CLAES REIMERTHI´S LONG SIX PART HISTORICAL PHANTOM STORY
When I started working in my illustration with the first part of this long Phantom adventure in the middle of 2014 Claes told me that he has planned to write
a story like this for some time. The story which take place in 1860, at the eve of American Civil war with the main idea to use the most famous American
black slaves revolt led by Nat Turner. And when I had read the first part script I knew that I had in my hands an unusual Phantom story which would be inte-
resting and inspired to draw, but also very workable because the details in it.
The story starts with an incident in US congress library when a Southern congressman attacks a Northern one beating him with his cane. The brutal incident
has an authentic background because that happened in real life.
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER PART 1.
"THE EYE THAT NEVER SLEEP"
The Swedish cover by Henrik Sahlström The title page. The last picture is seen better if you KLICK!
When you look at the box of creators of this this story there is
a serious false info about the artist. This is my normal bad luck
that wrong name has been printed on my place. The whole art-
work of this story is done by me and Alex Saviuk has nothing
to do with it. As usually there has not beem any excuses from
Swedish Reprostugan where the lettering has been done.
After the attack in the Congress Library and a few introduction of the background of the situation between North and South, including
the hanging of John Brown, the fanatic abolitionist, the story starts with the Phantom (as Mr. Walker) being in the audience of a court
in Boston where a escaped slave is condemned to be returned to his owner. The prosecuter of the case is named Chetham and when
Phantom aboard a riverboat bound to New Orleans he found out that the same man is also on the boat. His interest raises when he sees
that man conversating with two man who look somehow villanous. And later, being a bit restless Phantom goes on the deck during night
and see how one of those men attack someone and pushes his overboard. Instinctively Phantom dives to save him.
Phantom saves the man to the shore, but too late to save his life. Before dying the man whispers a name of Bee in New Orleans and also the
other name - Gloria Scott. Then Phantom finds out that he is a Pinkerton Detective Agency´s agent. And from here he is involved with the
vortex of of incidents and dangers of the case.
In the first 22-page part of the long story we do not get very far, but many characters of story were presented.
Amanda Bee, a Pinkerton agent who is waiting her dead companion at the levee of New Orleans in vain. And the group of conspirators who have a
devilish plan to avoid a war betveen North and South because they are sure that the South cannot win.
Because of the time and place where this story happens it is extremily workable for an artist. To make is beliavable in pictures it needs a lot
authentic details and hours are spent to gather referencies and more knowledge of the era. The first part was hardest because the rest are
more familiar after the training with the first one. I only hope that readers will like the drawings as they probably do with the story itself. But
let us go to the next part of this masterpiece of Claes...
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER PART 2.
"THE MYSTERY GLORIA SCOTT"
Swedish cover by Henrik Sahlström
The second page where the most hideous villain of the story is presented. Bokor - the voodoo priest. And Scandinavian cover.
In the second part the story goes on turning more complicated because of so many characters are involved. Already in the first part Phantom found out that
the name "Bee" whispered by the dying agent is a woman by name Amanda Bee, also a Pinkerton agent. She is trying to find out what the group of Southern
comsipator are planning and together with Phantom they go on looking answer to name "Gloria Scott". The reader who is familiar of Conan Doyle´s Sher-
lock Holmes-stories may easily guess that it is a name of a ship. I do not now whether Claes picked the name from his mind to be good name for a ship,
maube not remembering from where is it comes or decided to use it in purpose. Anyway, Phantom and miss Bee found the ship in the harbor of New Or-
leans and Phantom boards it during night, but was captured aboard a riverboat to where mysterious cargo was loaded from Gloria Scott. He succeeded
to escape from the riverboat and hurried back to New Orleans worried about the safety of his female companion. Meantime she was in trouble of the
mob hired by conspirators that was trying to capture her. They attacked her hotel room, but she beated the two villains who entered and killed one of
them. Fleeing over the roofs she managed to escape and was hiding in levee (New Orleans harbor) among the cotton bales. This far neither she nor
Phantom had not any idea what was going on. And untill the part four they try desperately find out what the group of conspirators are planning.
