Hermes Press
PHANTOM HC THE BEST OF SY BARRY YEARS 1961-1994
Please Note:
***This item is a preorder and will ship when it releases!***
Estimated Release Date: 07/29/2026
The Phantom The Best of the Sy Barry Years 1961-1994; contains twelve complete Phantom stories — nine daily continuities and three Sunday continuities — hand picked by Phantom aficionados;Finally a collection of some of the most memorable stories by master Phantom artist Sy Barry. The Phantom, referred to by comic strip historian Maurice Horn as the “granddaddy of all costumed superheroes,” was created in 1936 by Lee Falk and in 1961 Sy Barry added his superlative talents pencilling and inking the feature which took it to new heights. It should be remembered that the Ghost Who Walks came to newspapers well before the Dark Knight or Superman made their first appearances and has been acknowledged as an influence on every “masked man of mystery” since. The Phantom set the standard for action, adventure, intrigue, and romance in comic strips and comic books — it has frequently been copied but never equaled. To celebrate Sy Barry's 97the birthday as well as the end of his tenure on the daily version of the strip with Volume #36 of Hermes Press' complete reprint of the Phantom dailies (with still more to come from Sy with our reprints of his Sundays), we have collected twelve stories displaying his best work on the strip — dailies and Sundays. Collected in this deluxe volume, with special cover art created by Sy exclusively for Hermes Press are: (daily continuities) “Adventures of Lucy Cary,” 6-29-64 – 12-12-64; “The Cavelands,” 12-30-74 – 4-19-75; “Guardian of the Eastern Dark,” 4-4-77 – 8-13-77; “Tyrant of Tarakimo,” 8-15-77 – 10-29-77; “Phantom Wedding,”10-31-77; “Jungle City,” 9-18-78 – 12-18-78; “The Heirs,” 12.18.78 – 5-19-79; “Gooro's Jungle Muggers,” 11-3-80 – 4-4-81; “Tale of Rex,” 1-18-82 – 9-11-82; (Sunday continuities) “Founding of the Jungle Patrol,” 7-5-64 – 1-24-65; “The Name,” 9-9-79 – 6-1-80; and “The Third Phantom,” 8-26-84 – 2-17-85. Also included is a lengthy interview with Sy Barry, a biographical essay, and original comic art spanning Barry's career. This title is limited to 1000 copies.
UPC/ISBN: 9781613453230
SKU: 0326HP0798
FOC Date: 04/13/2026
Estimated Release Date: 07/29/2026
Product Information
Due to the nature of collectible items and ever changing market demand, we are unable to cancel pre-orders on ratio variants and select other items (1 per store variants, exclusive covers, ect) for a refund.For preorders on regular open order comics (the majority of which are normally cover price), we can cancel preorders and refund with a store credit that can be used in our brick and mortar stores or at thirdeyecomics.com
If you have any shipping questions check out our Shipping FAQs here
You can contact us through our contact page! We will be happy to assist you.
Cover art for Comics on our website is provided to us at the time of solicit. While we do our best to keep these images up to date; some covers may be subject to change!
At Third Eye, we ship thousands of comics every week, and we know condition matters. Whether you're reading, collecting, or grading, we want you to feel confident when a Third Eye package arrives.
This policy outlines our standard for new release and shipped comics, and the industry-standard guidelines we follow.
OUR STANDARD
Books without a stated grade will be offered as Near Mint 9.4 or better. We do not guarantee 9.8 condition on any book unless specifically noted.
We use industry-standard grading guidelines from:
- CBCS Comic Grading Scale
- Overstreet Comic Grading Standards
- CGC grading standards
If you're new to comic grading, the resources above are a great place to start.
WHY WE DON'T GUARANTEE 9.8
Modern comic printing is an imperfect process. Books are printed in massive
runs, bound at high speed, and shipped in bulk to retailers. Even brand
new books off the truck will exhibit minor production characteristics,
and that's normal, and consistent with industry standards across every
retailer.
A 9.8 grade represents near-perfection, and the reality is that not every printed book qualifies for that grade no matter where you buy it from.
We can absolutely commit to NM 9.4 or better. We cannot commit to 9.8 on every book, because that's not how comics are made.
WHAT QUALIFIES AS NM 9.4
Per industry standards, a book may exhibit the following minor characteristics and still grade as Near Mint 9.4, as long as there's no accumulation of defects:
Bindery characteristics:
- Minor to moderate corner tears
- White edges along the spine (common on most modern printings)
- Covers slightly offset from interior pages (common on cardstock covers)
Printing characteristics:
- Slight color rub on back covers
- Small paper wrinkles present from the paper roll prior to printing
- Wavy paper texture from the printing process
Spine characteristics:
- 2-3 small color-breaking spine ticks
- Minor non-color-breaking spine dings
These are normal modern production characteristics, not damage from handling or shipping. They are present on books across the industry, regardless
of retailer.
OUR RETURN & EXCHANGE POLICY
We do not accept returns or exchanges on books that meet our NM 9.4 or better standard.
We will replace or refund:
- Books damaged during shipping (clear shipping damage, not pre-existing print characteristics)
- Books that fall below NM 9.4 standard (significant spine damage, major creasing, tears, etc.)
- Wrong cover or wrong issue shipped
For premium variants (1:25, 1:50, 1:100, 1:250, 1:500 incentive covers, signed editions, exclusive variants), we apply enhanced QC during pull and packing. If a premium variant arrives outside our standard, contact us within 7 days of delivery and we will work with you on a replacement.
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions about a specific book or want to learn more about comic grading, our team is happy to help. Reach out to service@thirdeyecomics.com.
We appreciate your trust in Third Eye Comics, and we're committed to delivering books that meet the standards both you and we expect.