"Checkmate"

SPOILER AHOY!

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I knew it. I said it in my first review of the latest Phantom storyarc. Diana Palmer-Walker is alive.

Mike Bullock deserves credit for not giving Diana the same respect that DC bestowed to Sue Dibny. He must be given kudos for setting up a situation in the first chapter that made Diana's survival plausible, and he should be lauded for this chapter which crafts a reason, outside of the typical hero-bait rationale, why Diana is still being kept alive. He also finds a believable explanation to keep her in one piece for the length of the story. Diana's status as hostage is a result of her involvement with the U.N. She is important to the crime cartel. Her importance is not merely an extension of being part of the Phantom's life.

The lion's share of the book focuses on Diana's psychological torment in the hands of drug lord Ortega. Ortega is responsible for the refinement of Manic, which is tearing apart the good people of Bangalla. It appears that Ortega is pulling a Jack Bauer to make Diana more pliable. He dares not use his drugs on her since he needs her sane.

I hate it when writers beef up villains and feel they need not explain the change in the scales. The Phantom defeated Ortega in an earlier issue. He may look imposing, but he's the same guy. The Phantom beat the snot out of him. I expect Ortega to be soundly defeated by the Phantom, and that's how Mike Bullock rewards the reader. He doesn't insult your intelligence. Ortega is a loser. Bullock does prevent the Phantom's happy reunion with Diana, but he does so in an unexpected way.

Szilagyi and Bob Pedroza are in high spirits for this issue of The Phantom. Szilagyi expresses a determined, dangerous look in Diana that without exposition explains why Ortega feels the need to keep her bound. Szilagyi and Pedroza choreograph the short and sweet battle between the Phantom against his foe in such a way that suits the Ghost Who Walks. Each character should have a fighting style that's as distinctive as a signature, and Szilagyi and Pedroza make the Phantom's purple patter instantly recognizable.

As with previous issues, this chapter of The Phantom ends with a juicy cliffhanger, perhaps the juiciest of all.

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