This free script provided by
JavaScript Kit
Lynx for pHantaBlog RSS: http://phantacea.com/blog/?feed=rss2
Welcome to the Phantacea Comics and Graphic Novels Page| Publications in Print | "Helios on the Moon" announcement | "Cataclysm Catalyst" announcement | "Nuclear Dragons" announcement | "The Damnation Brigade" announcement | "Goddess Gambit" announcement | "The Thousand Days of Disbelief" announcement | Support phantacea | Order Today | Bulk of Page Contents | |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page Search Engine - Page Welcome - Latest Highlights - Upwards - Downwards - Fresh Graphics - Bottom of Page Ordering Lynx |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finally available in Print and Digital Editions
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page Search Engine - Page Welcome - Latest Highlights - Upwards - Downwards - Fresh Graphics - Bottom of Page Ordering Lynx |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From Comics to NovelsPhantacea Revisited graphic novels morph into full length Phantacea Mythos mosaic novels; only the beginnings, middles and endings have changed to protect what really happened |
Rhadamanthys RevealedThe never-remembered Smiling Fiend manifests memorably over Diminished Dustmound
|
Internal Artwork CreditsArtwork from pH 1-7 as well as Phantacea Phase One #1; samples link from here; Images in this row double-click here and here; notes on the Kitty Clysm specific backgrounds are here and here |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Page Welcome - Latest Highlights - Upwards - Downwards - Fresh Graphics - Bottom of Page Ordering Lynx |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phantacea Seven- Comic Book to Web-Serial - Ian Bateson's unpublished artwork from Phantacea Seven provides the basis for the first full-length phantacea Mythos Mosaic Novel since Check out the expanded Availability Listings for places you can order or buy Phantacea Publications in person
|
Look out below!Cover art by Ian Bateson, 1980/2013 Nuclear Dragons are here!The second full-length entry in the Launch 1980 story cycle. Dedicated webpage is here; back cover text can be found here and here; lynx to excerpts from the book start here and ; check out material that didn't make it here and related excerpts from its scheduled follow-up, 2014's
Double-click on images to enlarge in a separate window
|
Centauri Island- Web-Serial to Novel - At long last, the second entry in the Launch 1980 epic fantasy has arrived. Ian Bateson's breathtaking wraparound cover for the novel utilizes his own dragons from pH-7. Those from the then unfinished cover for the Phantacea Phase One project can be seen here and here. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Top of Section - Upwards - Downwards - Page Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phantacea Revisited #1Check out the expanded Availability Listings for places you can order or buy Phantacea Publications in person |
Guess what isn't coming soon any more?Right now, the only way to order hard copies and PDFs of
|
The Damnation Brigade Graphic NovelArtwork never seen before in print; almost all of pH-5 available for the first time since 1980 Images in this row double-click to enlarge here |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Top of Section - Upwards - Downwards - Page Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Goddess Gambitdouble-click on rollover to open a separate window featuring the full cover of "Goddess Gambit"; red sampler enlarges here |
Phantacea Publications is pleased to announce
|
The Mighty Eye-Mouth in the Skydouble-click on Sedonic Eye to enlarge in a separate window; blue, 2012 ad enlarges here |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Thousand Days of DisbeliefPhantacea Publications is pleased to announce the three mini-novels constituting
