Little Toma

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Little Toma
Start date:	September 20th, 1937
End date:	February 5th, 1938
# of strips:	120 (20 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Ray Moore
Preceded by:	"The Diamond Hunters"
Followed by:	"The Prisoner of the Himalayas"

"Little Toma" (also known as "Toma" and as "Little Tommy") is the fourth Phantom daily story. It was originally published in American newspapers from September 20th, 1937 to February 5th, 1938.

The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Ray Moore.

Contents 1 Plot Summary 1.1 Appearances 1.2 Trivia 2 Reprints 2.1 Australia 2.2 Brazil 2.3 Finland 2.4 France 2.5 Kingdom of Italy 2.6 Italy 2.7 New Zealand 2.8 Norway 2.9 Spain 2.10 Spain 2.11 Kingdom of Spain 2.12 Sweden 2.13 United Kingdom 2.14 USA 2.15 West Germany 2.16 Kingdom of Yugoslavia 2.17 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Plot Summary

The Phantom discover that one of the natives children, Toma, actually is a western boy. He investigate the matter and finds out that Toma, in fact, is the only son of a diseased english missionary, who had been killed when he was travelling home to claim his rightful title as lord. The man behind the conspiracy turns out to be his brother, who now has the title of lord. The lord tries to conceal the crime but finally feel that he cannot kill an innocent boy.

The ex-lord is turned over to the police, most likely to be hanged, while his unknowing daughter is left with the task of taking care of the little boy to compensate for her fathers crime.

Appearances

Trivia

• For the first time the Phantom's home is said to be in Bengal, India. Previously it was said to be located on Luntok, an island between Sumatra and Jakarta.
• This is the first time the Phantom is seen traveling in Cabin 14, and the first time he is seen in his traditional coat, hat and glasses - later to be known as his "Mr. Walker" outfit.
• This marks the story where neither Diana, Guran, the Bandars nor Mel Horton appear.
• It is stated that the Witchdoctors of the jungle are informed that the Phantom isn't immortal, and that they assist him on his village visits.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "From Luntok to London", The Phantom #2 (1938)
• The Phantom #176 (1960)
• The Phantom #284 (1965)
• The Phantom #429 (1970)
• The Phantom #597 (1976)
• The Phantom #802 (1984)
• The Phantom #931A (1989)
• The Phantom #1249 (2000)

Brazil

• O Globo Juvenil #61 – #107 (1937-1938)
• "A Herança!", O Fantasma #13 (1971)
• "O pequeno Tommy", Gibi Semanal #25 – #27 (1975)

Finland

• Suuri sarjakuvakirja #1 (1984)

France

• Aventures 1 – 22/1938
• "Le petit protégé du Fantôme", Aventures et Mystère #11, "Le Fantôme à Londres", #12 and "Tommy a disparu", #14 (1938-1939)
• Collection à 8 Francs (Le Fantôme est à Londres) and Collection à 8 Francs (Tommy a disparu) (1946)
• "Le petit Tommy", Le Fantôme Spécial #6 and "Mister X", #7 (1964)
• "Le petit Thomas", Album Copyright Tome 2 (Futuroplis) Le Fantôme Vol. 2 1937 – 1938 (1984)

Kingdom of Italy

• "Il piccolo Tommy", L'Avventuroso #169 – #184 (1938)

Italy

• "Il piccolo Toma", L'Uomo Mascherato Super Albo #53 (1963)
• "Il piccolo Tommy", Enciclopedia del Fumetti Sansoni (1970)
• Ristampa Nerbini (1975)
• "Il piccolo Tommy", Phantom #5 (1991)
• "Il piccolo Tommy", Phantom #120

New Zealand

• The Phantom #110 – #114

Norway

• "Lille Tommy", Fantomet Jubileumskrønike 1936-1996 (1996)

Spain

• "El protegido del Hombre Enmascarado", El Hombre Enmascarado #10, "El Hombre Enmascarado en londres", #11 and "La desaparicion de Tomasin" #14

Spain

• "El Hombre enmascarado en Londres", El Hombre Enmascarado #1 – #2 (1971)

Kingdom of Spain

• "El pequeño Toma", El Hombre Enmascarado #49 (1978)
• "El pequeño Tommy", El Hombre Enmascarado #38 – #39 (1990)

Sweden

• "Lille Tommy", En odödlig legend (1996)

United Kingdom

• Four Aces (1954)

USA

• Ace Comics #40 – #47 (1938)
• Feature Book #39 (1944)
• Little Toma (1999)
• The Complete Newspaper Dailies: Volume Two 1937–1939 (2010)

West Germany

• "Das Geheimnis um Tomasin", Super Sonderheft #8 (1972)

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

• "Мали Тома" (romanized as "Mali Toma"), Mika Miš #256 – #291 (1938-1939)
• "Мали Тома" (romanized as "Mali Toma"), Zabavnik #62 – #63 (1939)
• "Fantom u Europi (Mali Toma)", Fantom - Fantom u Europi (Mali Toma) #1 – #12 (1938)

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• "Paklena zavera", Biblioteka Nostalgija #4 (1985)