In this part the conspirators have a meeting in a mansion owned by one of them, but during it the main purpose of their meeting still stays hidden for
the readers. This is going on till part four and the first three parts Phantom is desperately trying to find out what the conspirators are going to do. Because
the entire story runs under name Nat Turner, during the meeting one of conspirators remember what happened 1831 in Virginia...
The most bloody black slaves uprising in USA took place in Southampton County Virginia in August 1831. It was led by an clever and educated religious
fanatic Nat Turner. Attacking house after house the mob who followed him and killed 55 to 65 white men, woman and children before the rebellion was
put down in few days by white militia and three companies of artillery. The state executed 56 slaves and militias killed at least 100 blacks. Turner succeeded
to hide more than two months before discovered and hanged. Aftermath in the hysterical climate close 200 blacks were killed by militia and mobs.
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER PART 3.
"VOODOO WAR"
The Swedish cover is made by Henrik Sahlström
In this third part of the story the action goes still harder, but the main scheme of the conspirators stays still unrevealed. Phantom finally meets the voodoo queen Marie
Laveau with whom he goes to a cemetery in New Orleans to find out what the bokor, who has been haunted Marie, is after. In New Orleans Pinkerton agent Amanda
Bee is captured by conspirators who want to know how much Pinkerton Agency knows about their plans. The role of the bokor has been a bit unveiled of what he has
to do with the plans of the conspirator, and is still questionable when he kills a black stevedore and stoles his body from the garave - and later turns him as a zombie.
It is in the next part when the use of the zombie is cleared - the zombie is supposed to performance the dead slave leader Nat Turner and rise a new
rebellion in South according the scheme of the conspirators.
The seven conspirators who plan to prevent the war between North and South. Marie Laveau goes voluntarily into trance.
This third part has been this far tho most interesting to illustrate because it contains two unnatural scenes with hallusinations. When Phantom and
Marie found out in the cemetery that in the coffin of the murdered stevedore is only a dead hound, the black magic of bokor turn it to life and it at-
tacks Phantom... And moreover, under strong hallusination Marie and Phantom are also under attack from the corpses of the cemetery. It not often
when an artist have opportunity to draw scenes like that while working with Phantom stories. Claes has really used his creative skill and imagination
with this story, but it may also be a bit complicated to follow from part to part by reader because there are so many characters connected loosely to-
gether and because the whole story cannot be followed in one time, but from the issues that are not published after each other.
The vicious bokor drugged Phantom and Marie in the cemetery to see horrible hallucinations...
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER PART 4.
"THE DEVILISH SCHEME"
Swedish cover by Henrik Sahlström In this fourth part one of the main characters is an ex-house slave Luther who earlier eavesdropped
the plans of conspirators in the mansion meeting. He was caught and sold to a brutal master to be a outdoor slave working on cotton field. Phantom has
two worries in this part - to find out what has happened Pinkerton agent Bee and to find Luther, who knows everything about the secret plans of the cons-
pirators. When he do not find the girl he goes after Luther after leaning where he has been sold.
But meantime Luther has escaped and looking refuge from a closest swamp.
Thus I, as the artist of the story, must go to the swamp, which is the most important scene in this part. There are also a bunch of slavehunters with their
dogs and once more frightened hallucination created by bokor... Poisonous cottonmouth snakes are dropping from trees surrounding them.
Luther is killed by fear in this incident.
Phantom didn´t learn anything about the plans of conspirators, but when captured by slavehunters he was saved by a woman slave to whom Luther has
told his secret.
Being much wiser Phantom is free to hurry back to New Orleans to go on his search for Amanda Bee, who is
badly wounded and in the hands of conspirators...
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER PART 5.
"REBELLION"
Swedish cover by Henrik Sahlström In this part Phantom is aware of the plans of conspirators, but he must also try to
save his companion Amanda Bee who is prisoned in the mansion of the leader of conspirators. So he must hurry back to New Or-
leans. However there are other plans to free the female Pinkerton agent and the voodoo queen has sent a house slave of the man-
sion to do the job.
