Interview with Claes Reimerthi

Tell a bit about yourself, hobbies and career.

I was born in 1955 and live just outside Lund in Southern Skåne (Scania), where I live in a row house with my family and my dog. I have worked as a freelance writer since 1983, mainly as author of different comics. It has been quite a few during the years: The Phantom, Kerry Drake, 91:an, Lilla Fridolf, Bamse, Murphy’s Law, Gustav Vasa, Sputnik (the last six are Swedish comics) and many others. Apart from that I have written a large number of articles for magazines as the Phantom, Bild&Bubbla and Giappa (those two are Swedish publications). And also three books.

At the moment I mostly work with the Phantom (script author), 91:an (script author), Bild&Bubbla (editor and article author) in addition to Carl Bark’s collected works (translator), and I wish I had more time on my hands so I could write books.

I am today in the very lucky situation where work and hobbies to a large extent is mixed together.

How did you get in touch with Semic?

My first “professional” contact with Semic was when I in 1979 sent some series to the magazine Svenska Serier (Swedish Series), which was an attempt to find new, Swedish comic talents. My series were rejected, and I was left standing with a long nose. Some years later I became acquainted to the Phantom author Dai Darell, and it was her who passed on the contact with Editor Ulf Granberg. My first assignment was to write some episodes of Ödeshansken (a Swedish comic).

For how long have you had a relationship to the Ghost who Walks?

I got in touch with Dai Darell the autumn of 1982, and wrote my first Phantom synopsis spring 1983. After that it took about one year before one of my scripts – Gold Fever (not published by Frew) – was printed. The first script I wrote was, however, The Crying Idol (not published by Frew).

But already before that time I had of course been in touch with both the Phantom series and the magazine as a reader. I remember reading the classic Falk/Barry adventures at my hairdressers around 1966-69. I became a regular buyer in 1970.

Why this interest for the Phantom?

One important reason is that I was extremely impressed by the episodes by Janne Lundström/Jaime Vallvè (and sometimes Granberg/vallve or Knutsson/Vallvè) which were produced in the 70s. I felt that the series, as it was then, attracted me, and that I wanted to write such stories myself. Also, I’m pretty certain that the large number of historical adventures were an important part of the decision. I had surely not been as interested if I only had the Falk/Barry version to start from.

Another reason is that the Phantom is one of the few series you actually can make a living from in Sweden. So actually I had not much choice if I wanted to write comics professionally.

What do you think of the Phantom as a literary character?

You can say that I have a bit undetermined attitude towards the figure. I’m impressed by the thrilling ground concept of the comic, with the skull throne, immortality myth and all that. It’s obvious that Lee Falk succeeded in creating something that grew fascination by a number of people, and that continues to fascinate even 70 years later, despite the great changes the world has been through in the meantime. Certain aspects in the Phantom myth may seem obsolete today, but much can still be used (although after some modernizing).

The great weakness of the comic is the dull character portrayal. For an example, take a figure like Luaga who has been in the game for 40 years. He is still just an empty shell in the role as president of Bengal. That the gallery of characters is two dimensional is very clearly shown in the daily press version. I the magazine version, there have been more space to work with the characters, which sadly is not taken advantage of as much as possible. Perhaps we have felt restrained by the earlier works of Falk. What do I know? It has become better at that point, but it is still something that makes the overall impression slightly worse than it could have been. Is it possible to combine the mystic and mythical sides of the Phantom with a deeper look into his soul? We have discussed that question many times at our seminars. And yes, I think so!

The Lubanga period was a highly debated era. How did this develop the Phantom as a comic hero?

One of the reasons why we started the Lubanga period was that the Phantom had got a way too calm life, and never needed to fight with the knife at the throat. He had a large protection net with Bandars, the Jungle Patrol, Luaga, Devil and so on to aid himself. What really was the final drop for me was an episode where terrorists threatened to blow up a full crowded stadium during a soccer game (I suppose the author had read or seen Black Sunday) and then the Phantom quite simply asks Luaga to evacuate the stadium (Frew 1002). How much more interesting would it not have been if no one had believed in the Phantom, and he was forced to deal with everything himself.

