Mickey And The Phantom Blot!

My favorite Disney villain is without question The Phantom Blot. The enigmatic Blot is the very essence of mystery, a mere shape of a character, an animated blackness. The simple elegance of the design is at once compelling and incredibly effective on a comics page. The Blot stands out by fading into the background, ideal for a thieving menace with an ego. 

The Phantom Blot first appears in the Mickey Mouse comic strip beginning on May 22nd, 1939 and the story ran until September 9th, 1939. So for the entire summer of that year Mickey fans were treated to one of the Mouse's best mysteries and my favorite Disney villain. There is something frightening about how Floyd Gottredson drew the Phantom Blot, despite the character being no more than what the name suggests, a black shape. 

The plot of the story was lifted from a venerable source -- Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. In particular it is a story very similar in many respects to "The Six Napoleons". Mickey is called in by Chief O'Hara to assist with a crimewave in which only a particular brand of camera is being stolen. The cameras are broken open and left behind and that seems to be all the mysterious Phantom Blot wants. Mickey gets on the case and is captured by the Blot several times and subjected to some wild Rube Goldberg style methods to kill him off. But of course, he outwits the trap and uses disguises to get to the bottom of the mystery. The story ends with a wild chase and the Blot is even unmasked, though no name is  provided. 

The Phantom Blot returns in the May 1964 issue of Walt Disney Comics and Stories for a four-part tale. I've never read this yarn but it reintroduced the character and must have done quite well despite only rating a single cover of the four. Gold Key and Disney saw fit to revive the character in his own comic book. And that's main focus of today's post. 

The Phantom Blot gets his own comic book, a rarity for a villain. In the debut issue fear of the Blot, who is in jail, causes Mickey to hypnotize Goofy into becoming a decoy Blot when the Mysterious Mr. X reveals his plan to enlist the imprisoned Blot in his world-conquering schemes. The real Phantom Blot doesn't show up until half-way through the story. 

The Blot goes out West to become the greatest of the mounted outlaws and is confronted by Mickey and Gyro Gearloose as well as Goofy. Goofy gets hold of some of Gyro's secret formula and drinks it by mistake and becomes Super-Goof for the very first time.  Remember when Wolverine debuted in the Hulk? It's like that but funnier. 

The Beagle Boys look up to the Phantom Blot and want to join him in his lootings. So, they team up and it takes all that Mickey can do to keep them from pillaging Uncle Scrooge's riches. He has the help of Donald Duck this time as well as a returning Gyro Gearloose. 

The Phantom Blot woos Madam Mim and gets her to use her magic to whisk him in and out of jail which thoroughly befuddles Mickey and Chief O'Hara. But it's all the Blot can do to keep Mim on the chain as he steals, something she's not keen on. 

Mickey and Donald travel to Tasbah and find that the Phantom Blot is up to no good. It's even more dangerous for our heroes when it turns out the Blot has kidnapped the Maharaja and is pretending to be him to gain access to the incredible wealth of Tasbah. It's all Mickey can do to outwit the Blot this time. 

In the penultimate issue the Phantom Blot turns pirate and enlists the Beagle Boys to be his crew. Harvesting a special wood from an isolated island he builds a flying ship which can speed across the ocean. Uncle Scrooge's ship carrying his wealth comes under direct attack as Mickey and Donald try to help. 

In the seventh and final issue the Phantom Blot uses a heinous liquid to make blots of others as well as himself making it difficult to catch him. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and even Pluto are enlisted by the F.I.B. (Federal Intrigue Bureau) and trained as agents and given special equipment to help stop the Blot from stealing diamonds from King Max E. Mouse. 

The Phantom Blot stories by Paul Murray are tremendous fun. He might not have the chops of  Gottfredson, but he spins a fast-paced adventure yarn full of fun and frolic. I've long wanted to read the Phantom Blot stories and now I have. They weren't exactly what I expected, but each issue offers up its own special surprises. 

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