The Phantom is an American adventure strip comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936, now mainly published internationally by Frew Publications. The main character, Phantom, is a fictitious costumed crime fighter who operates from the Bangalla fictional African country. Characters have been adapted for television, movies, and video games.
The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a strip color Sunday on May 28, 1939; both still running in 2018. In 1966, King Feature stated that The Phantom is being published in 583 newspapers worldwide. At its peak, the strip was read by over 100 million people every day.
Falk worked on The Phantom until his death in 1999; from then to the present, comic strips have been written by Tony DePaul. Since 2016, has been drawn by Mike Manley (Monday-Saturday) and Terry Beatty (Sunday). Previous artists on newspaper strips include Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Bill Lignante, Sy Barry, George Olesen, Keith Williams, Fred Fredericks, Graham Nolan, Eduardo Barreto and Paul Ryan. On the strip, Phantom is 21 in a crime-fighting line that began in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed in a pirate attack. Swearing oath on his father's murderous skull to fight evil, Christopher started the Phantom legacy that would pass from father to son. Nicknames for Phantom include "The Ghost Who Walks", "Guardian of the Eastern Dark" and "The Man Who Can not Die".
Unlike most other superheroes, Phantom has no superpower and relies on its strength, intelligence and reputation as a formidable eternal warrior to defeat his enemies. The 21st Phantom is married to Diana Palmer; they met when he studied in the United States and had two children, Kit and Heloise. He has a trained wolf, a Devil, and a horse named Hero. Like Phantom before, he lived in the ancient Skull Cave.
The Phantom is the first fictional hero to wear the tight costume that has become the hallmark of the comic superhero, and is the first to appear in a mask with no visible pupils (other superhero standards). The comic historian Peter Coogan has described Phantom as a "transitional" figure, since the Phantom has some of the hero characteristics of a slurry magazine like The Shadow and Spider and previous forest heroes like Tarzan, as well as anticipating features of comic book heroes like Superman, Batman, and Captain America.
Video The Phantom
Publishing history
Creation
After the success of Mandrake the Magician, King Features Syndicate asked Falk to develop new features. His first attempt was to write and draw strips about King Arthur and his knights. When King Feature refused the Falk strip developed Phantom, a mysterious, costumed crime fighter. He planned the first few months of the story, and drew the first two weeks as a sample.
Fascinated by myths and legends (like King Arthur and El Cid) and modern fictional characters Zorro, Tarzan and The Jungle Book Mowgli, Falk dreams of the character as a rich playboy Jimmy Wells on day and crime against Phantom at night. During his first story, "The Singh Brotherhood", before revealing that Wells is a Phantom Falk change the setting into the forest and make the Phantom as a seemingly immortal figure of myth. Thinking that too many characters are called "the Phantom" (including The Phantom Detective and The Phantom of the Opera), Falk is considered to call his hero "The Gray Ghost" (then the name of a Batman character, mentioned in the first episode of Phantom 2040 ). However, he could not find a name he liked better and decided to stay with Phantom.
In the A & amp; E America The Phantom: Comic Strip Crusader , Falk explains that Greek sculptures inspired him to remove Phantom disciples when the character was wearing his mask. He mistakenly believed that ancient Greek sculptures had no pupils (they were painted at first and faded over time) which gave them an inhuman and astonishing appearance. In a 2005 interview for Falk Book Store Comics Falk said the Phantom leather tight costumes were inspired by Robin Hood, who wore tight pants on film and on stage.
Strip newspaper
During World War II Falk joined the Information Office of War, where he became the head of the foreign language radio division. Moore also served during the war and left the strip to his assistant, Wilson McCoy. When Moore returned he worked sporadically on the strip until 1949, when McCoy replaced him. During McCoy's term, The Phantom appeared in thousands of newspapers around the world and smuggled by boat to Nazi-occupied Norway during the war; "Phantom" is the password for the Norwegian resistance movement.
McCoy died unexpectedly in 1961. Carmine Infantino and Bill Lignante (who later drew some Phantom stories for comic books) were filled before a replacement was found in Sy Barry. During Barry's early years he and Falk modernized the strip, laying the groundwork for what is considered the modern look of the Phantom. Under Barry, Bangalla became a democracy and the character of President Lamanda Luaga was introduced. Barry worked at The Phantom for over 30 years until his retirement in 1994, totaling about 11,000 strips.