The reason for the Lubanga period was to force the Phantom to trust himself more, while what happened in the series would have consequences for the characters. Earlier, it had been like no matter what the Phantom experienced, this was long forgotten when next issue was released fourteen days later. It was never anything that gave the Phantom or his surroundings any consequences. The reader already knew that Diana and/or Kit and Heloise would survive it, and so also the Phantom. This caused the reading never to be very exciting.

The new about the Lubanga period was that suddenly all events suddenly started to have consequences, and sometimes they were really radical: Luaga lost his presidency, he and the Phantom turned really angry at each other for real and so on.

Additionally I can say that it was exactly the same we wanted starting Year One and the stories afterward: To offer really exciting stories where the end yet is unsure. At the same time as we more thoroughly explore the characters from the inside.

Year One can be called a giant project. Did the result live up to the expectations?

Well, that is actually a question for the readers. I think we have succeeded in the way that the series are now more interesting to follow from episode to episode. All the time things happens that influence the concept itself, at the same time as the readers are left wondering about the end over several issues. This is how I really want the series to be onward: Longer continuing stories (which may consist of free standing episodes) which all the time influence the Phantom and his surroundings in different ways; where everything can happen and nothing can be anticipated.

In Year One, we learn that the 21st Phantom started his career in 1959. What do think of the fact that the time has been pointed out so exactly? Will it not create certain problems concerning the fact that it is over 40 years ago?

Yes, it creates problems. That we placed the change of generations exactly in 1959 is because there is an old Phantom adventure where we get to know that the first adventure of our Phantom took place on Cuba related to Castro’s coup d’ etat. You can say that the decision already was taken for us. But to make it a bit more vague, it was decided during the work process of Year One, that the year 1959 should not be clearly mentioned. Therefore the transition between past and current times in the opening scenes to the first story of Year One (Frew 1390) was a bit unclear. Originally, the year 1959 was mentioned in a text box.

Actually the chronology has long time ago stopped being realistic, and the only solution then would be to put in more forefathers. But that would make numerous facts about the earlier Phantoms that have been presented in the series totally wrong. To kill the 21st Phantom, which has been suggested, will not solve the chronological problems of the series. In that case it should have happened long time ago.

You have written the longest Phantom story of all times, Heart of Darkness. What inspired you, and where did you find your material?

The basic idea to Heart of Darkness was made during some late conversation with my Norwegian colleague Dag Frognes at the early 90s. It was also Dag who told me about the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, which also was a great source of inspiration. (It is not only Dan Brown who has been inspired by it!) I made long lists and time schedules over historical events that I somehow wanted to use in the story, and despite its length I only managed to use a small number of them. From the beginning, I had figured out that the story would be much longer that it ended up being, but impatient readers and an impatient editor meant I should finish it off. If not that had happened, I would probably still be writing on Heart of Darkness.

Are you satisfied with the result?

Difficult question. I haven’t read the story since it was finished for nearly ten years ago, so I don’t remember it so clearly anymore. And as written above, I was forced to end it sooner than planned. But I clearly remember it was very amusing to write, and there are parts I am very satisfied with. I have always been weak for this kind of stories.

The story “The Prodigal Son” (Frew 1292) is about a Phantom who causes his own father’s death, and who breaks with the tradition. Is this a what-if story? Or is it about a certain Phantom? In that case, which one?

It was written as a what-if story, but this became a bit unclear when the story was published in the magazine.

What is most important for you when writing a story? Humour, suspense or realism?

Actually all three of them. But the humour part is the one I manage least to include.

The Singh Pirates have been the enemies of the Phantom through centuries, and lately they have developed quite a bit. Can you tell a bit about how this development will continue?

That fits with what I said above, that the ambition is that something is happening with the concept and the characters all the time – a continuing development of the characters you can say. But there is no “development scheme” for the future, at least not when it comes to Singh, but one thing leads to another and so on. At the moment it will be interesting to see how Sandal Singh handles the defeat after the attack of the Jungle Patrol. They need a new HQ, and perhaps the organization must be built up in a new way to prevent that anything similar happens again. And Sandal Singh is surely filled with hatred and lust for vengeance after what has happened. How will her revenge affect the Phantom? Those are issues I mean we need to work with.

What are your thoughts about the development in the Phantom series in general? What do you think should happen?

