Swamp Rats

The Story of the Phantom #11

by Lee Falk

Adapted by Frank S. Shawn

Genres: Comics, Mystery

157 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1974

About the author

Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross (April 28, 1911 - March 13, 1999), was an American writer, theater director and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strips The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. At the height of their popularity, these strips attracted over 100 million readers every day. Falk also wrote short stories, and he contributed to a series of pulp novels about The Phantom

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Swamp Rats was the eleventh volume in Avon's series of prose novels that featured Lee Falk's comic strip hero. It was written by Ron Goulart, who wrote many such adaptations, under his pen-name of Frank S. Shawn, and was based somewhat more closely than was typical on a newspaper strip script by Falk. It's set in The Great Swamp of Bangalla, where a gang of thieves calling themselves the Swamp Rats have set up a criminal headquarters from which they can run their nefarious operations. Kit infiltrates the operation, rescues the beautiful blonde Peg, and generally saves the day in the laconic fashion that Goulart portrayed pretty well.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. The Phantom faces a group of escaped convicts who have holed up in the swamps and formed a criminal gang called, you guessed it, The Swamp Rats. One complaint I have about the series is how often the Phantom gets captured. It seems to happen more than it should (although Batman did make a TV career out of being captured.)

These Phantom novels are quick reads, but always fun.

[Michael Pilgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for the Phantom, and while the story isn't great, I still had a really good time reading it.