His old assistant George Olesen remained on the strip as a penciler, with Keith Williams chalking up the daily strip. The Sunday strip was written by Eric Doescher until Fred Fredericks succeeded him in 1995.
Falk continued the script The Phantom and Mandrake until his death on March 13, 1999. The story of his daily strip and his final week, "Terror at the Opera" and "The Kidnappers", completed by his wife , Elizabeth, after her husband took off his oxygen mask at the hospital to dictate his story. After the death of Falk, King Features worked with the European comic book publisher Egmont , the Swedish magazine publisher Fantomen (which changed from publishing the Phantom story in comic-books format to provide newspaper strips as well) by adapting the comic book story of their own Phantom into their strip format. Fantomen writers Tony DePaul and Claes Reimerthi alternated as newspaper strip writers after Falk died, with DePaul tackling the daily strip and Reimerthi on Sunday. DePaul later became the strip writer. Some stories are adapted from the original ones published in Fantomen .
In 2000, Olesen and Fredericks retired from the Sunday strip. Followed by comic book artist Graham Nolan, who has drawn three blankets Fantomen . In early 2005 Olesen and Williams left the daily strip after Olesen retired, and artist Paul Ryan (who had worked on the comic strip Fantomen and has been a fan of character since childhood) took over the daily strip. Ryan replaces Nolan as an artist on the strip of Sunday 2007. On July 31, 2011, Eduardo Barreto became the Sunday page artist. He died after only a few months, and Ryan temporarily took over the Sunday page again on January 15, 2012 (which features a warning to Barreto). Ryan also did the strip the following week, before Terry Beatty became a replacement for Barreto.
Ryan died at home unexpectedly on March 7, 2016. Mike Manley replaced Ryan as an artist at The Phantom, starting with a strip dated May 30, 2016.
Beatty resigned as a Sunday artist in 2017, and was replaced by Jeff Weigel.
Internationally
United States
The Phantom has been published by a number of publishers in the United States. During the 1940s strips were reprinted in Ace Comics, published by David McKay Publications. Harvey Comics published The Phantom during the 1950s. In 1962, Gold Key Comics took over, followed by King Comics in 1966 and Charlton in 1969. In 1977, a total of 73 issues were published. The main artists of Phantom during this period are Bill Lignante, Don Newton, Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette.
DC Comics published the Phantom comic book from 1988 to 1990. The early miniseries of May-August 1988 were written by Peter David, written by Joe Orlando, and written by Dennis Janke. The next series, written by Mark Verheiden and drawn by Luke McDonnell, contained 13 editions from March 1989 to March 1990. In this series, the Phantoms against racism, the disposal of poison, hunger, and modern hijacking. According to Verheiden, this series ends due to licensing issues due to declining sales. In the last panel of issue 13, Phantom marries Diana.
In 1987, Marvel Comics published a four-edition miniseries authored by Stan Lee and based on the TV series of Defenders of the Earth. Miniseries Marvel three other issues, The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks (February-April 1995) followed by those written and drawn by David de Vries and Glenn Lumsden; it featured the 22nd Phantom with an updated high-tech costume. Marvel then released four miniseries (May-August 1995), written by Spider-Man creator Steve Ditko, based on the Phantom 2040 TV series. One problem featured pin-ups by two original artists Spider-Man, Ditko and John Romita, Sr.
Moonstone Books published Phantom's graphic novels beginning in 2002. Five books, written by Tom DeFalco, Ben Raab and Ron Goulart, were published. In 2003, Moonstone introduced the Phantom comic book series written by Raab, Rafael Nieves and Chuck Dixon, and drawn by Pat Quinn, Jerry DeCaire, Nick Derington, Rich Burchett, and EricJ. After 11 issues Mike Bullock took over scripting, with Gabriel Rearte and Carlos Magno creating artwork before Silvestre Szilagyi became a regular artist in 2007. Bullock's stories often feature topical issues, based on actual African conflict. In a three-part story arc in 2007, "Invisible Children", Phantom fought with a fictitious warlord called "He" (loosely based on Joseph Kony).
