The Phantom - The Charlton Years Volume One!

The folks at King Features discovered making comics was harder than they suspected, so after a year or so, they licensed their characters back to a full-time comics firm, this time Charlton got the nod. Charlton Comics was notorious then and now for its pecunious ways, but they were a company which had been making comics since the Golden Age and with the collapse of the "Action Hero" line, they needed heroes. Enter the Phantom. 

In a move which is pure Charlton, they picked up the numbering of the series with issue thirty, which meant they skipped over twenty-ninth. For whatever reason, this gap exists in the run. The cover for issue thirty above is by Frank McLaughlin the talented penciller and inker who created Judomaster. 

Above is the artwork which would have been the cover for issue twenty-nine. Another lift from the work of Sy Barry. 

And here is a fun creation by fan Jim Keefe, a faux issue twenty-nine to fill the imagination. The actual contents of the first Charlton issue were two stories, the first by artists Jose Delbo and inker Sal Trapani for "The Secret of the Golden Ransom" written by Pat Fortunato. This is an adaption of a story from the comic strip. The second Phantom story is by writer Gary Poole and artist McLaughlin and is titled "The Secret of the Phantom".

With issue thirty-one Charlton really puts their stamp on the character for all time by assigning artist Jim Aparo to the character. Aparo's run on the character is still very well thought of by Phantom fans. Aparo is joined by writer Dick Wood on a story titled "The Phantom of Shang-Ri-La". I love this first Aparo cover, as he makes the Phantom into a veritable giant, chiseled from the mountain. The Ghost Who Walks had always been presented in a sleek manner, but Aparo gave the character an imposing muscular presence. 

In issue thirty-two things get even weirder as The Phantom has to contend with a character rising from an Egyptian tomb and claiming to be the original Phantom who helped Cleopatra among others in ancient times. The battle between this "Phantom" and our own sturdy hero is a rugged one indeed, with the Ghost Who Walks getting more than a few shocks before it's all said and done. Is "The Pharaoh Phantom" for real? I'll let you guess. 

Issue thirty-three gives us two Phanton stories. The first story is titled "The Curse of Kallai" and in this Dick Wood written tale a killer cult comes to the Deep Woods to get the Phantom who they think is responsible for their success many years before. They are of course wrong and suffer in this tale drawn by Pat Boyette with Nicholas Alascia on inks. The second story begins with the Phantom falling to his "death" and then we see the consequences when thugs imagine they've actually done in the hero. It's no great surprise when the Ghost Who Walks, walks in and confronts the villains. This story was drawn by Aparo and written by Steve Skeates. 

In both stories in this issue the Phantom must contend with madmen. First in "The Cliff Kingdom" a brother and sister have their plane crash amidst a peaceful people, but the brother is driven mad and uses the people as his personal army. In the second story an anthropologist is obsessed with the apes of  Bengalla and when he is saved by the Phantom from a deadly attack by a bull ape goes mad and assumes his role. Jim Aparo is top form in both these tales written by D.J. Arneson under his "Norm DiPluhm" name again. 

"The Ghost Tribe" is apparently the story originally intended for the lost issue twenty-nine and sees the  return of Bill Harris and artist Bill Lignante to the Phantom pages under a sleek Aparo cover. This tribe seek to imitate the Phantom but instead of peace they bring discord. The Phantom must disguise himself to get to the bottom of this latest threat to the Deep Woods. 

Aparo and Arneson return with issue thirty-six with two stories. The first titled "The River that Never Ends" finds the Phantom and some allies swept into a maelstrom which descends into an isolated cavern. It's all he can do to find a way out when pirates attack the area to boot. "Very Special Timber" is about diamond smugglers who use a sawmill to make special logs to carry their booty out and away from suspecting eyes. It doesn't take the Ghost Who Walks long to break up this scheme and free some natives suspected of the crimes from false imprisonment., 

When Charlton first took control of the comic, we got long Phantom tales taking up a complete issue. Then it shifted to two stories per issue and by this time the new standard seems to be three complete Phantom tales in each issue.  I enjoyed the longer stories, but these vignettes have virtues as well. The regular team of Aparo and Arneson are still in command. The first of the three stories is "Bandar Betrayers" and has the loyal warriors attack the Phantom because of the blooming of the Kacia Tree which sends a scent that makes men turn on their allies. It's up to Hero and Devil to save the day. "Skyjack" has the Phantom intercede in the middle of a skyjack by pretending to be an ally of the skyjacker. It's up to Diana Palmer to whisk him away after this one. "Disband the Patrol!" is a strange story in which to improve discipline and moral the Phantom issues strange orders to the Patrol to see how they perform. 

We get three more stories in issue thirty-eight. This is Jim Aparo's final issue, and he leaves the Ghost Who Walks with a stunner of a cover. Aparo's style has been shifting throughout his run on The Phantom, becoming sleeker and more refined. Aparo was already drawing Aquaman for DC when he was still working on The Phantom, and you can see the same shift on style there. It is this style he will use on the pages of The Phantom Stranger and The Brave and the Bold. "The Dying Groud" has the Phantom trussed up in an elephant graveyard as the natives are upset that their ivory is being poached by woodcutters and they blame the Ghost Who Walks. "The Phantom's New Faith" shows the Phantom with a rare moment of doubt as he reflects on the great achievements of his forefathers. But when a volcano erupts, he gets his chance to do the deeds he necessary to carry on the heritage. "The Trap" features Diana Palmer as she comes to Bangalla to catalogue art treasures. She doesn't realize she's being followed by thieves. 

This Hermes volume features a number of pieces of original artwork by Aparo, making this tome a worthy testament to the skills of one of the best talents in comic book history. I've not mentioned it, but Aparo almost always insisted on lettering the artwork he produced and this practice, much in evidence in these stories, gives them a distinctive character unlike anything other folks were doing save perhaps for Pat Boyette. 

And that's ironic since Boyette will be Aparo's replacement on the comic, but more on that next time. 

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The Phantom - The Complete King Years!

Of all of the King Comics hero books, The Phantom was arguably the most consistent. That consistency didn't necessarily rise to greatness, but there was a modicum of quality issue in and issue out. The reason was artist Bill Lignante, a seasoned talent who had broached the Phantom on the strip itself after the passing of Wilson McCoy. When it was decided Sy Barry would take the helm of the venerable strip Lignante was shifted over to the comics. The comic books were then being published by Gold Key and underneath outstanding dramatic covers by George Wilson Linante's efforts were quite good. But then in the middle of the decade King decided they wanted to try and do comic books and took all of their characters then in comics and created their own brand. 

The eighteenth issue, the first of the King Comics issues, the work was decent but hardly stunning. To replace George Wilson, Sy Barry art was used for the covers. The Phantom had been involved in a range of stories at Gold Key, but it seems with his arrival at King the stories took on a smaller scope with nearly everything happening in or around the Deep Woods. "The Treasure of Skull Cave" is the debut King Comics tale and features some thieves who hear about a rumored trove in the Phantom's lair and plot to get access to it. There is much scheming but in-the-end, treasure can be defined a number of ways they discovered. 

There are of course some exceptions, but the Phantom of the King Comics era spent his time battling river pirates and smugglers and such and sadly few of these villains were all that memorable. "The Astronaut and the Pirates" has the Ghost Who Walks attempting to save a space man kidnapped by some scallywags. A second story titled "The Masked Emissary" acts as an official agent of the United Nations to bring down a wannabe dictator. 

One truly memorable aspect of the King Comics run was the debut in comic book form of the "The Girl Phantom". This was a rather silly story at its heart, but certainly one that made attempts to broaden the demographics of the strip. The Phantom of an earlier time, one hundred years or so, had a sister named Julie and when he was wounded for a protracted time, she took it upon herself to put on the mantle and act in his place despite the basic fact that no one ever thought she was actually the Phantom. "The Invisible Demon" pits the Phantom against Dr. Krazz, the agent of the underworld "Mytors" who give him strange powers so they can eventually come up and take over the surface world. 

One thing about the King year of 1966 was the new cover regime. Art was repurposed for the covers, sometimes quite effectively as seen above and in the several covers just below by Sy Barry. "The Treasure of Bengali Bay" has the Phantom battle another seeming haunt named "The Cutlass" who is keeping natives from getting a ship's sunken treasure so that wealth can be used to build a needed hospital. "The Terror Tiger" is about an Indian prince who trains a tiger specifically to hate and attack the Phantom. The Phantom must use a special knife with a strange secret to survive. 

"The Secret of Magic Mountain" gives us the story of a scheming witch doctor who uses a strange legend to gain power and pit himself and his tribe against the Phantom. They don't come out on top, as you'd likely already imagine. But this one is a two-part tale and it's all the Phantom can do to defeat this enemy fueled by superstition. 

In the story "Delilah" a woman of that name and her gang plot to pretend to be agents of the Peace Corps so they can gain access to the Phantom's treasure and plunder all of Bengali. Despite the use of a strange submarine designed to resemble an enormous crocodile their scheming still falls short in this two-part tale. 

We are treated to another tale of the Girl Phantom from Phantom lore as she takes on a strange and truly deadly witch of the dark caves trying to gain control of the local tribes. The Girl Phantom's name is Julie and she is assisted this time by native companion Maru who wears a cunning leopard pelt and her pet leopard named Fury. Another two-parter, these longer Phantom yarns are quite entertaining. 

As with all of the runs from King, the wheels slowly felt like they were coming off a bit as sales ended up putting the series into the famous plastic bags three a time. Another indicator is a different artist on the twenty-fifth issue. Senio Pratesi gives us another version of the Phantom in this story titled "The Cold Fire Worshippers" in which two gangs work together to enslave a tribe to get their diamonds. This is a reprint of an Italian story and there are some plot elements already underway when we begin this one. 

But still and all good stuff was being produced such as my favorite Phantom cover from the run seen above. "The Lost City of Yiango" sees the return of Bill Lignanate and once again the Phantom is working overtime to keep the trust of the local tribes when an idol in his keeping turns out to be a fake. The switch happened a generation earlier with is dad, but still our Phantom must find a solution. "The Pearl Raiders" sees the Phantom take on a disguise to find the thieves who have made off with the Black Pearl of Bengali. 

The Phantom was never bad in any real sense while King Features guided its destiny, but alas neither did it rise up and distinguish itself in any particular way. But they forged ahead with the origin of the Phantom's trusty steed in "The Story of Hero". Actually, Hero is hardly in this yarn after he saves Diana Palmer, and we learn what mission concerning the kidnapping of a royal heir the Phantom undertook which upon its success saw him gifted the valiant horse. 

The King Comics Phantom run ends with issue twenty-eight and the story "Diana's Deadly Tour" in which the lovely Miss Palmer finds herself the unknowing aid to spies trying to smuggle out secret rocket plans. "The Big Fight" wraps up the issue when the vain boxing champ gets humbled by the Ghost Who Walks. This is a good place to remind you that the covers of the King books didn't have much to do with the interiors. But some of them are quite dramatic. 

We also get four four-page Phantom stories used as back-ups in the pages of the first four issues of Mandrake the Magician. The stories are "SOS Phantom" about jungle drums used to save the day, "The River Pirates" where those same drums bring to justice some easily spooked villains, "The Magic Ivory Cage" bout just that which is used to try and capture the Phantom, and "The Girl Phanton" in which Julie uses her wits to stop a local slaver. All of these tales are drawn by Bill Lignante. 

These are good Phantom stories, perfectly fine, but not great ones for the most part. That would come later of all places at Charlton Comics. More on that next time. 

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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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The Phantom - The Complete Gold Key Years Volume One!

The Phantom was created in 1936, and so became the first costumed hero of the comics. He was created by Lee Falk who had already had great success with Mandrake the Magician. The Phantom became not just successful in the United States, but became a worldwide phenomenon. Most folks know the Phantom lore, how he's supposed to be "The Ghost Who Walks", an immortal who lives in the Deep Woods of the Bengali jungle and rules over a tribe of pygmies. But in actuality he is the descendant of a long line of men who have become the Phantom over the centuries. Now he is assisted by a dog named Devil and as he rides atop a horse named Hero. His true love is Diana Palmer. Those are the basics. Until Gold Key got hold of the property in 1962 all Phantom comic books had been reprints of comic strips. 

But it was time for The Phantom to break out properly into the comic book arena, a format which had its own demands. To that end Phantom artist Bill Lignante was enlisted to illustrate the series. These apparently were redrawn stories from the strips but with new scripts by Bill Harris and new art. Also, there were fantastic new painted covers in the Gold Key style by George Wilson. 

In this debut issue from Gold Key in the story titled "The Game", the Phantom has to deal with a rogue royal named Prince Ragon who is enticing people to enter into a deadly gauntlet to get the reward they most want. The guy seems more interested in watching the people fail and die than have any real sense of competition. A classic glimpse of a life lived with few if any true challenges. Needless to say, the Phantom is forced to run the deadly gauntlet when Diana Palmer is kidnapped. Under a dynamic Wilson cover Lignante's artwork is a tad tame by any standard and he pushed the limits otherwise in that he sometimes showed the Phantom's eyes and showed where he ears might be under his omnipresent cowl. 

The second issue when in a story titled "The Rattle", the action picks up a bit as the Phantom is forced to seek out and confront a tribe of "Little People" who live safely behind a molten river of lava. It seems one of his ancestors had made a pact with these folks that he'd keep them safe if they stopped thieving. To that end a tribute was paid to the Phantom of a rattle which appeared mysteriously year after year. When a crown is stolen things get dicey. A second story titled "The Test" has the Phantom confront actual aliens come to Earth to test mankind's ability to withstand invasion. They conclude it's best to go elsewhere. Lignante's artwork is not all that impressive but the storytelling is crystal clear. 

"The Diamond Cup" leads off the third issue and gives us more Phantom lore as we learn he possesses a diamond cup which once belonged to Alexander the Great. This is stolen and the Phantom seeks it out with a vengeance. "The Crybaby" tells the story of how the Phantom takes a boy named Cecil under his wing and teaches him how to confront the hardships of life and bullies with confidence. 

Things really pick up with the story "Oogooru" in which the Phantom confronts witch doctors who want to kill him and run the actual medical doctor he's brought into the Deep Woods out. To this end they used a mystical totem named Oogooru. The Phantom has to play on the superstitions of the natives to win the day when after being seemingly killed he returns in ghostly fashion atop Hero. "The Google-Eyed Pirates" are a gang who hide among a cruise ship's customers before donning weird disguises to rob it. The Phantom takes this bunch down with little hardship. Lignante's art seems to be tightening up some and is much improved from the earlier issues. 

In the story "The Swamp Rats" the Phantom must use his authority as the Commander of the Jungle Patrol to try and bring to justice a deadly gang which is robbing caravans. The story seems significantly darker than the previous issues, an improvement. "The Phantom's Boyhood" describes how the modern Phantom was born and raised in the Deep Woods, and later sent to America with his mentor Guran. 

"The Lady from Nowhere" is a rugged story of a woman who is found dangling in the jungle, moments from savage death. She has amnesia it seems and learning who she is proves to be a deadly mission the Phantom undertakes. Killers abound in this story which is the most violent yet in the series. Gold Key seems to want to amp up the interest of older readers with grimmer tales. Lignante's artwork is improved still more. George Wilson's covers have been top-notch all along, but this one has real drama. "The Phantom's Boyhood Part II" introduces our Phantom to a young Diana Palmer. 

"The Super Apes" is the weirdest one yet. Three seemingly intelligent gorillas emerge from the jungle and kidnap the Llongo chief and teach him to communicate with them. They return and force the whole village to gather riches for them from other tribes. This proves to be a tough menace for the Phantom to defeat as they have a strange secret. The George Wilson cover is outstanding. So powerful is the figure of the Phantom that one might overlook the apes in the backround. "The Phantom's Boyhood Part III" tells how Kit Walker eventually finds a way to earn the respect of his schoolmates. 

"The Belt" is the best story in the collection and gives us the best Lignante artwork to date. Our Phantom watched his father undertake a mission to defeat the Singh Brotherhood and does destroy their fleet, but in doing so loses his gunbelt and is stabbed in the back with a mortal wound. A decade later the Phantom learns that a man has a gunbelt which he shows off to strangers. This man named Rama leads a gang situated on Gullique Island, a haven for crime. In wildly fascinating tale the Phantom goes to the island and confronts the villain who killed his dad. This one takes up the whole issue. The George Wilson cover is of special interest as it is George Wilson's likeness itself on the baddie who is coming through the window to attack the Phantom. 

But that's only half the Gold Key cache of Phantom stories over the first two years from1962 to 1964. More later this month when I dive into volume two from Hermes Press. 

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