The Phantom (Character) - Comic Vine The Phantom The The Phantom wiki last edited by RazielWraith on 11/28/16 09:22AM View full history Origin The First Phantom During the sixteenth century, a man named Christopher Walker was sailing on the seas of Africa with his father, when they fell prey to pirates' attack. The pirates slaughtered the ship's crew and blew up the ship. The only survivor was young Christopher. He was washed up onto the Bangallan Beach. He then took his father's skull and swore an oath upon it, "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice! And my sons, and their sons, shall follow me!" Thus originated the first Phantom. He became friends with the various local tribes and dedicated his life to fighting injustice and cruelty. The violet costume was standardized by this Christopher 'Kit' Walker. Creation Lee Falk In 1936, Lee Falk created a mysterious costumed crime fighter on the request King Features Newspaper Syndicate to create a new feature. It began as a daily newspaper comic strips on February 17th, 1936.

He planned the story for initial few months and then drew them himself for the first two weeks as sample strips. Lee Falk was inspired by different myths and legends as that of the well known El Cid and King Arthur and some of the fictional characters as Zorro, Tarzan and Mowgli. Initially, the Phantom's alter ego was a rich playboy by name Jimmy Wells. But in his later stories that introduced the Singh Brotherhood , moved the Phantom to the jungle and making him more of a jungle legend. There were many other fictional characters that carried the name "Phantom" such as The Phantom Detective and The Phantom of Opera. So he thought about calling this masked man as "Gray Ghost" but somehow he liked the name "The Phantom" better. The Phantom Lineage In A&E American Cable TV documentary about the Phantom, Falk mentioned that he was inspired by Greek busts for the idea of the Phantom's pupils not being shown through his mask. The Greek busts had no pupils and Falk thought that gave them an inhuman and interesting look. Falk, in another interview mentioned that the skin-tight costume was inspired by the popular Robin Hood , who wore such a costume in the movie and stage adaptations.

Character Evolution The Guardian of the Eastern Dark The current Phantom is the 21st of the line. After a long courtship he married his childhood sweetheart Diana Palmer in a lavish 1977 jungle ceremony notably attended by two African presidents and fellow Lee Falk creation Mandrake the Magician . Soon afterwords Diana gave birth to twins, a boy named Christopher "Kit" Walker-Palmer and daughter Heloise Walker-Palmer. He is primarily assisted in his adventures by a tamed pet wolf called Devil and a white horse named Hero , whose speed is legendary. His best friend since childhood is Guran , the now current chief of the Pygmy Bandar tribe. The 21st Phantom remains a devoted family man knowing that in his line of work, whatever time he has with his family is precious, but always holding strong the family tradition of fighting injustice wherever it may take him. Their young son, Kit, is in training to someday take the sacred "Oath of the Skull" and become the 22nd Phantom. Lineage The Phantom is known as " The Ghost Who Walks ", and is believed to have lived for more than 400 years. But in reality, this is just a myth.

The Phantom is an ordinary human being. Almost every Phantom has married a woman of Royal Blood. They have had sons, most of whom have shared the name, Kit Walker. When a father Phantom retires from his work as Phantom, his son takes his place, swears the oath and becomes the new Phantom. Then the father is buried inside a secret burial chamber inside the Skull Cave . But it is not only the son who becomes the Phantom. Evidences of female Phantoms have also been found. Sometimes a daughter would take on the task of the Phantom in a similar Phantom outfit. This way the Phantom lives on, and has become a jungle legend. Aliases The Ghost Who Walks: When the Phantom is in his outfit and battling injustice, he is known as such. In this form, jungle people and other tribes know him to be a ghost who has lived for more than 400 years. In this form, the Phantom patrols the Bangallan area with his base of operations being deep inside the jungle. Walker Mr. Walker: This is the manner in which the Phantom presents himself to the outside world. He wears a long overcoat with blue trousers and a hat. His face is concealed in dark glasses.

No one even knows his first name, all call him 'Mr. Walker'. Mysterious Commander: Unknown to The Jungle Patrol, the Phantom is the Commander in Chief of the unit. He leaves messages and orders inside the Colonel's locker which he accesses via a secret tunnel. No one knows who the sender is, so they refer to him as "the Mysterious Commander". Julie Walker: Read Julie Walker The Phantom - Versions Over time, many publishers had published The Phantom in many different versions. Sometimes as himself, the 21st Phantom, some stories on his various ancestors and some stories based on his son Kit Walker and daughter Heloise Walker . Gold Key, Charlton, King Features Syndicate To be updated Marvel - The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks (1995) The Phantom with special gloves by Marvel In 1995 Marvel published a 3 issue mini series with this title. The Phantom was having the aggressive nature similar to that of various other Marvel characters. Unlike the regular version we all know, Phantom illustrated here is more strong, opinionated. He is more modern involving strong bullet repelling armor suit and geared up with advanced infrared view finder and collapsible special armor within the gloves that can resist a sword hit.

