The Last Phantom!

Years ago, I was annoyed that Moonstone had lost the Phantom license, but I still wanted to read Dynamite Comic's version of Lee Falk's classic hero The Phantom. But I didn't get the issues as they arrived on the stands. But I did get hold of the trade paper reprints of these stories and I'm glad I did in the end. The two volumes are divided relating to storyline. In the first titled Ghostwalk we meet a Phantom who has rejected his heritage for a seemingly better way to help and learns that he's not going to get away from his family work all that easily when his trust is betrayed. This is a story filled with violence. In the second volume titled Jungle Rules the aftermath of the events of the first story continues to unfold, and we revisit the origin and move the plot threads from the fist volume forward some. 

Actually, I have to say I was taken away by them. I get what purists object to in this much more violent version of the classic "Ghost Who Walks", but I did detect a clear knowledge of and a fundamental respect for the classic version. If this bloody Phantom was all I had, then I might sigh mightily and move on, but seen merely as a version of the classic, I was intrigued.

This Phantom might or might not be the twenty-first we all know and admire. The arrival of Diana Palmer at the end makes me think he must be. My initial impressions was that this was the twenty-second Phantom, the son of the classic we'd been following so long who was trying to find a Twenty-first Century solution to the Phantom mission, something other than shooting forty-fives and traipsing across the jungle saving folk who need saving. This is a good man who wanted to do good on a broader scale. But we soon find, as does he, that fate has other plans.

The death toll in this story is exceedingly high, and The Phantom is not shy about leaving those who deal death to a fatal reward. That's a definite shift in the nature of the heroics here. It's pretty high octane stuff in this story which never really stops. Thank goodness I waited to read the tale in its entirety. Following along month by month would've been far too tedious.

This Phantom is already married with a son, a wife and son who are killed when the worldwide network he has established for the betterment of the poor of the world is sabotaged by his second in command, a man named appropriately Quisling. Kit Walker must survive long enough to return to his roots as the "Ghost Who Walks" and bring hard justice to those who have killed so many innocents.

I liked how Scott Beatty's story reinterpreted so many of the classic tropes of the original tale, giving them a new and often darker spin. The addition of a stealth suit to the Phantom's arms was a nice idea, adding to the Phantom's power and living up to his name. Hero and Devil are both along for the ride, though the pair do prove nettlesome when it comes to intercontinental transport.

(Edwardo Ferrigato)

The artwork by Edwardo Ferrigato is still of the new school which usually leaves me a bit cold, but has enough classic touches that I can endure it. The Phantom doesn't look off model in most of the panels and the storytelling is sufficient. I would've preferred an artist with a bit more atmosphere, or perhaps a more detailed inker would've helped. The covers by Alex Ross and others are magnificent by and large, though as always with Dynamite they become a fetish with so many different versions being available. I'm happy to have them all in these trades where they can be enjoyed.

The second story arc gives us a new version of the classic origin, a much bloodier retelling but one that still rings essentially true. The Phantom is a concept which is sturdy enough to handle these revisions, so I don't mind when writers try to bring a bit of a change to the details, as long as they don't tinker with the core.

Overall, I found myself swept along by the story which I will caution one and all does end abruptly. But not without a wink to the fans who know that the Phantom regardless of circumstances will always prevail. I will caution you that not all the plot threads are answered in this collection, and it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. The annual drawn by Johnny Desjardins tells a story of how the father of the current Phantom might have died. Despite the lack of a neat finale, these are still compelling reads. 

Here are the superb covers by Alex Ross with their logos for all twelve regular issues and the annual. 

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Batman - Tales Of The Demon!

A hero is often measured by the quality of his enemies, and few heroes have as varied and dangerous an array of foes in his or her rogues gallery than the Batman. Most were added to the roster in the Golden Age such as the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and the Catwoman. These baddies and others bedeviled the Batman for decades, but in the early years of the Bronze Age of Comics a new name is added to the roster -- Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. 

We first hear of the Demon's Head in in Detective Comics #411 the story "Into the Den of the Death-Dealers" by Denny O'Neil and artist Bob Brown and Dick Giordano. In that tale the Batman pursues a villain named Dr. Darrk who is accompanied by a beautiful young woman named Talia. The chase takes Batman to Asia where finds his prey on a train. A battle goes poorly for Batman and he ends up in a dungeon with Talia tending to him and who has taken off his mask. Talia has been kidnapped by Darrk and the Batman must fight a deadly battle to rescue the two of them. Talia tells Batman who she is and who her father is. Like any great villain we hear about him before he enters the stage. 

