The Phantom

This article is about the comic strip. For the character himself, see Phantom (character). For the 2021 documentary film, see The Phantom (2021 film).
For other uses, see Phantom.

The Phantom
First Sunday strip (May 28, 1939);
art by Ray Moore
Author(s)Lee Falk
Current status/scheduleRunning
Launch dateFebruary 17, 1936; 88 years ago (February 17, 1936)
Syndicate(s)King Features Syndicate
Genre(s)adventure

The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The character has been adapted for television, film and video games.

The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as of 2024. In 1966, King Features stated that The Phantom was being published in 583 newspapers worldwide.[1] At its peak, the strip was read by over 100 million people daily.[2][3]

Falk worked on The Phantom until his death in 1999; since his death, the comic strip has been written by Tony DePaul. Since 2016, it has been drawn by Mike Manley (Monday–Saturday) and, since 2017, Jeff Weigel (Sunday).[4][5] Previous artists on the newspaper strip include Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Bill Lignante, Sy Barry, George Olesen, Keith Williams, Fred Fredericks, Graham Nolan, Eduardo Barreto, Paul Ryan, and Terry Beatty. In the strip, the Phantom was 21st in a line of crime-fighters which began in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed during a pirate attack. Swearing an oath on the skull of his father's murderer to fight evil, Christopher began a legacy of the Phantom which would pass from father to son. Nicknames for the Phantom include "The Ghost Who Walks", "Guardian of the Eastern Dark" and "The Man Who Cannot Die".[6]

Unlike many other superheroes, the Phantom has no superpowers; he relies on his strength, intelligence, skill at arms (he carries two holstered handguns, a revolver and a 1911 .45 autopistol, one on each hip, and is an expert marksman with both), and the myth of his immortality to take action against the forces of evil. The 21st Phantom is married to Diana Palmer; they met while he studied in the United States and they have two children, Kit and Heloise. He has a trained wolf named Devil and a horse named Hero, and like the 20 previous Phantoms he lives in the ancient Skull Cave.

The Phantom was the first fictional hero to wear the skintight costume which has become a hallmark of comic-book superheroes, and was the first shown in a mask with no visible pupils (another superhero standard).[6][7] Comics historian Peter Coogan has described the Phantom as a "transitional" figure, since the Phantom has some of the characteristics of pulp magazine heroes such as The Shadow and the Spider and earlier jungle heroes such as Tarzan, as well as anticipating the features of comic book heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Captain America.[6]

  1. ^ Ron Goulart,"The Glory Days, or Believe It or Not!" in Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, King of the Comics : One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate. San Diego : IDW Publishing, 2015. ISBN 978-1631403736 (p.185)
  2. ^ "The Phantom". Jpdefillippo.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  3. ^ "When young Lee Falk wrote his first tale of the jungle ruler, the Phantom, in 1936, it is doubtful that he anticipated that 1995 would see a movie, a television series, an Americanised futuristic version of his hero, merchandising, special-tribute editions to himself and international recognition from more than 100 million avid fans". Julian Lewis, "The Phantom Phenomenon" in The Canberra Times, Saturday, February 11, 1995 (p.48).
  4. ^ "Comics Kingdom | the Phantom by DePaul (Scripts), Manley (Daily Art) & Weigel (Sunday Art)".
  5. ^ "Jeff Weigel - PhantomWiki". www.phantomwiki.org. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Peter Coogan,Superhero : The Secret Origin of a Genre. Austin, TX : MonkeyBrain Books, 2006. (p. 185) ISBN 193226518X
  7. ^ The Phantom: Comic Strip Crusader (1996 A&E Documentary), and article Lee Falk: Father of Superheroes from Comic Book Resources No. 121, May 2005 [better source needed]