One of the most unique Phantom stories has to be the relationship Papua New Guinea people have with our Ghost Who Walks or "man ino save dai" (Man Who Cannot Die) or "man bilong pait" (Man of War).
The collection of antique and newly created shields depicting our hero painted on them has increased significantly in the last 5-10 years. So much so, a website has been built to celebrate them and now a coffee style book has just been released on 24 February 2021 just weeks after The Phantoms 85th birthday.
The book is not cheap at $99 US plus shipping but with this book being the most detailed history of the war shields plus the history of the Phantom in PNG it will appeal to many.
Art dealer Chris Boylan (Sydney, Australia) and Jessica Lindsay Phillips (Toronto, Canada) are the publishers and creators behind the book which includes illustrations of over 100 examples of shields and a history of them.
Along with a history of the shields, resident Phantom historian Kevin Patrick has contributed an essay about the publishing history of the Phantom comic strip in Papua New Guinea which gives it a great all round effect of the impact this hero has to the whole nation.
Rita Uechtritz who is involved with the book, gave a speech about the book at the 2019 LFMBEC dinner and you can listen to her talking about her experience through the Wahgi tribe and their shields either here or via the audio play section below. She speaks from 1hour, 3 minutes 30 seconds.
Here is a sample of two pages from the book.