And then in a blockbuster titled "Daughter of the Demon" in Batman #232 we meet Ra's al Ghul for the first time in a story by O'Neil and artists Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. (Giordano's inks are to a great extent the glue that holds this epic together visually.) Robin is kidnapped and Ra's al Ghul appears to tell Batman (he knows he's Bruce Wayne) that Talia too has been taken. He wants to join forces with the great detective to save them both. The trail is a wild and dangerous one and takes them across the globe until they end up in the Himalayas. But ultimately Robin is rescued. and Batman learns the truth about Ra's al Ghul's motives, as well as those of Talia. She wants him for a husband. 

The cover for Batman #232 is one of best by Neal Adams and that's saying something. Above you can see how the great artist arranged to have Ra's al Ghul's face loom down on the Dynamic Duo. 

In the story "Swamp Sinister" in Batman #235 the Demon returns, this time seemingly having suffered a head wound when one of his scientists stole a chemical which if used improperly will cause a deadly plague. Talia is already in search of the scientist, but Ra's was unable to tell her all of the depth and complexity of the problem, so he comes to Batman with the additional information about the plague. O'Neil joins forces with Irv Novick and Dick Giordano to deliver this one. Adams and Giordano supply a great cover once again. 

Neal Adams and Dick Giordano are also the artists for the cover of Batman #240. The story in this one titled "Vengeance for a Dead Man" by O'Neil, Novick and Giordano once again. In this story a dead body of a scientist appears with its brain gone. Batman's search to get to the bottom of the crime leads brings him into conflict with Talia and Ra's al Ghul who also seek the man. But finding the killer doesn't answer the question about the brain. Batman has to solve that grisly mystery as well. 

Mike Kaluta is the artist for the cover of Batman #242. This kicks off a fantastic three-part tale that makes Ra's al Ghul an immortal...literally. The story in this one titled "Bruce Wayne - Rest in Peace" by writer O'Neil and artists Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. The story begins with news of Bruce Wayne's death in a plane wreck over a distant jungle. This frees Batman up to pursue Ra's al Ghul but not before he gathers a team to help him. He seeks a criminal named Matches Malone, a scientist named Doctor Harris Blaine, and Ling, a trained assassin who formerly worked for the Demon but becomes bound to Batman since the hero saved his life. 

The battle against Ra's al Ghul comes to a head in the second part in Batman #243, written by O'Neil and drawn by the Adams and Giordano team. The story titled "The Lazarus Pit" with the Batman's "team" heading to the Himalayas to confront Ra's al Ghul where they are joined by professional skier Molly Post. This group invades the headquarters of the Demon in a terrific battle, but they arrive to find that Ra's al Ghul is dead. Taking Talia into custody they depart, but then we see the Demon's body enter the Lazarus Pit for the first time and he is revived in a spectacular series of comic book pages. 

The story comes to its amazing conclusion in Batman #244 in the story "The Demon Lives Again". Ra's is super-powered when he confronts Batman and his squad and defeats them easily. Both Ling and Molly are injured. The Batman then alone follows the trail to the Arabian desert where he confronts Ra's al Ghul in a deadly swordfight. But nature and a scorpion intervene. And then love takes a hand. In one of the best climactic scenes, I've ever read, the Batman does prevail but at some cost. Of this entire run of stories, the only ones I happened to buy off the stands at the time was the very first issue of Detective Comics and this final issue of the confrontation with Ra's al Ghul. Even so this story's power was evident. Reading them through is as exciting for me as reading comic books gets. 

We skip ahead in time to 1978 and the DC Special Series which sports a lovely cover by Walt Simonson. Inside we get art by Michael Golden for a story written by Denny O'Neil titled "I Now Pronounce You Batman and Wife". In this one Batman gets knocked out and taken aboard Ra's al Ghul's yacht which goes into international waters where he presides over a makeshift wedding between Batman and Talia. (The groom does not have to agree for it to be legal apparently.) Ra's al Ghul's larger scheme is to use strange technology to make the citizens of Gotham sluggish and sleepy and then used large equipment to rob various vaults. 

Then Batman must get to the bottom of a tragic crime in Detective Comics issues #485, #489 and #490. That is the murder of Kathy Kane, the first Batwoman at the hands of the League of Assassins. Don Newton supplies the atmospheric artwork for these three stories which are featured on two of the three issues involved.  It seems Ra's al Ghul is trying to get control of the League of Assassins and suggested to the Sensei that Kathy Kane was a threat to the League in some way. He then warns Batman of the threat to Kane's life, but Batman is too late. He then seeks to solve the underlying crime and survive multiple attacks by the members of the League. These stories are also notable in that they feature the debut of the Bronze Tiger, formerly known as Ben Turner in the pages of Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter. 

The original early 1970's stories have been collected and recollected over the years by DC. Beginning in 1977 with a handsome Limited Collectors' Edition C-51 featuring the stories with Neal Adams artwork. 

Then the saga was collected again in 1988 in The Saga of Ra's al Ghul, a four-part prestige limited series which features new covers by Jerry Bingham and a brand-new cover by Neal Adams for the fourth installment. These comics also contain stories by Adams not connected to the Batman. 