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hit here to initiate orders directly from amazon.com and some its affiliates. Books from Phantacea Publications currently available include Kindle versions of Libraries, bookstores and bookseller collectives can place bulk orders through Ingram Books, Ingram International, Coutts Information (and Library) Services, Baker & Taylor, and a large network of other distributors worldwide. Some of the Phantacea comics and graphic novels can be ordered through Drive Thru Comics. Or, if you prefer to order directly from the publisher, email or send your order(s) via surface mail. No matter where you live or what currency you prefer to use, I'll figure out a way to fill your order(s) myself. Please add an additional 12% to cover Canadian and provincial taxes as well as Canada Post rates for shipping. At present Phantacea Publications can only accept certified cheques or money orders. BookFinder.com lists both of the original versions of the mosaic novels: Another interesting option for the curious is Chegg, which has a rent-a-book program. Thus far its search engine shows no results for phantacea (any style or permutation thereof) but it does recognize Jim McPherson (a variety of them) and the titles of the novels. As for the Whole Earth (other than the Hidden Continent of Sedon's Head, at least as far as I can say), this page contains a list of a few other websites where you can probably order the novels in a variety of currencies and with credit cards. |
PHANTACEA- Comics and Graphic Novels - |
||
-- One -- Two -- Three -- Four -- Five -- Six -- Seven -- Phase 1 -- 4-Ever & 40 Days -- The Damnation Brigade -- Cataclysm Catalyst -- The Covers Gallery -- |
PHANTACEA One was published in September 1977. Drawn entirely by Dave Sim, it contains 'The Launching of the Cosmic Express' and features the first appearance of many of the characters found in the Web Serials featured on pH-Webworld throughout the late 1990s and into the early 2000s.Some of these are depicted on the back cover but, at the time, a number of superhero fans, Sim included, were quite taken by one character — Baron Justice II! Despite his prominence in this issue, even as plain, ordinary, leg-crippled T.J. Maxwell, he rarely showed up in subsequent issues and is equally absent in the Web Serials and the 'Launch 1980' novelizations of the comics. This does not mean he will not come into his own eventually. Just that his time has not yet come, though it still might. Other characters depicted in pH-1 include T.J.'s mother Aranyani always Nightingale Ryne become Maxwell, his father, O.J. 'Big Max' Maxwell, Big Max's never-married foster parents, Colonel Jock Maxwell and Bunnie nee O'Ryan Galvin, the Fatman, Alfredo Sentalli (albeit as Alpha Centauri), the Fatman's son/manservant Yataghan, Professor Romaine Kinesis, Dr Hiyati Samarand, Salvatore Dis L'Orca, Major Milo Mind, and Nick Stiletto. All of these characters figure prominently in the 'Centauri Island' web-serials and NOTES: A larger version of the back cover for pH-1,
together with some comments about the characters depicted, is here; as of December 2011, a downloadable PDF of pH-1 is available here; the Launching of the Cosmic Express sequence, with artistic improvements by Ian Bateson, illustrator, and Fred Armstrong, letterer, was reprinted in
|
PHANTACEA Two was published in June 1978. Drawn by a number of artists including Sim, it contains the first appearance of, among others, Professor Kinesis as Doc Defiance, Big Max (T.J.'s father) as the Indescribable Mr. No Name, Devil Wind, the Ubiquitous Uncle Universe and the Trigregos Sisters.Defiance and No Name appeared in both the 'Centauri
Island' and 'Helios
on the Moon' Web Serials. Universe and the Sisters also
appeared in MOON and will appear the novel of the same name when it comes out. Devil Wind, Great Byron and his fellow Byronic
Nucleoids appear in "Feeling
Theocidal".