The bullet repelling armor is something that has been missing in many Phantom versions and truly gets the character close to being a "Ghost". The story spins around with lot of politics going around the Bengallan area and involves bureaucrats in big conspiracy while the Phantom is keen on resolving issues in favor of Bengali population. DC Comics (1988-89) The Guardian of the Eastern Dark Between 1988 and 1989, DC Comics published a 13 issue series of the Phantom. These were more close to the canonical Phantom as created by Lee Falk but with new short stories spanning one or two issues each. DC for some reason stopped publishing any stories on The Phantom after this series. Phantom 2040 (24th Phantom) Phantom 2040 Phantom 2040 was introduced as part if the 1994 television series was the 24th Phantom, the grandson of Kit. In a futuristic Metropia, the new home, the Phantom fights against the Maximum Inc., an evil organization set to control the world. Following the TV show, Marvel published the new volume Phantom 2040 in the year 1995.

Moonstone Dynamite 22nd Phantom Dynamite introduced the son of the original 21st Century Phantom, Kit Walker as the new Phantom. Dubbed as the 22nd Phantom, Kit has given up the Phantom lineage and seemed to have indulged in philanthropic activities in New York. However several inevitable incidents bring him back to be the new Phantom and we get our new tech savvy, stronger and more angry Phantom that we have ever seen. He has the special invisibility power by which he is more convincing to be ghost than ever before! The ongoing story arc is in progress revealing what has become of his father, the 21st Phantom. Read more about him here: Kit Walker Frew The Phantom Crusader Egmont started publishing self-produced material in Sweden and Norway around the 1960's. The current task-force behind the 21st Phantom stories, "Team Fantomen" creates Phantom stories for this publishing. The first man to wear the skull ring, and a mask similar to the Phantom, was a Knight named Christophe D' Errant who lived around 1160 to 1210 A.D., during the Holy Crusades. A Skull Throne was discovered in France.

Equipment/Abilities Peak Human Conditioning: Every version of the Phantom is trained from birth in the fighting arts and is cross-trained in numerous other athletic disciplines. As a result, each Phantom is as strong, fast, agile, flexible, and enduring as humanly possible. Master Marksman: Each iteration of the Phantom is expertly trained in all weapons, especially firearms. As a result, the Phantom almost never misses his mark. Gun Belt The Phantom's Belt and Guns All Phantoms in the lineage wear a belt with weapons attached to it. It has a skull mark at the center of the buckle. Centuries ago Phantom’s belt had a scabbard attached holding a sword. The Phantom is known for his adept swordsmanship. The 21st Phantom usually carries around a single dagger and twin .45 pistols attached on either side of the gun belt. The Phantom is a sharp shooter; he never misses a mark! Once the 20th Phantom was killed by a gangster Ramu who back stabs him and snatches his gun belt as his prize and proof of killing.

The 21st Phantom finds the killer and retrieves it back and restores it in the Skull Cave in one of Lee Falk ’s famous stories about the gun belt. Rings The "Good" Mark Ring The Skull Mark Ring The Phantom wears two rings that can permanently mark whomever they touch. The ring on his left hand features four overlapping sabres forming a cross known as "The Good Mark". Those touched by it are under The Phantom's protection and the mark itself is said to give the wearer amazing luck. The right hand ring bears a Skull, and those that receive its mark (usually via a strong right hook) are branded a victim of The Phantom's wrath and bad luck seems to then follow them around. The 21st Phantom is skeptical of the mystical qualities of his rings, but they are legendary amongst the natives of Bangalla and the criminal underworld. Old Jungle Sayings There is no story of The Phantom where the people of jungle quote an "Old Jungle Saying" that either they heard from their ancestors or from old man Mozz . Below are some of the popular sayings that linger in the minds of people, both good and bad, in and around the deep woods of Bengalla .

"The Phantom has a thousand eyes and a thousand ears." "The Phantom can be at many places at once." "You never find the Phantom, he finds you." "Nobody argues with the Phantom and wins" "Never point a gun at the Phantom" "When the Phantom asks, you answer." "No man can refuse the voice of the Phantom." "The voice of the angry Phantom freezes a tiger's blood." "Better to stare into the tiger's eyes than into the cold eyes of the angry Phantom." "The Phantom will never refuse a challenge." "Phantom, rough on roughnecks" The Phantom Country The "Phantom Country" is the name given to the fictional country of Bengali , as referred to in the early editions of the Phantom comics. This consists of various significant locations surrounding the "Deep Woods". Most of the Phantom's adventures are in these locations. However there are times when the Phantom travels out of the jungle just like an ordinary man and walk the streets of cities around the world or even over the sea. Read more about the Phantom Country here: Bengali . Other Media Film The Phantom Movie (1996) This was the first live-action Phantom movie from Paramount pictures.