In 2006 Moonstone published a retcon from the origin of Phantom, "Legacy", by Raab and Quinn. Three years later the company reintroduced the series as The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks , beginning with issue 0 (retelling the origin of the first Phantom). The goal is to make the comics darker, grittier and more realistic, similar to the 1930s story by Lee Falk and Ray Moore. It updated Phantom, gave it modern accessories, and introduced a number of supporting characters and criminals. In the series, Phantom fights reality-based enemies such as modern terrorists, organ smugglers and Somali pirates.
Dynamite Entertainment introduced the monthly comic book series, The Last Phantom , in August 2010. The series was written by Scott Beatty and drawn by Eduardo Ferigato, with a cover painted by Alex Ross.
In 2013, Phantom appears in Dynamite's five-edition miniseries, Kings Watch . In the series, written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Marc Laming, Phantom joins Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician to fight Ming the Merciless and prevent his efforts to take over the planet. This was followed by a five-edition miniseries of 2015 King: The Phantom where Lothar as the new Phantom sought the right heir to inheritance. In 2016 embarked on a new crossover of the King Feature characters (The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Jungle Jim), Kings Quest .
In 2014, Hermes Press announced that it will publish a Phantom comic book miniseries with new content, written by Peter David and illustrated by Sal Velluto, scheduled for publication in November 2014. It was launched on October 31, 2014. For Comic Book Day Free 2015, Hermes publishes the Phantom comic book with Bill Lignante's artwork and a new miniseries sample
Nordic Region
Egmont Publications has published original Phantom stories in the Phantom comic book per two weeks in Sweden as Fantomen , in Denmark and Norway as Australia
In Australia, the Australian Mirror Women began publishing the strip in 1936 and Frew Publications has published the Phantom comic book since 1948, celebrating 60 years of uninterrupted publication in September 2008. Although the book Frew comics mainly contain reprints of newspaper strips, Fantomen (translated into English) and other Phantom comic books, it sometimes includes original stories drawn by Australian artists such as Keith Chatto. The editor-in-chief is Jim Shepherd until his death. Frew's The Phantom is the longest comic book series with the world's characters, and the best-selling comic book in Australia. Frew Phantom comics appeared on a number of Sydney Royal Easter Show, Royal Adelaide Show, Melbourne Show and Perth Royal Show showroom.
In 2013 publisher Jim Shepherd, who had bought the rights from the original owner during the late 1980s, died of a heart attack. Shepherd has taken over the company and introduced several minor changes to appease the King's Features, which has become unhappy at Frew's treatment of his character. Shepherd changes include glossy covers (replacing standard newspaper covers), brief editorials, regular 100-page specials and, most significantly, annual specials between 200-300 pages and include many self-replicating "replica" reprints and reprints from the very beginning Frew Edition. Shepherd also embarked on an ambitious project to reprint the entire rear listing of Lee Falk's stories in their original format: Frew's reprints are often highly edited to fit the 32-page format. Following the death of Shepherd, Frew and The Phantom, she continued with Shepherd's wife, Judith until she sold the business to Glenn Ford and Rene White artists in 2016. Since then, the new "Frew Crew" (with new publisher Dudley Hogarth has introduced innovations:
- Kid Phantom , a stand-alone commercial comic strip for children, illustrated by Dr. Paul Mason and written by Andrew Constant.
- Giant-Size Phantom , a stand-alone comic book series that reprinted another Frew character since the 1950s and The Phantom . This title revived the previous title published by Frew between 1957 and 1960.
- Phantom's World , a self-contained quarterly comic book series featuring Phantom stories from around the world, is often seen for the first time in English.
- Alternate cover
- Folio card
- Website, & lt; https://www.PhantomComic.com.au>, where Frew back issues are available.
New Zealand
King Features sold The Phantom to New Zealand newspapers, including The New Zealand Herald . The Phantom also appeared in the successful comic of the Wellington-based Feature Publications during the 1950s. Comic Frew is also available in New Zealand.
