Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

In the second excursion into the Eastern Dark,  author Aaron M. Shaps went a bit back in time, as Nazis invade the Phantom’s domain. According to Shaps bio…well, just read it for yourself:

Aaron M. Shaps is extremely cool. He is also quite handsome. His writing, described by the late Edgar Rice Burroughs as “just like mine, only not as good,” has been known to give women the vapors. A native of Indiana, cultural epicenter of the universe, Aaron is a beer connoisseur, jiu-jitsu enthusiast, and creator of the most awesome comic book character in history, General Jack Cosmo. His story in this volume is dedicated to his friend Gibson (1998-2007).

I admit that I’ve never heard of Cosmo, but we’re here to judge his prose work with the Phantom. So how did he do?

Encounter On A Jungle Night

by Aaron M. Shaps

I’m wondering if there’s a pattern to this book. This is the second story in a row told from the perspective of a Phantom target. This time, a Nazi soldier in the latter years of his life recalls his encounter with the Ghost Who Walks when he’s assigned to a fortress where a scientist is performing genetic experiments. There is some good story here, but there are also some curiosities.

Now science fiction elements are actually nothing new to this franchise. Phantom: 2040 aside, the Phantom and his family have come across aliens and creatures often referred to in the real world as “cryptids”. However, I wouldn’t read this while eating. It gets a bit gross in parts. First you have the scientist relating to the narrator the basis of his work. Long story short: some cultures believe that by eating certain animals (or at least their organs) or through cannibalism you can gain superhuman strength. The scientist theorizes that something else is at work, certain herbs or drugs that give the appearance of being superhuman. The other is the finale, where the Phantom attacks with animals. There are graphic descriptions about soldiers being impaled on elephants, bats set on fire and going after soldiers, apes that act way too violent for their nature.

The odd part is that the Phantom appears to be behind it, which not only seems a tad over the top for a Phantom but isn’t being all that respectful of the land, turning animals into soldiers and sending them on a kamikaze raid. That isn’t the Phantoms’ way from what I know.

Then there’s the narrator. The Phantom pretty much beat up an innocent man (well, for a Nazi). Sure, the story is told in his words, so should we really believe he was unaware of the Holocaust? Apparently nobody was aware of what the scientist they were guarding was fully up to, or how ape slag insane he was. The narrator, if we take his story as the Word of God (as in these are in fact the events as they happened) and not simply the word of the narrator (who admits he was on the wrong side), isn’t fully deserving of the Skull Mark. Not that he’s earned the Good Mark, mind you, but this seems a bit much. Actually, when you factor in the animals being used to slaughter people, all of it does. This just seems so out of character for how the Phantoms usually act.

It’s otherwise not a bad story. It’s interesting to see how the narrator gets along with a friend he made, a mention of a beloved dog he had to put down when he was sick; there’s an attempt to make him sympathetic, just a kid who joined the wrong side unaware of just how evil his side was (this is NOT a pro-Nazi story). It’s certainly different, and once you get past the controversial and gross parts it’s a good read. However, it’s one you should judge for yourself.

Next Time: “The Devil’s Kettle” by Will Murray

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• Chapter By Chapter #2> The Phantom Chronicles V2 – Ghost Story