The Veiled Lady

The Story of the Phantom #4

by Lee Falk (Original Author)

Adapted by Frank S. Shawn (AKA Ron Goulart) from Lee Falk's original comic strip, THE VEILED LADY is pretty much a straightforward recap of the adventure, but with nothing new to replace the visuals lost without the artwork.

Rising out of the jungles of Bangalla, shrouded by mists and superstitions, is the volcano known as the Veiled Lady. What is the mystery of the Veiled Lady? What secrets does she hide from the world? Precious treasure? Unimaginable danger? Many have died trying to find out. Beautiful blonde Jan Love and her companions do find the astounding truth in earth shaking violence that presents a unique challenge even to the Phantom.

In this book, the Phantom's mission is to rescue the beautiful biologist named Dr. Love and her cohorts. Jan Love has decided to explore the inside of the dormant volcano called the Veiled Lady (named for the streamers of steam and mist that conceal it). A handful of small-time crooks are also interested in the reputed treasure that was thrown into the volcano over the ages, so we have a potentially workable plot here....scientists looking for knowledge, crooks looking for treasure, hero trying to intervene, and all of them menaced by the local wildlife.

Genres: Comics, Pulp Adventure, Pulp

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1967

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]

This is the fourth book in Avon's series of prose novels that featured Lee Falk's iconic comic strip hero. Based on a story-line from Falk, it was written by the amazingly prolific Ron Goulart under the pseudonym of Frank S. Shawn. The prose isn't well polished, but it is satisfyingly pulpy. The titular Veiled Lady is a volcano, from which Kit has to save the blonde and beautiful Jan Love and her companions. Plenty of jungle action and intrigue!

[Quentin Wallace]

4.5 Stars

This is a very straight forward Phantom adventure with a sexy female scientist, an exploding volcano and giant insects. (I love me some giant insects in my adventure stories.)

Overall this novel was a little shorter than the previous volumes, but the story moved at a great pace. Pulp fiction at its finest.

[Terry Mulcahy]

Very good. This one was also well-written. The adventure continues when a biologist decides to take a helicopter into the hidden depths of an ancient dead volcano deep in the jungle. The volcano runs deeper than the jungle floor. Unknown to her, there are those who believe the volcano hides a treasure. She does find a treasure of sorts, but not what the people following her down the volcano want to find. This is an Indiana Jones-like tale, with near-impossible feats in the most extreme danger imaginable. Beyond imaginable could also be said. Fortunately, the Phantom is on the case, but even he is challenged. There are guns fired, but even those are not as helpful as a certain pygmy's poison-tipped spear. Great magic he says.

[Robert D]

Set in the 1970's and the 21st Phantom. A biologist, Jan Love, and her assistant plan to go into the Veiled Lady, a volcano in the jungles of Bangalla thought to be dormant but no one can ever see the top because it is always shrouded in clouds. Doctor Love believes there are rare biological specimens to be found in the volcano. Unbeknownst to her, the volcano was once a sacred place of sacrifice. Certain people make sure to infiltrate the Doctor Love's expedition in order to recover the fabled riches thrown into the volcano.

The phantom becomes involved when contact with Dr. Love's helicopter is lost as it was descending into the volcano. Can the Phantom find a way into the volcano and rescue the doctor? And what obstacles besides gold seekers will he encounter?

[Peter]

A 1972 novelisation of one of Lee Falk’s Phantom stories where the plot is pretty typical of the series, but the writing is very ordinary. The Veiled Lady is a volcano deep in the Bangallan jungle where a pretty female biologist finds trouble in the crater in a Lost World-type scenario. The Phantom has to save the day with Guran’s poisoned spear on several occasions as Colonel Weeks of the Jungle Patrol leads an investigation in the capital Mawitaan. A vintage pulpy plot and endearing nostalgia but the prose is so poor!

[Hun Garian]

I was hoping this would be good dumb fun like one of the later Tarzan novels, but it actually wasn't dumb enough. There's a female scientist named Dr. Love, which sounds straight out of a Bond movie, but the novel was completely neutered and sexless. The Phantom comes into the story, does a little bit, but never gets a very exciting action scene. I think it lot of the appeal of Falk's work and the Phantom in general is lost without the colorful artwork, and this prose doesn't make up for it. Ho-hum. The next time I'm in the mood for the Phantom, I'll pick up a collection of the comics.

[Greg Trosclair]

These are easy and fun reads. If you ever read the Phantom strip in the newspaper these are tales from the creator Lee Falk. This is the kind of stuff that I grew up reading. Light, fun, enjoyable and totally escapist. It is a product of its time though and some people might be put off by some of the characterizations of people.

[Oceanix]

This is my least favourite story out of the first four so far. the story line, it was not really riveting, it didnt capture my imagination like the slave market of mucar. The idea was good it just wasnt expressed well in literature.

[Michael Brown]

Volcanoes, human sacrifices, bad guys, lost treasures, giant insects and the Phantom to the rescue. More old time fun and a quick read.

[Ramesh Tagde]

Please send me in Hindi language

[Rob]

Very campy but that's the great part of it! I'll try and find the rest of the series!

[ISMOTU]

A fun pulpy adventure on the more fantastical side for the Ghost Who Walks.

[Brendan Mckillip]

Good pulpy action.

[bluetyson]

The Story of the Veiled Lady by Lee Falk