Sunday, January 20, 2019

Don Newton's Complete Phantom!


The Phantom was created by Lee Falk in 1936 and became an exceedingly successful comic strip. It rumbled along for decades, gaining worldwide popularity, though for some reason rarely getting a steady bid in the comic book format. Then Gold Key got the nod and gave the Ghost Who Walks his own self-titled ongoing comic and it must have done okay, because later King Features had its own comic book version and when that enterprise sputtered the property came into the domain of the Charlton folks who continued the numbering which had been running through both the Gold Key and King runs. They assigned Jim Aparo to draw the book and it immediately gained a modern dynamic which many of the classic versions lacked. Aparo was eventually replaced by Charlton stalwart Pat Boyette who offered up a rather idiosyncratic version of the hero. I liked it, but then he was phased out and a more reliable classic look appeared. That held sway for a short time and then it happened.


Don Newton was a name known to many comic fans, an early attendee of the up and coming conventions, Newton was a major contributor to the fanzines of the day and he clearly had professional level skills. He'd been working at Charlton on some ghost stories here and there and then he was tapped to draw The Phantom. I remember picking up the comic, issue sixty-seven which featured a dramatic poster shot of the iconic hero with his sidekick Devil, and the story was brimming with atmosphere and rich with dark details. This was a different Phantom and I knew I liked it. I was not alone and the issues, though few they are, of the Newton run have been considered the gold standard for the strip since by many fans including yours truly.


Now Hermes has collected just those Don Newton issues together under one cover. It lovely stuff, showcasing the rough-hewn nature of Newton's take on the world, a world often with a film noir feel. The Phantom here is mysterious and agile and feels somehow more dangerous than any who has walked before. Here are the issues in this not-cheap hardback tome.



(Don Newton cover only on this issue.)





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13 comments:

  1. I had no knowledge of Don Newton on the Phantom. For me Newton was the artist on the Captain Marvel stories in Adventure Comics. Plus my overall familiarity with the Phantom is slight at best. That probably should be corrected.

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    1. If you're asking me, I'd agree. The Phantom is among my all-time favorite heroes and his pedigree uncontested. Newton's moment in tme with the character waxes out of all proportion to the actual time spent. It's not unlike Steranko's X-Men or Captain Americia runs, super-charged, significant and highly memorable.

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  2. How is the printing? Hemes is not known for great Charlton reprints.

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    1. I take your point and it's uneven. They insisted on using slick paper and that doesn't serve this artwork best in opinion. The covers though look exceedingly good in my estimation.

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  3. I own the cover from #69; they should have contacted me for a good scan.

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    1. The covers look pretty good. Those painted Charlton covers were outstanding in their time.

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  4. Nice job opening up with that old RBCC Phantom illo from Newton. For a lot of us old geezers, the two are quite intertwined in memory.
    And, it's just a nice piece.

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    1. They use it in the book too. They apparently wanted to get every scrap of his Phantom work, so when they say "Complete" they can mean it. There's a spot illustration or two also.

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  5. I read The Phantom off and on, and it had been a while since I’d seen an issue, but I did find 73. It was my first exposure to Don Newton. I was really excited when he came to DC and drew Aquaman, then later Batman and Shazam! I picked up his collection of Batman stories for Kindle during the holidays, so I might have to track this down, too. Thanks for the heads up!!

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    1. You're very welcome. Newton jumped to DC just when I think that group was producing better stuff than Marvel, though sadly sales never rewarded them. Newton brought emotional punch to his work, ideal for Aquaman.

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    2. I wish he had been able to work on a Spirit story. I always thought his art would have been a great fit with that character.

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  6. Is that the cover to RBCC #106?

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    1. Yes indeed it is. Newton produced so many great images for that fanzine. I collected up several some years ago.

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