A trade collection lands in Batman Tales of the Demon from 1991. This one sports a handsome cover by Brian Stelfreeze. 

In 2016 we get a Showcase Presents volume which offers up the stories on economical black and white. 

In more recent years, facsimile editions of key stories in the series have been published including most recently a juicy reprint of the Limited Collectors' Edition.  I'm sure I'm missing some, as this story is a hugely popular one and well worth the time of anyone who even once considered themselves a Batman fan. It's likely my favorite Batman story. 

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Batman Illustrated By Neal Adams Volume Three!

The focus of Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume Three is without a doubt Ra's Al Ghul and his "Demon Daughter" Talia. I'm going to spend a post next week focusing on this conflict, so I'll just give that epic struggle slight attention here. But there's still plenty to dig into. 

This is the first story in which Neal Adams gets to render Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. I'll have more to say about this tomorrow when I look at the whole Demon's Head saga. 

Batman has to get to the bottom of some peculiar crimes in Batman #234. When a balloon is stolen from a parade he's called in and soon enough he finds himself up against a clown-faced gang who work for Two-Face. Two-Face's scheme in this one is pretty ingenious is implausible. Neal Adams and Dick Giordano really unwind in this one with some great action pages. "Half an Evil" was written of course by Denny O'Neil. 

Batman #237 is a holiday treat. It's Halloween and Batman and Robin attend the Rutland Halloween Parade which back in the early Bronze Age of comics was a strange location where characters and creators could mingle. It's "The Night of the Reaper!" and Batman and Robin are hunting a Nazi war criminal but in all those costumes he's hard to find, especially when someone is swinging a scythe at your head. 

I love the Rutland Halloween comics, wish someone would gather them up sometime from the various publishers. In this issue which is written by Denny O'Neil with help from the likes of Berni Wrightson and Harlan Ellison, we get to meet comic book versions of Wrightson, as well as Alan Lee Weiss, and Gerry Conway. Neal Adams as usual does a great job rendering this one with the aid of Dick Giordano. 

Both Batman #243 and #244 form the climax to the first fantastic Ra's al Ghul story. Much more on this saga in tomorrow's post. It's a doozy though for sure. 

Batman #245 features "The Bruce Wayne Murder Case" in which a politician seek to use Bruce Wayne's disappearance in South America into a murder perpetrated by his opponent. Batman has to intercede and by the end Bruce Wayne is back among the living. Written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams and Giordano, this one seems to exist largely to return the status quo and rip on politicians a bit. (Which is fine by me by the way.)

The Joker might have been deadlier in other stories, but I don't know if he was ever crazier than this one. Neal Adams drew a slew of covers for Batman books and this one might be the best. It knocked me out when I saw it on the stands back in the day. Batman #251's "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" is written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams. He inks his own stuff this time. The Joker returns to Gotham after a four-year absence (in the pages of the Justice League no less), and begins murdering the former members of his gang in an effort to get the one who squealed on him to the cops. This one has fantastic visuals, and the story is pretty good. 

"Moon of the Wolf" in Batman #255 by writer Len Wein brings the Batman into conflict with a legit werewolf. Neal Adams draws a mean werewolf, and this one is shaggy and violent. Dick Giordano is back on inks. The story is about a man who has lycanthropy who falls into the clutches of former Bat-villain Professor Milo, not seen since 1957 who then turns the unfortunate man into a full-blown howling creature of the night. It's a pretty good story with a great ending. It's the last Neal Adams Batman story for quite some time, at least for DC proper. 

Neal Adams wrote and drew the "Stacked Cards" for Peter Pan's Power Book and Record series from 1975. Once again Batman and Robin are on the Joker's trail as he attempts to steal a Picasso painting. It has a pretty fun ending and more is a tad more blood thirsty than I expected. To enjoy this savory adventure record, check out this link. 

Adams and Giordano get the help of writer Frank Robbins when they meet up with Man-Bat a second offering from Peter Pan's Robin Meets Man-Bat! We get a full reprise of Man-Bat's origin (likely the Robbins contribution) and then we see how the Dynamic Duo can match up against not one but two bat creatures when She-Bat appears. I find it remarkable that this story seems to fit in well with the overall continuity of the DC comics of the time. And that's the last story in this handsome volume. To give the record a listen, check out to this link. 

I've included this cover for debut issue of Comic Book Artist from Twomorrows because the 1980's Batman art used as a cover is included in this collection. It's a dandy. 

The impact of Neal Adams cannot be overstated. He redefined one of the greatest comic book icons in our culture. His muscular style rescued the hero from the once successful but stifling camp presentation developed in harmony with the TV show. There's no way to imagine our modern images of Batman without giving a nod to Adams. And I'm not done with Neal Adams quite yet. More tomorrow when I focus on Batman's epic struggle against Ra's al Ghul. 

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