The Phantom:
A Publishing History in Brazil

by Sérgio Takara and Bryan Shedden

Rio Gráfica e Editora (1953-1986)

RGE was the comic book publishing arm of Editora Globo. It was essentially the same company, and had the same owner, Roberto Marinho. RGE was the principal publisher of Phantom comics in Brazil.


Title:Fantasma Magazine #1 #100 #200 #300 #371
Year:1953-1986
Issues:371
Size:18cm x 27cm (#1-#233),
13.5cm x 20.5cm (#234-371)
Pages:various
This is the principal Phantom comic from Brazil, and was the first to regularly have the name Fantasma on the cover. A total of 371 issues were published between March 1953 and October 1986. The series commenced with a regular comic book format, but was reduced to a pocketbook size in August 1975 (#234 onwards). The magazine was issued bimonthly until December 1960 and then switched to a monthly release. Many cover artists contributed to the series over the years, including Luis Fernando Guimarães (Lutz), P.Juarez, Getúlio Delfim, Ares, Domingos Cervera, Gutemberg Monteiro, Walmir Amaral de Oliveira, Baptista, Miguel Piedra, Sérgio, Adir Teixeira, Milton Sardella, Evaldo de Oliveira, Joaquim Novo de Oliveira Monte, Márcio, Juarez Odilon, Primaggio Mantovi, Norival, José Menezes, and Carlos. Initially these comics published complete black and white Phantom stories from the newspaper strips. In March 1965 (#99), the first full colour edition reprinted Gold Key #2 from the USA. Most of the Gold Key / King / Charlton series were reprinted in colour, and the newspaper strip stories also began to appear in colour. The covers for issues #163 to #166 (15 March - 8 June 1970) featured photos of famous Brazilian football players who went on to win the 1970 World Cup in glorious style. From 1982, Fantasma Magazine began reprinting stories created by Semic in Scandinavia. Sadly, in October 1986, at a time when Australia's Frew Phantom comic was undergoing rejuvenation, RGE ceased publication of Fantasma Magazine.
Issues #1 and #2 of Fantasma Magazine were reprinted in 1980 and 1985, respectively.


Title:Fantasma Magazine Edição Extra 1953
Year:1953-1971
Issues:7
Size:18cm x 27cm
Pages:various
Seven "extra editions" of Fantasma Magazine were produced at irregular intervals between 1953 and 1971 (usually in July). These are considered to be a separate series from the regular magazine. The details of these issues are listed below. Two of these books (Jul 1956 and Jul 1958) reprinted the covers of Harvey Comics Hits #51 and #56 from 1951/52. The last issue was a reprint of the American one-off edition The Prisoner of the Himalayas by Golden Age of Comics (#3, 1969), and made use of the same cover art.

DateCodeStory TitlePagesCover
Nov 1953D13The Game of Alvar98Luis Fernando Guimarães (Lutz)
Jul 1956D15
S21		The Phantom's Treasure
The Haunted Castle		66Ares
Jul 1957 (non-Falk)66Mauro Baptista
Jul 1958S18The Dragon God
King of Beasts		66Ares
Jul 1960 (non-Falk)66Gutemberg Monteiro
Jul 1961 (non-Falk)66Ares
1971D5The Prisoner of the Himalayas82Ray Moore


Title:Almanaque do Fantasma Magazine 1955 1978
Year:1954-1978
Issues:34
Size:18cm x 27cm (1955-1974), 13.5cm x 20.5cm (1975, 1977-1978), 28cm x 37cm (1976)
Pages:98
Starting in November 1954, the Fantasma Magazine spawned a series of annuals called Almanaque. These were usually published in November of each year and carried the new year number on the cover - the first was Almanaque 1955. From 1963, half-yearly editions were produced for the July school holiday period and had the extra words de férias in the title. A total of 34 editions were produced between years 1955 and 1979. The size of each edition matched the regular Fantasma Magazine. The only exception was Almanaque 1976 which was a special edition celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Phantom strip and had an extra-large size of 28cm x 37cm. Cover artwork was by the same group of contributors from the regular magazine. The 1970 and 1971 annuals reprinted the covers of the 1967 Album and 1967 Annual from World Distributors in England.


Title:O Filho do Fantasma
Year:1965
Issues:1
Size:15.5cm x 22.5cm
Pages:144
RGE published a translation of Dale Robertson's The Son of The Phantom, originally published in the USA by Whitman. The excellent cover art was by Gutemberg Monteiro.


Title:Fantasma Magazine Especial 1972
Year:1972-1978
Issues:3
Size:18cm x 27cm & 13.5cm x 20.5cm
Pages:66 & 98
Three "special" editions of Fantasma Magazine were produced at irregular intervals between 1972 and 1978. These are considered to be a separate series from the regular magazine. The details of these issues are listed below. The first edition was in black and white and large format, while the second and third were colour and small format. All three covers were by Walmir Amaral de Oliveira.

