The Slave Market of Mucar

The Story of the Phantom #2

by Lee Falk, George Wilson (Artist)

"For the first time ever, the Avon edition of The Phantom is back in print! Hermes Press is proud to announce that they will be publishing all fifteen pocket Avon books, starting in August 2016, and every other month thereafter! This exciting installment, Volume 2 offers the classic Lee Falk tale: "The Slave Market of Mucar."
Famed artist George Wilson (Dr. Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter, The Phantom) painted the cover for Volume #2 as he did with all of the covers used for the Avon series, and they are reproduced beautifully to keep all of the details from the original books intact for a new generation of Phans to enjoy!
Does the ancient abomination of slavery still exist in this age of electronics? How are slaves found for this mysterious hidden market and where do they go? What is the true and amazing identity of the sinister slave dealer? Find out in this exciting second volume of The Phantom: The Complete Avon Books Volume 2!"

Genres: Comics, Pulp, Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1972

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]

This is the second novel in Avon's series of prose adaptations of Lee Falk's famous comic strip hero. It was ghost-written by Basil Copper, better known for his many stories that continued August Derleth's mystery character Solar Pons. It's a pretty straight-forward adaptation of one of Falk's comics story lines, and is set after Kit is firmly established in his career (and as the Unknown Commander of the Jungle Patrol, which features prominently), not following right on after the initial book in the series. It's interesting that The Phantom was initially known to fight piracy, but opposes slavery in this story. It's a pretty well-written story, and walking ghost fans will enjoy it.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

From I understand all of the novels in this series are based on stories from Lee Falk's comic strip, but I never read much of the comic strip so the stories are new to me.

This volume was about a prison warden running a slave ring using his prisoners. There's also a corrupt Prince involved. The Phantom, with the aid of the Jungle Patrol, decides to put a stop to the practice.

Great adventure novel, pretty much just what you'd expect, but that's not a bad thing here.

[Ed Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one right after The Story of the Phantom(#1), and was a bit surprised that it is a tale of the mature Phantom, not a direct sequel to the origin story of #1. I was also a little surprised that neither of them has any illustration, aside from the cover art. Other than that, though, The Slave Market of Mucar was well worth the reading. Aside from just being a good yarn, there is some interesting interaction between The Unknown Commander and Col. Weeks, head of the Jungle Patrol. I know this sounds like a cliche, but "I couldn't put it down."

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was much better written than some of the others. The tone and writing style seemed a little different. I wonder if some of the later books were written by people other than Lee Falk. That does happen sometimes. I did enjoy this one. Smashing a modern slave ring would be very satisfying. Arresting the warden of a prison for his part in the slave trade would also be satisfying. The Phantom does some very clever things in this story, showing a keen intelligence coupled with high moral standards. I wish most of our current crop of politicians could be the same. Stories like this are how our society keeps its moral compass by passing such ideas along to the young. I don't think many of them ever did much reading that wasn't in pursuit of fame and fortune.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Lee Falk's The Phantom was a comic strip/comic book creation, you might think he would be well translated into film, the other visual medium, but forays on the big and small screens have not seemed to me that successful. As a written text, however, such as this book, The Phantom does very well indeed, perhaps even better than in the comics. In "The Slave Market of Mucar" The Phantom comes close to attaining the mythic status Falk had in mind when he first created that defender of law and order in the Begalla Jungle, as well as becoming the personification of a Perfect Man; that's, of course, because of the narrative, in which the reader becomes the willing collaborator of the author, not only suspending disbelief but filling in all the gaps. When Falk writes that The Phantom spoke with "quiet authority," it's really the reader who supplies the voice that fits the bill, something we can never get from an actor or words shown in a word-balloon. In this episode of the classic adventure hero's exploits we are given the briefest history of The Phantom's origin, then we plunge straight into the action and mystery -- prisoners are regularly escaping from a high security prison and the Jungle Patrol (along with The Phantom, its secret commander) wants to know how...and why. The answer to both questions takes us deep into an Arabian kingdom...and into the dark and greedy hearts of men. I'm not really giving anything away when I say The Phantom brings the evil-doers to the justice they deserve because that is what he always does, but, as with all things it's the journey to the goal wherein lies the tale worth reading. This book is for anyone who wants adventure unencumbered by too much angst, justice without error, and a hero who is just as tough and perfect as we need him to be. Although we (or at least I do) think of The Phantom as being cast in a pre-war motif, this book is set in modern (1970s) time, but the storytelling and the resolution does not suffer -- evil still gets its butt kicked...or, rather, punched in the jaw with the Skull Ring.

[Oceanix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Months ago I wanted to read books on the phantom, realising there was none I had to be content with nothing more than phantom manuals and the cool phantom art of Alex Ross. Gratefully I found these books, reprints from the 1970's. I was apprehensive due to the light heart comical nature of the comics. These books exceeded my expectation and Lee Falk is actually a brilliant author. The eloquence of literature is surprisingly good. The story alone is ingenious and over all I am totally contented in reading this book.

[ISMOTU · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title had me worried that this adventure would be heavy on the more unfortunate aspects of the Phantom mythos but it actually wasn't as cringe-worthy as I'd feared. There were still some artifacts of the times and a lack of cultural awareness. The story was fairly basic, at one point the Phantom does a great Batman impression to get information from a corrupt prison guard but mostly it was a decent diversion.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Jungle Patrol is stymied. The local prison is not under their control and the prisoners are escaping but not showing up anywhere. In steps the Ghost Who Walks to study the issue and with a young patrol officer he moves against renewed slaver and the hidden market they run.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Phantom novels are usually solid, fun little adventures, and this one is no exception. If you enjoy the exploits of the Phantom in any form, you will enjoy this, if you are unfamiliar with the Phantom, this is a decent introduction to the character.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally read this series back in the 70s. I was pleasantly surprised how well the story held up after all this time. It is still an enjoyable adventure

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are great! I could not put the book down!

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1981 grade C-

[Bud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it Greatly! Actually fits in with the heroes Doc Savage, Avenger, & The Shadow.