeared in 1937 and each frame is like a work of art. The series was a huge success in Sweden as well and was published as a Christmas album between 1942 and 1949. Here at the Stockholm Toy Museum there is the first very rare Christmas album from 1942 together with the one from 1944. Foster's original pages for Prince Valiant are both sought after and very valuable and are valued at several million kronor per page today.

Alex Raymond's science-fiction soap opera about Lightning Gordon first appeared as a Sunday series in 1934. The story became very popular and tells the story of how the sports star from Earth ends up on the planet Mongo together with his girlfriend Dale Arden, to fight against the evil Emperor Ming. Alex Raymond drew the series for just over ten years until 1944 and his craft as an illustrator would set a school. Even today, Raymond is considered one of the very best and most skilled comic book creators ever. Here you can see three Swedish Christmas albums with Blixt Gordon published in 1941-1943 (Åhlen & Åkerlunds förlag). These are very rare today as the circulation in Sweden was small.

In 1936, the American comic creator Lee Falk created his masked The Phantom for the first time and he became one of the first superheroes and is seen as a precursor to both Superman and Batman.

The many jungle idioms that describe the Phantom recur in the stories. Just like his two rings, the evil one and the good one. The Phantom magazine came to Sweden in the 1950s, but before that the series had been in Vecko Revyn since 1940 and as a Christmas album from 1944. The Phantom series of the 1940s and 1950s had a clear colonialist tone and have often been accused of being racist. During the 1960s, the demand for The Phantom was so great in Sweden that the American material was not enough, so they started producing their own material. This was of very high quality and is considered by many to be better than the original. This is probably the biggest reason why the series continued to be so popular in Sweden.

And you, feel free to try The Phantom's Throne! Maybe you feel like the ruler of the jungle, but don't forget the old jungle proverb, "You will never find the Phantom - he will find you!"