India
In India, The Phantom first appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of India in the 1950s. In 1964, Indian publisher Indrajal Comics began publishing the Phantom comic book in English. Later Indrajal will also publish The Phantom in several Indian languages. Over the years, other Indian publishers have scored Phantom comics, most notably Diamond Comics, Euro Books (formerly Egmont Imagination India), and Rani Comics. Telugu Daily, Eenadu, published a Phantom comic translation version in the early days of Sunday supplements. Phantom was also published in Bengali in a local newspaper.
Other countries
The Italian publisher, Fratelli Spada, produced original Phantom stories for their comic book series L'Uomo Mascherato ( The Masked Man ) during the 1960s and 1970s. Artist contributions include Raul Buzzelli, Mario Caria, Umberto Sammarini ("Usam"), Germano Ferri, Senio Pratesi, Angelo R. Todaro, Mario Caria and Romano Felmang. Ferri, Usam, Felmang and Caria then work for Fantomen . RGE Brazil publishers and German publisher Bastei produce original Phantom stories for their comic books; in Brazil, Phantom is known as o Fantasma .
In 1939, Phantom appeared in the second story of the Yugoslav comics Zigomar , "Zigomar versus Phantom", as opposed to and then allied character titles. In South Africa, The Phantom ran in the Afrikaans newspaper as Die Skim . In the Republic of Ireland, Phantom appears in the Irish i Independent and Sunday Independent newspapers during the 1950s and 1960s.
Also in 1939, Phantom appeared in Turkey as "Kizilmaske", which translated into "Red Mask" in Turkey, by publisher Tay Yayinlari. Initially, the publisher colored a red hero costume on the cover, and decided to stick with it's color throughout comic history in Turkey, rather than using the original purple color. With the name "Kizilmaske" and with color covers drawn by Turkish artists, Lee Falk's older stories from Phantom have appeared in Turkish comic books mainly in black and white.
Reprint
The entire run of the Phantom newspaper strip is reprinted in Australia by Frew Publications, and the edited version of most stories has been published in the Scandinavian comics Phantom. In the United States, the following Phantom stories (written by Lee Falk) have been reprinted by Nostalgia Press (NP), Pacific Comics Club (PCC) or Comics Revue (CR):
- "The Sky Band", Ray Moore, 9 November 1936, CR
- "The Diamond Hunters", Ray Moore, April 12, 1937, PCC
- "Little Tommy", Ray Moore, September 20, 1937, PCC
- "Himalayan Prisoners", Ray Moore, 7 February 1938, NP
- "Adventure in Algeria", Ray Moore, June 20, 1938, CR
- "The Shark's Nest", Ray Moore, July 25, 1938, PCC
- "Fishers of Pearls", Ray Moore, 7 November 1938, CR
- "Slave Trader", Ray Moore, January 30, 1939, CR
- "Mysterious Girl", Ray Moore, May 8, 1939, CR
- "The Golden Circle", Ray Moore, September 4, 1939, PCC
- "The Seahorse", Ray Moore, January 22, 1940, PCC
- "The Game of Alvar", Ray Moore, July 29, 1940, PCC
- "Diana Aviatrix", Ray Moore, December 16, 1940, PCC
- "Treasure", Ray Moore, July 14, 1941, PCC
- "The Phantom Goes to War", Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy, February 2, 1942, PCC
- "Mucar Budak Market", Sy Barry, August 21, 1961, CR
In the October 2009 issue, Comics Revue began reprinting the colorful "The Return of the Sky Band" Sunday story.
In May 2015, Hermes Press has reprinted eight daily volumes of ghosts and three Phantom volumes Sunday, with more plans. In 2011 Hermes began reprinting the Golden Key and King of Phantom comics side by side. The following year, he began reprinting Charlton's comic books.
Tribal pop art
During World War II, soldiers received a package of treatments containing comics. The soldiers stationed in Papua New Guinea share this comic, and the Phantom became very popular among the tribes. Papuans who can read English will read stories and share pictures with others (in the 1970s they were available in Pidgin, Tok Pisin). Picture characters are often painted on shields of ceremonies or alongside other tribal arts. This is sometimes referred to as "tribal pop art."
Maps The Phantom
References
External links
- The Phantom on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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