The Phantom - The Complete Gold Key Years Volume Two!

Gold Key continues running The Phantom in adventures drawn just for the comic book pages, though the stories are familiar ones from the famous comic strip itself. Bill Lignante is still the artist in charge, though the scripting chores change up from time to time. And most importantly to the sales of the comic in my estimation, George Wilson continues to crack out fantastic covers for the comic every three months. Bill Harris was the scripter save perhaps for issues eleven, twelve, and thirteen which might have been written by Dick Wood. 

We begin with the ninth issue of The Phantom and a story titled "The Sixth Man". The Phantom is in his street disguise (how that works is anyone's guess) when he's shanghaied. With five other men he is taken to the island where they are enticed to engage in a competition by running a deadly gauntlet for the vile entertainment of a malignant queen. Of course, the Phantom prevails, but this is an exciting one full of action.  We also a get a one-page glimpse of the Phantom's origins and another which focuses on Dian Palmer. 

"The Sleeping Giant" is all about a treasure guarded by a giant statue-like totem. A nefarious treasure hunter finds a giant man who pretends to be the totem to cow the natives in order to find diamonds he suspects are buried all over the area. The Phantom has to fight all sorts of superstitions to bring these two thieves to justice. "The Patrol" is a two-page look at the Jungle Patrol and one member who doesn't quite obey his orders. 

The tenth issue gives us "Blind Man's Bluff", a story in which the Phantom is blinded in a battle with some pirates when a flare goes off in his face. He is dependent on his horse Hero and his wolf Devil along with his other keen senses to survive and even bring the battle to the villains to some extent and later survive natives. Needless to say, he does recover. We are also treated to an inside-the-back-cover glimpse of the Skull Cave. 

"The Beast of Bengali" is in fact a man, a ferocious giant of a man who calls himself "Baron" and who dominates the local tribes with his seeming power to control wild animals. The Phantom is pretty much all alone in this struggle against a very dangerous foe. He is forced to retreat and use some splendid trickery to win the day. We get an ad for the Revell model for The Phantom as well. Lignante's artwork is very consistent throughout these issues, with a great depth.  There is a workmanlike quality to this stuff that wins me over in the end. 

Behind this exciting George Wilson cover is a story in which today's Phantom must help solve a case his ancestor was unable to solve. It is a battle of brains between the Phantom and a man who seeks treasure in the name of his ancestor. This one is a wild back and forth and might just be a tad too long. 

Issue fourteen gives us "The Historian" in which a man who pretends to be an historian but is actually a spy attempts to uncover the secret of the enigmatic "Commander" of the Jungle Patrol. He gets remarkably close to the answer by tricking basically good folks to do his bidding. To be honest I can't see why this is such a hard mystery to solve, but like Clark Kent's glasses the gimmick works over and over. "Grampa" refers to Diana Palmers grandfather who tries to find a more respectable companion for his granddaughter than a strange, masked fellow who enters the house through an always open window. Seemed a bit odd to me as well. 

The Phantom is hard on the trail of "The River Pirates" in this story which has a ton of action. The pirates are pretty confident when the raid the villages and burn down the mission, but they discover they are no match for the Phantom and that he's much harder to kill than they'd imagined. The ending of this one is pretty satisfying I thought. "The Tournament" refers to an annual event in which the Phantom must wrestle and defeat a local champion to maintain his command of the local tribes. The problem comes when an escaped convict steals his outfit and stands in for him and is defeated. 

"The Chain" is a more involving story than most when the Phantom despairs and is prepared to quit his role when his work to create even a temporary peace between local tribes seems to fail over and over again. A wizened advisor named Wuru tells the Phantom of a chain he still has and how it demonstrates how unrelenting will is required to overcome a problem. He tells of the Phantom's father and how he had to work tirelessly to free his beloved future wife and mother of the current Phantom. "The Champ" is a one-page story in which Kit Walker has a boxing match with the world champion. "The Milk Drinker" is a one-page story in which the Phantom proves to some men in a bar that perhaps milk is a worthy beverage after all. "The Crescent Cult" is out to kill a local queen and it's all the Phantom can do to defeat this determined bunch of killers. "The Diggers" is a one-page yarn in which some explorers finds ancient evidence that the Phantom might just be immortal. 

The Gold Key run of Phantom comics ends with issue seventeen and a wild story about a three-hundred- year-old immortal queen named Samaris. She is cursed to live eternally but she can never love. When she learns the Phantom is four hundred years old, she is quite attracted. It doesn't turn out well for her, but she is a worthy opponent for the Ghost Who Walks. "The Waterfall" is a one-page effort about the mysterious entrance to the Phantom's abode. "The Bandar" is a one-page item on that tribe so loyal to the Phantom. 

The Gold Key folks had the Phantom from 1962 until 1966 when King Features decided they might want to make comic books themselves and withdrew permission for more. More on them next time. 

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