The movie casts Billy Zane as The Phantom, Kristy Swanson is Diana Palmer , Catherine Zeta-Jones as Sala, the leader of the an all-female gang of air pirates known as the Sky Band and Treat Williams is the villain, Xander Drax. Simon Wincer has directed the movie and story by Jeffrey Boam, the writer of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. On the outset, The Phantom is to stop Drax from obtaining a weapon of doom, the legendary "Skulls of Touganda". There is also the Singh Brotherhood, a gang of pirates one of whom was the killer of the 21st Phantom's father. The 21st Phantom recovers his father's gunbelt from the brotherhood and avenges his father's murder as cited in Lee Falk 's popular story of "The Belt". The movie was filmed on different locations like Australia, Thailand and Los Angeles. For the title role, Bruce Campbell was another option but Billy Zane was a huge fan of the comic strip and was earlier being introduced to the Australian Frew comics on the set of Dead Calm. Once he finally got the role, Zane prepared by pumping iron for nearly a year to fill the Phantom's costume.

He refused to wear a costume with molded muscles like the Batman costume. He also carefully studied the comic panels to get a good understanding of the character's attitude and body language. TV Series: Phantom 2040 Phantom 2040 TV Series The Phantom 2040 was a animated series telecast between 1994-1996. It is the year 2040 and 24 generations of Phantoms have passed by. The "Ghost Who Walks" continues to fight against crime and injustice in year 2040 as the 24th Phantom. In this time period, the Phantom has now moved to a new jungle "Metropia" which is a surviving homes for mankind after the resource wars. Kit Walker continues the Phantom's legacy, this time against Maximum Incorporation, a wealthy syndicate determined to destroy a small part of the world even if it means to destroy the rest of it. The new Phantom also fights against terrorists of free orbital movement, the mystery of his father's death and various other thugs with their own path of crime. Sagan Cruz is his girlfriend who is part of a special police unit that is charged with hunting down the Phantom.

All in all this is an incredible mix of science fiction but still retaining the Phantom's legendary traits of a jungle. The credit of the series goes to multiple directors and story writers. The Phantom | The Phantom | Fandom powered by Wikia The Phantom, drawn by Jerry DeCaire The story of the Phantom started with a young sailor named Christopher Walker. Christopher was born in 1516 in Portsmouth . His father, also named Christopher Walker, had been a seaman since he was a young boy, and was the cabin boy on Christopher Columbus 's ship Santa Maria when he discovered America . Christopher Jr. became a shipboy on his father's ship in 1526, of which Christopher senior was Captain . In 1536, when Christopher was 20 years old, he was a part of what was supposed to be the last voyage of his father. On February 17, the ship was attacked by pirates of the Singh Brotherhood in a bay in the (fictional) African country of Bengalla. The last thing Christopher saw before he fell unconscious and fell to the sea, was his father being murdered by the leader of the pirates. Both ships exploded, making Christopher the sole survivor of the attack.

Christopher was washed ashore on a Bengalla beach, seemingly half dead. He was found by pygmies of the Bandar tribe, who nursed him and took care of him. A time later, Christopher had a walk on the same beach that he had been washed ashore on, and found a dead body there, who he recognized as the pirate who killed his father. He allowed the vultures flying around the body finish their work, took up the skull of the killer, raised it above his head, and swore a sacred oath: "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms! My sons and their sons, shall follow me." After learning the language of the Bandar tribe, Christopher found out that they were slaves of the Wasaka tribe, a tribe consisting of what the Bandars called "giants". The Bandars who had found him was only a small group of people who had managed to escape from the village of the Wasaka. Immediately, Christopher walked into the village of the Wasaka, and asked them to set the Bandars free.

Instead of achieving this goal, he was taken prisoner, and laid before the Demon God of the Wasaka: Uzuki, who was supposed to decide his destiny. Christopher was tied up and laid on an altar made of stone, where vultures surrounded him, the Wasaka allowing them to eat him. Christopher was quickly saved by a group of Bandars before the vultures or the Wasaka could do him any real harm. They managed to escape from the village of the Wasaka unharmed. Christopher learned about an ancient Bandar legend about a man coming from the ocean to save them from their slavery. He made a costume inspired by the look of the Demon God of the Wasaka, and went to the Wasaka village again, this time with a small army of Bandars (armed with their newly discovered, extremely poisoned arrows, capable of killing a man in a few seconds). The Wasaka, shocked at seeing what many of them thought was their Demon God come alive, was fought down, and the Bandars were finally set free, after centuries in slavery. This resulted in a dedicated friendship between Christopher and the Bandars, which would be brought on to the generations to come after them.