While the conspirators are busy to take their load of British muskets to the hands of rebels
the house slave is also busy to free Amanda Bee. She gives the wounded woman a medicine
that Marie Laveau has given to her to cure the prisoner, and the slave also gives Amanda
a gun to help her to escape from the hands of conspirators.
Meanwhile the bokor and his obedient zombie, who is presenting the ghost of notorious re-
bel leader, are on their way to the swamp where escaped slaves are dwelling. By his black
magic bokor takes power over the slaves and leads them to the place where muskets has
been hidden to use them in the revolt of the slaves.
This belongs in the plans of the white conspirators who are counting on the hope that a bloody
massacre of southern white people will turn the wind in the North where many are willing to
the end of slavery in South, and thus the coming Civil War may be avoided and the South
can continue its life style with slave work.
Then the hideous bokor is leading his army of slaves to start a revolt.
The rebels are led to attack their first plantation, but the Phantom is already waiting for them...
This part also includes the final encounter with Phantom and bokor with his zombie. It follows when
Phantom interrupts bokor´s slave army and challenging him and his zombie.
But the zombie does not feel pain and is strong like a bull... To beat him (or it) Phantom
is forced to use the magic powder that was given to him by Marie Laveau and to pow-
der turns the zombie into Phantom´s slave. So it is easy to turn against bokor and this
the death of voodoo priest and the final death of the zombie itself.
In New Orleans Amanda Bee makes her escape and then meets other Pinkerton agents who
come to help her to finish the conspirators and their plans.
But four of conspirators manage to flee and their fate is handled in the final part of this long story...
...which is called:
THE GHOST OF NAT TURNER part 6.
"EMPEROR OF LOUISIANA"
Magnificient Swedish cover made by Henrik Sahlström The last part of Reimerthi´s long story concentrates the fate of the four conspirators who managed to
slip away from the attack of Pinkerton agents. They are not beaten yet, but going on by the plan B of their leader. They go on into the swamp where a madman
lives in his rotten mansion. A madman who is a selfmade emperor of Louisiana, having a document signed by the king of France who has given the area of Louis-
iana to one of madman´s ancestors. The leader of conspirators has a plan to make Louisiana a state and his private army is waiting a word from him to take their
part to make this plan in true.
Conspirators punting in the heart of the dangerous swamp, and later the Phantom follows the same route...
Soon after Phantom has entered to the mansion of the emperor he has been caught and bind and the conspirators decide to give
him a horrible deat - as a dinner of swamp alligators.
Of course he manage to survive and go after conspirators, but they escape in a flatbottom boat to the sea where a ship is waiting for them
to take them to Cuba, where more troops are waiting. But their plans are drown with them when a stron storm sinks the ship.
And here the six-part story happily ends.
postsciptum: This 6-part Phantom story is the longest complete work in my career as a Phantom artist. It was started in October
2014 and I finally had it finished in May 2016. The long period to turn Reimerthi´s script into pictures is explained by the abundant
details of the period where the story takes its part. Everything from the fashion of 19th Century to old New Orleans and hundreds
of smaller details and Louisianan swamp took time to make the story look satisfactory real. Beside that there were unusually many
characters to be handled and all the time during artwork the place and characters were changing on the pages. The publishers new
order to short the lenght of Phantom stories from 32 pages to only 22 didn´t help, but make the work more difficult to both script-
writer and artist. From the pages it is pitiful to see that the pictures are too small in a magazine of size B5. It is sad that publisher
is counting only saving money, but not trying to save those who buy their magazine.
Yours sincerely,
Kari T. Leppänen
Phantom artist
FREW PUBLICATION COVERS for this story
Nat Turner´s Ghost parts 1 - 2 Nat Turner´s Ghost part 3 Nat Turner´s Ghost part 4 Nat Turner´s Ghost part 5 Nat Turner´s Ghost part 6