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scans_dailyThe 23nd Phantom, Lothar Kehwabe, and his ally Guran faced a problem.
Their attempted infiltration of the Vultures, who were running operations befitting their name across Bangalla from its capital of Mawitaan, was requiring them to shoot someone taken prisoner.
Guran, who'd been handed the gun, passed it to Lothar- who pulled the trigger.
The Vultures' eyepatched leader Arturo jerked his arm aside at the last second, laughing.
He didn't really want the prisoner dead, because he needed to find some things out from her first.
He did want to test them, though.
(The art in this issue's between Brent Schoonover and Ryan Cody.)
(The Network is the news infrastructure that sprung up after the world went dark.)
The next day, Lothar and Guran were overseeing a drugs-for-money trade for the Vultures, in order to further earn Arturo's trust and get closer to finding out who was bankrolling the Vultures.
The guys on the other side of the deal tried to double-cross them.
Pinned down by gunfire, they waited for an assist Lothar'd set up the day before with a friend.
It came through.
Lothar and Guran went back to Arturo, the stuff of the deal in their hands (and words of reproach for his choice of people to deal with on their lips).
Lothar outlined what was next.
(The matter-of-fact reappearance of the " Arborian village " from #1 is another non-intrusive shared universe acknowledgement.)
By the third week, they had the name of the man Arturo was getting orders from.
They didn't have that man's real name, though, or any idea of whom he might be working for.
So they modified their plan- they'd enter the Vultures' headquarters during the night and take all their records.
Then the Bandar would stage an attack, which they'd use to fake their deaths and get clear of the Vultures.
The plan went agley as soon as they started, thanks to that prisoner of the Vultures; she'd broken out and set fire to their storage room.
In the chaos, their cover broken thanks to an encounter with Arturo, Lothar and Guran went for their objective.
They found it surrounded by fire.
" It's not as hopeless as it looks. "
Flaming parts of the ceiling fell.
Then the Bandar showed up.
Then it turned out that prisoner was the expected successor to the legacy of the Phantom Lothar'd been looking for.
(On the one hand, Mandrake's assistance in this issue seems out-of-place in a book that's primarily about the Phantom.
On the other hand, it helps move the plot along quickly, and it's framed as a couple of matter-of-fact favors for a friend.)
Their attempted infiltration of the Vultures, who were running operations befitting their name across Bangalla from its capital of Mawitaan, was requiring them to shoot someone taken prisoner.
Guran, who'd been handed the gun, passed it to Lothar- who pulled the trigger.
The Vultures' eyepatched leader Arturo jerked his arm aside at the last second, laughing.
He didn't really want the prisoner dead, because he needed to find some things out from her first.
He did want to test them, though.
(The art in this issue's between Brent Schoonover and Ryan Cody.)
(The Network is the news infrastructure that sprung up after the world went dark.)
The next day, Lothar and Guran were overseeing a drugs-for-money trade for the Vultures, in order to further earn Arturo's trust and get closer to finding out who was bankrolling the Vultures.
The guys on the other side of the deal tried to double-cross them.
Pinned down by gunfire, they waited for an assist Lothar'd set up the day before with a friend.
It came through.
Lothar and Guran went back to Arturo, the stuff of the deal in their hands (and words of reproach for his choice of people to deal with on their lips).
Lothar outlined what was next.
(The matter-of-fact reappearance of the " Arborian village " from #1 is another non-intrusive shared universe acknowledgement.)
By the third week, they had the name of the man Arturo was getting orders from.
They didn't have that man's real name, though, or any idea of whom he might be working for.
So they modified their plan- they'd enter the Vultures' headquarters during the night and take all their records.
Then the Bandar would stage an attack, which they'd use to fake their deaths and get clear of the Vultures.
The plan went agley as soon as they started, thanks to that prisoner of the Vultures; she'd broken out and set fire to their storage room.
In the chaos, their cover broken thanks to an encounter with Arturo, Lothar and Guran went for their objective.
They found it surrounded by fire.
" It's not as hopeless as it looks. "
Flaming parts of the ceiling fell.
Then the Bandar showed up.
Then it turned out that prisoner was the expected successor to the legacy of the Phantom Lothar'd been looking for.
(On the one hand, Mandrake's assistance in this issue seems out-of-place in a book that's primarily about the Phantom.
On the other hand, it helps move the plot along quickly, and it's framed as a couple of matter-of-fact favors for a friend.)