DateCodeStory TitlePages
1972 
S82		(2 non-Falk stories)
The Tale of the Gooley-Gooley Witch		66
1976D3The Diamond Hunters98
Nov 1978D47
D43		The Great Ajax
The Governor's Family		98


Title:Gibi Series Gibi Especial #2
Year:1972-1976
Issues:8
Size:various
Pages:various
During the 1970s, RGE dabbled with a handful of one-off black & white Phantom comics. Mini Edição was the first Fantasma comic to be published in Brazil with the pocketbook format. This was followed three years later with a one-off special edition, three sequential editions of a comics magazine called Gibi Semanal, and finally two annual editions of Gibi Nostalgia; each reprinting classic Phantom stories from the 1930s. The cover of Gibi Especial #2 is shown above.

DateBook TitleCodeStory TitlePagesPages
Jan 1972Mini EdiçãoD43
D41		The Governor's Family
Whirlpool Channel		13cm x 17cm98
13 Apr 1975Gibi Especial #2D2The Sky Band21cm x 27cm82
16 Apr 1975Gibi Semanal #25D4Little Tommy Pt.121cm x 27cm32
23 Apr 1975Gibi Semanal #26D4Little Tommy Pt.221cm x 27cm32
30 Apr 1975Gibi Semanal #27D4Little Tommy Pt.321cm x 27cm32
24 Jun 1975Gibi Nostalgia #1D1The Singh Brotherhood28cm x 37cm130
May 1976Gibi Nostalgia #3D7The Shark's Nest28cm x 37cm130


Title:Historical Events
Year:1978-1979
Issues:5
Size:various
Pages:98 & 34
RGE produced several special albums to mark the occasion of some unique events in Phantom history: firstly, the wedding of The Phantom and Diana Palmer, and secondly, the birth of the twins Kit and Heloise. The wedding story was first split between two different albums before being republished a year later along with four other stories. RGE also produced a sticker album Livro Ilustrado Fantasma, containing 256 individual stickers, and it's included here for want of a better place to put it.

DateBook TitleCodePagesPages
1978O Casamento do FantasmaD136-113.5cm x 20.5cm98
May 1978A Lua-de-mel do FantasmaD136-213.5cm x 20.5cm98
Jul 1978Os Bebês do FantasmaD14013.5cm x 20.5cm98
1979Fantasma Casamento e Lua-de-melD13613.5cm x 20.5cm98
1979Livro Ilustrado Fantasman/a21cm x 27.5cm34


Title:Almanaque do Fantasma #1 #20
Year:1979-1986
Issues:31
Size:13.5cm x 20.5cm
Pages:98
In February 1979, RGE revived the Almanaque series which ended in 1978 (see above). But rather than a biannual schedule, they started with a quarterly release in 1979, before switching to bi-monthly in 1980. The series was temporarily halted after #17 in Oct/Nov 1981, before continuing in Dec/Jan 1984. The title of the series was changed to Novo Almanaque do Fantasma from #20 in Apr/May 1984. The last issue in the series was #31, published in Aug/Sep 1986.


Title:Superalmanaque do Fantasma #1
Year:1980-1983
Issues:13
Size:13.5cm x 20.5cm
Pages:130
The first four editions of Superalmanaque were published in the holiday periods of Jun/Jul 1980, Dec 1980, Jun/Jul 1981, and Dec 1981. However, when RGE temporarily stopped their Almanaque series in Oct/Nov 1981, it was replaced for a year by Superalmanaque, with the same bi-monthly schedule. There were a total of 13 colour issues of Superalmanaque, the last being published in Jun/Jul 1983. RGE then returned to Novo Almanaque do Fantasma (see above).


Title:Hiperalmanaque do Fantasma #1
Year:1980-1982
Issues:3
Size:13.5cm x 20.5cm
Pages:194
RGE produced three different extra large Hiperalmanaque editions in Nov 1981, Jun 1982 and Nov 1982. Each full colour comic had several stories focussed on a theme: dangerous woman, wild animals, and Diana.


Title:Arquivos Secretos do Fantasma #1
Year:1981-1982
Issues:2
Size:13.5cm x 19.5cm
Pages:98
Two editions Arquivos Secretos do Fantasma (Secrets of The Phantom Chronicles) were published in Nov 1981 and Nov 1982. The first issue contained information and curiosities about the jungles of Bengali, while the second also included a reprint of The Star of Bangalla.


Title:Fantasma Especial #1
Publisher:Rio Gráfica e Editora (RGE) and Editora Globo
Year:1983-1989
Issues:37
Size:13.5cm x 20.5cm
Pages:66
RGE started their final series of colour Phantom comics in July 1983. RGE only produced 7 biannual issues before the series was taken over by Editora Globo, starting in February 1987. The last RGE issue appeared in June 1986.


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Bryan Shedden / guran@deepwoods.org
Last Updated 16 January 2002