Phantom #26- King

Phantom#26
October, 1967
King Comics
Cover: Sy Barry
Script: Bill Harris
Pencils/Inks: Bill Lignante

Here's the second feature from King's Phantom #26, "The Pearl Raiders". Enjoy.

Just Another Mandrake Monday- "The Cape Cod Caper"

Mandrake The Magician#5
May, 1967
King Comics
Cover: Fred Fredericks
Script: Uncredited
Pencils/Inks: Ray Bailey

Mandrake takes a page from The Phantom in this story and puts his skills to work battling pirates!
















I'm not exactly sure how a post-hypnotic suggestion could give a pirate telepathy, but I love that Mandrake sees the message like a home movie!

On an historical note: Henry Morgan WAS a pirate. However, he was also frequently a privateer, a sort of legal pirate, licensed to take enemy ships and towns in a time of war. Morgan was taken to England to be tried for his piracies and was instead knighted and appointed as the governor of Jamaica. So, the idea that he "failed" is pretty laughable.

Sadly, Sir Henry never quite adapted to civilized life. He became bored and depressed as Governor and turned to drinking. I have always found it painfully ironic that a man who drank himself to death has a brand of rum named after him. Tasty, tasty rum.

On a biological note, Moby Dick was a sperm whale. Sperm whales have teeth, not baleen.

The Ghost Who Shills For BlockBuster

When the big-screen version of The Phantom hit theaters in 1996, Amy and I were mildly intrigued. I had grown up in a city whose newspaper didn't run The Phantom and I was only marginally familiar with the character (From my experience feverishly copying his likeness from "Draw 50 Famous Cartoons" and from the short-lived "Defenders of the Earth" toy line King had rushed out around the time of Marvel's "Secret Wars" toys and DC's "SuperPowers Collection"). Still, I had always remembered how cool and mysterious he had looked and thought the movie might be okay.

So, when we went to Blockbuster to rent a movie ("Where Eagles Dare" or "Clash of the Titans" or something...?) and saw a neat stack of gaily-colored cartons covered in cartoons, we got very excited. What came in those "Blockbuster Visa Bonus Box"es ? It was an interesting-looking premium. Perhaps it had some cool Phantom stuff in it. Maybe a pin-back. A mini-comic? A SKULL RING?... Well, what we found out, after renting THREE movies to obtain one, was that it was full of coupons and junk. As I write this, I'm looking at the remaining contents- a Gardetto's snack mix coupon, an ad for Cheer detergent a 3" floppy disk with AOL2.5 on it and a 14-year-old mini box of Rice Chex cereal.

I have to say the box was the best part of the deal. It has a sort of a Hostess Fruit-Pie ad feel to it.

For Those Who Came in Late...

If any of you gentle readers are unfamiliar with the origin of The Phantom, here's a quick primer:


The original Phantom Sunday strip from 1939, written by Lee Falk and drawn by Ray Moore.

Phantom #60- Charlton

Phantom#60
June 1974
Charlton Comics
Cover: Jim Aparo
Script: Giovanni Fiorentini (uncredited)
Pencils/Inks: Mario Pedrazzi (uncredited)

This series of The Phantom had already been published by two other comics companies by the time Charlton Comics got ahold of it. Starting with Gold Key Comics, The Phantom ran 17 issues. It was then picked up by King (published by King Features Syndicate, the owners of The Phantom property) from issue 18 through issue 28. There was no #29 published in the U.S., but Charlton started publication with issue #30.

This issue advertises a "New" Phantom. Charlton had decided to return the comic to it's newspaper strip roots and kicked this "new look" off with a reprint of a story previously published in Italy in Avventure Americaine- L'uomo Mascherato (American Adventures of the Masked Man) The story was titled "Assalto al Tressoro dell'Ombra"-"Assault on The Shadow Treasure".

Just as the Phantom continues the work of his ancestors, so, too does Strangol, this issue's villain. Only difference is, Strangol's Grandfather was a PIRATE!

The story features not only two things the Phantom hates: Pirates and Arms Dealers, it also features a tank straight out of a Republic Serial. I hope you all enjoy this week's offering: