Within Skull Cave, he sits on his throne of stone. His face appears as hard as the rock that surrounds him as he broods over the death of his ancestors. The walls are lit by torch fire. Devil, his half-mad wolf, sits nearby; regal and somber as his master. He is the Ghost who Walks; the Man That Cannot Die. He is the Guardian of the Eastern Dark, and his black eyes await the coming of evil. He has his twin .45s and his Devil; and he has the white-hot need to avenge his dead lineage.
Gold Key chose Bill Lignante to capture the Phantom’s sense of mystery and legend, and they chose well. Lignante’s heavy line and simple construction has the blunt power of a Lynd Ward wood cut, befitting the demigod of jungle lore. This very strong story is a fine example of the series. George Wilson gets the cover credit. This is from The Phantom No. 8, August 1964. All scans are from my own comic.
Gold Key chose Bill Lignante to capture the Phantom’s sense of mystery and legend, and they chose well. Lignante’s heavy line and simple construction has the blunt power of a Lynd Ward wood cut, befitting the demigod of jungle lore. This very strong story is a fine example of the series. George Wilson gets the cover credit. This is from The Phantom No. 8, August 1964. All scans are from my own comic.
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16 comments:
I like these generational origin expansion stories; a few other comic characters have an ancestral lineage (whether through blood or Fate). Curious that the George Wilson cover contains a rare NOCTURNAL double rainbow~! Now, what is THAT supposed to mean (besides creative liberty)~!
Lyscexicuss: It means one of two things. 1) The Phantom is coming (as indicated by the story), or 2) Mr. Wilson was told to put a rainbow in the finished painting to bring in a story point and simply did his best. -- Mykal
I like the Phantom, but could never figure out why he wore that purple costume in the jungle. Man, that thing would be so hot...
Pappy: The original Phantom, Christopher Walker, adopted a costume resembling the Demon God of the Wasaka, which, because the costume had many death images, scared the heck out of pirates and other evil doers; but, yeah, it looks like it would be super hot, particularly in the jungle. That must be one of the burdens the Phantom must carry in his commitment to destroy evil in Bengalla! -- Mykal
I've always had a sort of "weirdness" feeling about the Phantom. Something about the character just never clicks right with me....he's so fricken purple!
I know that's a dumb reason of course, but he is sort of a parody of heroes.... When I read his voice in comics I hear the voice of SPACE GHOST from the CARTOON NETWORK show. I want to like him, in fact I just bought an old PHANTOM comic two weeks ago at a con in NH... he's just so frickin purple!!! It always makes me giggle.
fun and exciting! it would make a good movie. On the cover, it's noteworthy to see the Skipper hitting someone other than Gilligan.
Michael: There's all kinds of reasons characters don't click for readers, and a purple costume is as good as any. For me, Batman never completely worked because I think of bats as kind of like mice or squirrels - not at all scary of intimidating. I would be the guy in the room snickering when he introduced himself. "Oh my god! It's Squirrel Man! He must have responded to the Squirrel light. did someone call him on the Squirrel Phone?"
Keith: The Skipper was having a very bad day. He was going for bigger game than his "little buddy," and he was using something other than his hat! -- Mykal
The Skipper! Ha!
It's not so much the purple outfit as much as it is the striped undies maybe...I had never read much of the Phantom except in the Sunday funnies occasionally. I never even saw the comics in my youth...where were they?
I liked how at the end he was just walking around with his glasses on instead of his mask. I guess they kept him in costume so we would know it was him, but...like nobody would notice the purple costume on under your trench-coat!
Ooh, and the Phantom packs heat, baby! All superheroes should carry firearms, I think!
Good stuff, Mykal!
Apocolyte: The phantom's firearm of choice was the 1911 Colt .45! A pair on his hip at all times. Oh, yeah! -- Mykal
I had read somewhere that when Falk first created the Phantom, the costume was not necessarily MEANT to be purple, but when the colors were added to the newspaper strip (maybe the larger Sunday strips) Purple was selected. Maybe just an apocryphal legend?
I love the way Lignante draws body hair on the back of the Phantom's hands in a couple of close-ups.
But I've always wondered, just what do regular people think when they a guy with a hat, trenchcoat, glasses, and a purple hoodie thing completely covering his ears? :)
R/E: Interesting Phantom background. It's funny. I was never interested much in the character as a kid, but the older I get, the more he interests me. I think it is the long lineage and heritage of the Phantom line that fascinates me. -- Mykal
Pappy-The costume would definitely be warm in the jungle. As to purple: as the complement of green, it was probably the "logical" choice for the colorist, who wanted the Phantom to "pop" against the background.
R/E- Anybody THAT furry would really be itchy in tights.
Mykal- For me, the mythology of the Phantom IS the coolest thing. Plus, he's the first costumed hero with the blanked out eyes in his mask.
As far as packing heat, The Ghost Who Walks is definitely more of an old-school Mystery Man than a superhero.
Aaron: I agree. The mythology of the character is one of the coolest in comics history! -- Mykal
i always thought that The Phantom was cool- i has a Captain Action "action figure" in the 60's and got a Phantom outfit for him, even though at the time i had never read a Phantom comic! after i did i was even more stoked! thanx again, Mykal!
Prof.: I always thought the phantom was cool, too. I was surprised to learn the reaction most have to his uniform. I always thought it had a sleek look. -- Mykal
Rimgnorak: Thanks for stopping by! Wow! That's sounds pretty cool. Yellow and red doesn't sound very effective as jungle camouflage, though ;-)
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