I am very satisfied with the continuity issue we have at the moment. It makes it so much more interesting to write, and hopefully more interesting to read as well. So I really want to stir the pot and let unexpected events pop up in the future. Then there are also some things I want to try when it comes to storytelling. There has been a tradition for the Phantom to be told in a very traditional way. Perhaps it’s time to try some new points of view even at that area?

What do you think of the chance you have been given to develop the Phantom series lately?

It has been much funnier working with the series. I also feel that I have, these latest years, dared to walk further than I did before.

How much liberty do you have when doing such storylines?

All ideas have to pass Ulf Granberg’s thorough examination and get his thumbs up signal, something that mostly happens during the Phantom seminars, where the further development of the series is discussed and decided. But normally we have the same view on the series and its possibilities. It is more normal to see ideas accepted and developed than refused at the seminars.

As a Phantom veteran, how much influence do you have at decisions regarding the future of the Phantom, such as Year One?

Quite much. See above question.

If you were given total freedom, what would you have done with the Phantom?

Hard to say. Firstly you should have respect for the concept itself and carefully consider all changes and their consequences very thoroughly. Secondly I think that I can pretty much write the stories I want even today. The limits are more within than outside.

Part one in a new story cycle about Lubanga has recently been published. Can you tell a bit about what you are working with at the moment?

The Lubanga series (a three parter) is finished long ago. I have now written to free standing adventures – The Shadow and Drama on Kinloch Island which both deals quite much with psychology. “The Shadow” is one of those stories I “just have to write”.

Now I hope to get to start with to longer cycles: The first will be a continuation of the Minerva Brooks stories, where I really hope to shock the readers of the Phantom with an upheaval of the Phantom concept itself, while the other will be a four parted story much like Mystery of the Golden Rune and The Devil’s Library, which is set at different times in the history of the Phantom bloodline.

What was it like, writing the newspaper strips for King Features?

It felt incredibly flattering to be offered the assignment, but it soon turned out that I didn’t like the work that much. The reason was the determined limits which you can say is a natural part of the newspaper comics: That the format decides the content. I was not allowed to use flashbacks (that could confuse the readers), and the Phantom had to appear in every strip/page. Besides, the plots had to be incredibly simple in order to make the readers able to follow the action from day to day. No dialog or scene could use more than six panels (= a Sunday page). Everything was, in other words, exactly the opposite of how I normally write the Phantom. Therefore the stories were quite dull too.

Why did you leave?

Actually I got fired, even though it wasn’t expressed that way.

How much does the editorial office care about comments and tips from Australia, Finland and Norway compared to comments and tips from Sweden?

I can only answer for myself. I always read the serious content of comments, praise and criticism. The nationality of the sender is completely indifferent.

Do Finns, Australians and Norwegians have the same points of view compared to the Swedes?

You can say there is a slightly different opinion within (parts of) the Australian audience and it seems to be certain scepticism to the Scandinavian production. They are more focused on Lee Falk and the newspaper series, which after all plays quite a minor role in the Scandinavian publication.

Which of your own stories do you like best?

The story I’m currently writing will be the best I have made. And the next will be even better...

Do you believe that in 20 years you will still write Phantom stories?

In 20 years I’ll be 70 and the Phantom magazine has probably ceased to be if I am to judge from the development the past 15 years. And I will have passed story number 300. So let’s hope not!

What other comics than the Phantom have you been engaged in.

Well, I am a comic reader fanatic, and also comic writer and editor so I currently read incredibly many comics and have literary hundreds of favourites.

Can you tell a bit about the comic Gustav Vasa?

Gustav Vasa is a four parted album comic, which I made together with the artist Per Gyllenör in the 90s. It was released by BonnierCarlsen in Sweden and (one album) in Denmark. The first album was based on the known myths about the adventures of Gustav Vasa in Dalarna before he became king – in other words a Swedish story telling tradition which I tried to see from a different angle. The other three albums is a story with the Dacke feud, Sweden’s greatest popular revolt of all times, as the background. It was more of a novel in comic format.

I am currently cooperating with Per in the humour comic Sputnik which runs in 91:an (Swedish comic magazine).

Norman Worker passed away earlier this year. What do you think of his stories and him as an author?

Norman deserves all the respect and admiration for his extensive production and he played an important role in the magazine. He didn’t pass away by his typewriter, but almost. I hope I get to die the same way.

Thank you for taking your time to this interview and have a nice day.

Thank you too!