They also feature throughout both Ian Bateson, in his first work as a comic book artist, brought you the debut of Demon Land (the first Thanatoid of Lathakra to appear as such in PHANTACEA) and the Damnation Brigade while Gordon Parker took you to New Weirworld, where Uncle Universe hung his Saturn-like Ring. (The Trigregos Sisters dwell there, too, but they don't actually appear until pH-4.) In the same issue's fourth story, Sean Newton introduced one of the most popular characters ever to appear in PHANTACEA: Nergal Vetala! Together with her tormented, then unnamed soldier (Dmetri Diomad, the son of Demonites Zeross and his aunt, Roxanne nee Heliopolis Kinesis, a love-loving Afrite and one of the myriad Summoning Children), the Vampire Queen of Hadd figured prominently throughout 'The Trigregos Gambit' web-serial and -- dare I say it? -- haunted the outskirts of 'The Moloch Manoeuvres' almost from Sentence One. She also appears throughout Most of the other story sequences initially presented in pH-2 were novelized in the 'Launch 1980' story sequences that began in 2009 with NOTES: To date, with the exception of Sean Newton's story, there are no plans to reprint any of pH-2; however, as of December 2011, a downloadable PDF of pH-2 is available here; the Damnation Isle sequence was redone by by Ian Bateson, illustrator, and Fred Armstrong, letterer, in the mid-1980s; it was intended for Phantacea Phase One #2 but left unpublished, at least in print, until
|
PHANTACEA Three was published in December 1978. It featured flip top covers, one on the front and one on the back, though I left which is which up to the reader to decide.<== The one with the price and logo on it (only some of which is shown here) is by Richard Sandoval and opens onto the initial chapter of 'Helios on the Moon'. The bright blue one is by Ian Bateson and presents the Damnation Brigade in the opening chapters of 'The War of the Apocalyptics' ==>. Other contributing artists include Peter Lynde, Carl Muecke and, in their first work for PHANTACEA, Tim Hammell and Verne Andrusiek (nowadays Andru), who succeeded Newton as the primary artist for 'The Soldier's Saga' storyline in pH-4. "Phantacea Revisited #1: The Damnation Brigade" reprinted all of the D-Brig sequences from pH-3. In addition to the cover Richard (nowadays Ricardo) Sandoval also contributed to the Moon sequence.
NOTES: Chapter-by-chapter synopses from the Hel-Moon web serial link from here. Excerpts from the novelized version of
|
PHANTACEA
Four came out in mid-1979. Fully fifty-six pages long and having
a number of artists including Sim, Bateson, Andrusiek, Reginald Klassen,
and the late Gene Day, it carried on all three storylines: 'The
War of the Apocalyptics' (since novelized), 'The
Trigregos Gambit' (which became the basis for
|
PHANTACEA Five came out in Spring 1980. It featured a number of artists including Bateson, Andrusiek, Hammell, George Freeman and Vince Marchesano, reputedly the latter ably assisted by such friends as Sim and various Day brothers.This issue finished off 'The War of the Apocalyptics', -- as well as a great many of its characters. (Though, admittedly, most of them were cannon fodder, as such like are affectionately known as in the business.) Verne Andrusiek (nowadays Andru) designed and drew most of the front cover, his first for PHANTACEA, while Ian Bateson redrew parts of it, did the colour work and did much the same for the back cover off material initially provided by Freeman and Andrusiek. The Damnation Brigade looked to be in rough shape at the end but a
bunch of them were back in action the next issue. D-Brig, what's left
of them, are the featured characters in 'Year
One - After Limbo' and their younger selves also appear in
1938's 'Heliodyssey'
sequences. The graphic novel, Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
PHANTACEA Six also came out in 1980. Drawn entirely by Verne Andru, it ended 'The Trigregos Gambit' and a lot more characters, -- including more than a few cannons.Verne's cover, his second, albeit the first one he did in its entirety, was another wraparound. In the bottom right hand corner of the back cover is a depiction of Aristotle Zeross, Ringleader. In addition to being the main protagonist in GAMBIT, he was the titular character in both Rings '55: 'The Last of the Supranormals' and Rings '60: 'Aspects of an Amoebaman', both of which were serialized on the Web in the late Nineties. Over on pH-Webworld, we last saw Rings in 'Year
