Fantomen #20/2000

In "Häxdoktorns hemlighet," Fantomen is turned into a zombie by the sorcerer Jazz, forcing Callaghan to use mystical herbs from an African medicine man to control him—channeling the undead hero into the criminal underworld. As the line between magic and madness blurs, Callaghan enhances a smuggled spirit with the same herbs, deepening the drug’s hold. Left to die in the swamp, Fantomen is rescued by Pearl, whose later fame as jazz legend Bessie Jackson begins here. With Heiner Bade’s moody art and Rolf Gohs’s striking cover, this 1984 Egmont issue delivers a haunting, surreal twist on the classic hero’s journey.