The Phantom (Comic Book Character)

 You know, the month of February will officially be 90 years since the debut of the Phantom when it hit the comic strips back 1936 by Lee Falk.

The main story follows the Phantom a costume wearing crime-fighter who lives in a fictional African county of Bangalla and is still running as of 2026 being written and drawn by many others since Falk's death in 1999 (RIP).

In the comic strip, the Phantom is the 21st in a line of crime fighters which had began in 1536. The first Phantom was Christopher Walker after his father was killed during a pirate attack and swore an oath on the skull of his father's murderer to fight evil. This oath started a legacy that has been past down from Father to Son for multiple generations, hence why the Phantom appears to be immortal.

Unlike many other superheroes, the Phantom does not have any kind of superpowers. He must rely on his strength, his wits and his skills with his two hand pistols (a revolver and a 1911 .45 auto pistol) and is an expert with both weapons.

The 21st Phantom is married Diana Palmer and together have two children (Kit and Heloise) along with his trained wolf (Devil) as well as his horse (Hero) and live in the Ancient Skull Cave.

The Phantom has appeared in a number of different forms of media outside of the comic strip. In 1943, there was a 15 chapter film serial that started Tom Tyler (RIP). There was also an animated series that started in 1994 and ended in 1996 called The Phantom 2040 which followed the 24th Phantom. Of course we can not forget the 1996 classic, The Phantom movie which featured Billy Zane as the man himself.

I first saw the Phantom when I was little reading it in the comic strips from the newspaper at my Nan and Pap's house. I just loved the look of the Phantom, simple, nothing complicated, just straight to the point. I also thought it was pretty cool with how he was in the secret cave inside the jungle instead of the usual big city which most comic books are based on.

The Phantom was also my introduction to what was once called Pulp Magazines. At the time, I write only characters like Superman, Wonder Man, Batman, the Punisher and of course, Daredevil. But I had no idea about the characters that came before them like the Shadow and Doc Savage, just to name a few. I would have loved to see have seen those comics back in the day.

Congrats to the Phantom for making it to 90 years!

Until Next Time!

God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏

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