One' when he was being lowered into a tub of Cathonic
Fluid. Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
Unfortunately PHANTACEA Seven was only partially drawn, by Ian Bateson, before the money didn't so much run dry as got redirected into such strange things as car loans and mortgage.Thus, since it never came out, the only way you could discover what ultimately happened in 'Helios on the Moon', and to most of PHANTACEA Phase One's then still-surviving characters, was to follow the web-serial. Fortunately, although the Moon serialization ended in the Year 2000 out here in Cyberia, its synopsis is still online. Ian Bateson's six pages of artwork for pH-7, all that was ever produced for the issue besides a script, can be seen here. NOTE: Double-click on image and a new window will open with an enlarged version of this graphicTop of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
In 1987, responding to a boom in sales for independently published comic books, an attempt to re-launch the PHANTACEA series of comic books was begun.Entitled PHANTACEA Phase One, it was scripted to run fifteen issues. Idea was to present complete stories in one issue, as well as an additional 4 or 5 bonus pages that would tell an all-new story, namely 'The Genesis of PHANTACEA'. The full cover of the first issue, as well as some comments on the characters depicted, is reproduced on the next page. A few other covers were prepared for this project, including the ones reproduced here. The Damnation Island cover for PHANTACEA Phase One #2 (upper left) is by Ian Bateson and depicts a significant event, the encounter between Devil Wind and Demon Land, that occurred on Damnation Island on the 30th of November 1980. (NOTE: Ian based the cover he did in 2009 for the novel The "Cain, Slayer of Abel" cover (upper right) is by Ian Fry. It depicts Anti-Patriarch Cain, the Biblical Slayer of Abel, raising the Golden Calf on the outskirts of Power Point Sumeria some six hundred years before the Great Flood of Genesis, what's referred to as the Genesea in PHANTACEA. Unfortunately, yet again, only one issue of PHANTACEA Phase One was published before boom became bust. Fortunately, yet again also, I've held onto a surprising amount of the original artwork and scanned in what I don't have to fill the gaps such that I could issue PHANTACEA Revisited compendiums at some point in the future should demand warrant. I even have some idea what the covers might look like. "The Damnation Brigade" (to left) is by Ian Bateson circa 1988 whereas the "Rhadamanthys Revealed" cover art (to right) is by Verne Andrusiek from sometime in the early to mid 1980s.
Top of Page - Top of Section - Downwards - Page Contents |
In
1990 back-up features intended for PHANTACEA
Phase One came together in an oversized graphic novel entitled
|
|
|
'Launch 1980'The 'Launch 1980' story cycle comprises three complete novels, "The War of the Apocalyptics", "Nuclear Dragons" and "Helios on the Moon", as well as parts of two others, "Janna Fangfingers" and "Goddess Gambit". Together they represent Jim McPherson's now concluded project to novelize the Phantacea comic book series. |
Anheroic Fantasy IllustratedFabulous Phantacea Covers| 1977 (pH-1) | 1978 (pH-2) | 1978 (pH-3 - Front) | 1978 (pH-3 - Back) | 1979 (pH-4) | 1980 (pH-5) | 1980 (pH-6) | 1980 Unfinished (pH-7) | 1986/7 (pHz1-1) | 1990 (pH-4Ever) | 2012/3 (pH-Rv1) | 2013/4 (pH-Rv2) |- Double-click to enlarge graphics in a separate window - |
||
Phantacea OneArtwork by Dave Sim, 1977 Original web-presence preserved here Note: Most of Dave Sim's Launching of the Cosmic Express sequence reappeared in
|
Phantacea TwoArtwork by Gordon Parker, 1978 Original web-presence preserved here Note: A couple of pages of Gordon Parker's depiction of the encounter between Rom Kinesis (pre Doc Defiance) and Devil Wind were reprinted in
|
Phantacea Three ObverseArtwork by Richard Sandoval, 1978 Original web-presence preserved here Note: None of the Helios on the Moon sequences in this issue were reproduced in either
|
Phantacea Three VersoArtwork by Ian Bateson, 1978 Original web-presence preserved here Note: Reproductions of virtually all of the sequences drawn by Verne Andrusiek, Carl Muecke and Ian Bateson for the flip side of this issue appear in
|
Phantacea FourArtwork by Ian Bateson, 1979 Original web-presence preserved here Note: Only reproductions of the Byronic Nucleus sequences drawn by Ian Bateson appear in
|
Phantacea FiveInks largely by Verne Andrusiek, 1979/80; Cover coloured, typeset and partially redrawn by Ian Bateson, 1980 Original web-presence preserved here Note: Reproductions of virtually all the sequences drawn by Ian Bateson, Vince Marchesano, various Day Brothers & unaccredited friends, Tim Hammell and George Freeman (with Verne Andrusiek) appear in |
Phantacea SixArtwork by Verne Andrusiek, 1980 Original web-presence preserved here Note: Verne Andrusiek drew this entire 32-page issue. It concludes the Soldier's Saga begun in pH-2 by Sean Newton and carried on in issues #4 & #5 by Verne Andrusiek.Most of the material prepared for the Soldier's Saga reappear in |
Phantacea Seven (unfinished)Artwork by Ian Bateson, 1980 Original web-presence preserved here Note: This issue was supposed to conclude both the Launching of Cosmic Express and the Helios on the Moon story cycles. Unfortunately producing it proved a logistical nightmare and it was abandoned.Only Ian Bateson's Hell's Horsemen sequence was drawn and lettered. Those pages as they were initially submitted can be seen here. The same pages, digitally re-lettered by Jim McPherson in 2014, have finally seen print in |
Phantacea Phase One #1Artwork by Ian Bateson, 1987 Original web-presence preserved hereNote: Some the material Ian Bateson redid over Dave Sim's original appears in
|
Forever & 40 DaysArtwork by Ian Bateson over Ian Fry, circa 1989 The first graphic novel from Phantacea Publications came out in 1990.Drawn entirely by Ian Fry, it was made up of backup sequences intended for the pHz1 project.Artwork for the cover was finished by Ian Bateson over Ian Fry's original.The pH-4Ever webpage is here. |
Phantacea Revisited 1: The Damnation BrigadeArtwork by Ian Bateson, 1987/2012 Collects the entire Damnation Brigade storyline from pH 1-5 (1977-1980), pHz1 #1 (1987) and pHz1 #2 (unpublished).Earlier reproductions of Ian Bateson's until now unpublished artwork for the pHz1 project can be found here and here.The graphic novel's webpage is here.Chris Chuckry did some facial touch-up work on the Untouchable Diver, the Elemental Twins, Gloriel and the Witch |
Phantacea Revisited 2: Cataclysm CatalystArtwork by Verne Andru, 1982-87/2013 Corrects and collects the entire Soldier's Saga from pH 2-6; starts with the Launching of the Cosmic Express as drawn by Dave Sim, 1977; continues with Phantacea's origin of the Devil Sedon as drawn by Ian Fry, ca 1986/7; and concludes with Ian Bateson's 6-page, Hell's Horsemen sequence intended for Phantacea Seven, 1980, as digitally re-lettered by Jim McPherson, 2014. The graphic novel's webpage is here. |
Webpage last updated: Autumn 2014There may be no cure for aphantasia (defined as 'having a blind or absent mind's eye') but there certainly is for aphantacea ('a'='without', like the 'an' in 'anheroic') Interactive PDFs of some of the Phantacea Mythos books and graphic novels released by Phantacea Publications are available for downloading from One Book Shelf and its frontline ordering sites: Drive Through Fiction and Drive Through ComicsTop of Page - OnwardsAlternative Ordering Information for PHANTACEA Mythos mosaic novelsDownloadable order form for additional PHANTACEA Mythos Print PublicationsCurrent Web-Publisher's CommentaryJim McPherson's Worldwide Email Address -- jmcp@phantacea.compH-Webworld 1996-2006: THE WEB SERIALSpHantaBlogWebsite last updated: Winter 2017/18 Written by: Jim McPherson -- jmcp@phantacea.com
Websites featuring, at least in part, Jim McPherson's PHANTACEA Mythos
Search Engine at Top of Page |