The Phantom - The Complete DC Comics Volume One!

The tale of The Phantom in comic books is a tattered one indeed. The Phantom was created by Lee Falk for the comic strip pages in 1936 and is the first of the costumed heroes which would fill the imaginations of youngsters and others in the decades to come. The comic strip is immensely popular and still appears today with new stories. The Phantom has proven to be wildly popular around the globe and many countries produce comics starring "The Ghost Who Walks". But for some strange reason the Phantom has never had great success in comics in the U.S. There were reprints of the strips for decades until Gold Key initiated a series of fresh stories in the early 60's. This was taken over by King Features briefly before Charlton Comics got hold of the hero and produced some very interesting comics with the character in the 70's. Then it went silent for many years. And then DC showed up at the door. 

Hermes Press has reprinted the DC Comics Phantoms in three volumes. The first begins with the original 1987 four-part limited series by writer Peter David and veteran artist Joe Orlando and Dennis Janke. We are treated to parallel stories about Phantoms of different eras. Despite the fact that he carries two automatic pistols, the Phantom has always been a relatively bloodless adventure series. That changes here. When a Jungle Patrol officer is murdered the Phantom is off to the streets of the modern city to find the culprits. It is a powerful businessman named Chessman, who it turns out is a friend of the Phantom's girlfriend Diana Palmer. He's also the descendant of a family of pirates who fought against the thirteenth Phantom centuries before. We follow that long ago saga as related in the Phantom's Chronicles at the same time as we follow the modern Phantom on his quest for justice. 

I am of two minds on its success at what it sets out to do. David seems to have wanted to make the Phantom a bit less of a cypher when it comes to his emotions and that seems a good idea, but in practice I'm not sure I like seeing his cool exterior cracked by rage. Joe Orlando's art is lively and Dennis Janke's inks it well and in keeping with the styles of the time. But it seems off to me somehow, and that could my problem. I've always thought that the franchise didn't mine its rich history enough and that we needed to see the adventures of long-ago Phantoms, and this certainly delivers on that score. But the thirteenth Phantom actually comes across early on as a bit too weak for my tastes.

Above are the action-filled covers for the limited series by Joe Orlando and inker Dave Gibbons. 

The volume then shifts its focus to the next series with new creators Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell. Verheiden was a writer who a time was fresh from the Indy market where he raised eyebrows with The American series. He brings that same toughness to this new project. Luke McDonnell was an artist I knew well from his tenure on Iron Man. McDonnell had a style which wasn't that fan-friendly, but not unlike Herb Trimpe found a way to warm you to his work. 

We get the first two issues which together tell the story titled merely "Guns". A ruthless run runner kills three members of the Jungle Patrol, and the Phantom has him in his sights from that point on. The spar with each gaining an advantage in the struggle, but we all know the inevitable outcome. It's a nice yarn told with vigor and power.

Overall, a nice beginning. The second volume by Verheiden and McDonnell will be reviewed next time. 

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