The Bandars showed Christopher to a cave, which resembled the look of a human skull . Christopher later carved it out to make it look even more like a skull. What was later on known as the Skull Cave became his home. Wearing the costume based on the Demon God, Christopher became the first of what would later be known as The Phantom. When he died, his son took over for him, and when the 2nd Phantom died, his son took over. And so it would go on through the centuries, causing people to believe that the Phantom was immortal, giving him nicknames as "The Ghost Who Walks" and "The Man Who Cannot Die". The legend Edit Over the course of more than seventy years' worth of stories, the "legend" of the Phantom grew to become an integral part of the series' raison d'être . The legend of the "Ghost Who Walks" made the character stand out from the innumerable costumed heroes who have battled crime throughout the 20th century , and has helped maintain his appeal through the present day. The Phantom is feared by criminals over the entire world, and he knows how to use his frightening image and reputation against them.

As things turn out, the idea of him being an immortal ghost haunting evil men is much more effective than any supernatural power could have been. The Family of The Phantom Edit The 21st Phantom's birth name is Kit Walker. Kit spent his first years in the jungle in Bengalla, but went to USA for studying when he was 10 years old, living with his aunt and uncle, Lucy and Jaspher, in the little town of Clarksville. Here, he also met his wife-to-be, Diana Palmer. Kit was an extremely talented sportsman, and was predicted to become the world champion of many different genres (he even knocked out the boxing champion of the world in a match when the champion visited Clarksville). Despite being able to choose practically any career he wanted, Kit faithfully returned to Bengalla to take over the role of the Phantom when he received word that his father was dying. Newspaper strips The first Phantom Sunday strip from May 28 , 1939 . Art by Ray Moore. The Phantom started out as a daily strip on February 17 , 1936 , with the acclaimed story "The Singh Brotherhood". It was written by Lee Falk and initially also pencilled and/or laid out by him.

The first major Phantom artist was Ray Moore. At the time, Lee Falk was already the creator of the successful Mandrake the Magician newspaper strip. Ray Moore was previously assistant to Mandrake artist Phil Davis . A Sunday strip version of the Phantom was added on May 28 , 1939 . During the war, Falk joined the Office of War Information where he became chief of his radio foreign language division. It is rumored that during this time the Phantom strip was at least partially written by Alfred Bester , but this is still somewhat disputed by those who say Bester wrote Mandrake instead. Ray Moore also was also active in the war and during that time left the strip to his assistant Wilson McCoy. Moore returned after the war and worked on the strip on and off until 1949, when he left it completely in the hands of McCoy. During McCoy's tenure the strip was at its peak, appearing in thousands of newspapers worldwide. His stories are still printed over the whole world in comic books and hardcover collections. McCoy died suddenly in 1961.

Carmine Infantino and Bill Lignante (who would later draw Phantom stories directly for comic magazines) filled in before a successor was found in Sy Barry. During Barry's early years, he and Falk modernized the strip, and laid the foundation for what is considered the modern look of the Phantom. Barry would continue working on the strip for over 30 years before retiring in 1994. Barry's longtime assistant George Olesen remained on the strip as penciller. New inker for the daily strip was Keith Williams. The Sunday strip was for some time inked by Eric Doescher before Mandrake the Magician artist Fred Fredericks became the regular inker in 1995. Phantom daily strip from 2005. Art by Paul Ryan. Lee Falk continued to script the Phantom (and Mandrake) until his death on March 13 , 1999 . His last Daily and Sunday strip stories, "Terror at the Opera" and "The Kidnappers", were finished by his wife, Elizabeth Falk.

After Falk's passing, King Features Syndicate began to cooperate with European comic publisher Egmont ; publisher of the Swedish Fantomen magazine which has contained original comic book stories since 1963. Fantomen writers Tony De Paul and Claes Reimerthi alternated as writers of the newspaper strip after Falk died, with De Paul handling the daily strips and Reimerthi being responsible for the Sunday strips. Today De Paul is the regular writer. Some of the stories have been adapted from comic magazine stories originally published in Fantomen. In 2000, Olesen and Fredericks retired from the Sunday strip which was then taken over by respected comic book artist Graham Nolan , whose goal was to give the series a slightly more filmatic look. A few years later, Olesen and Williams left the daily strip, after Olesen decided to retire. A new artist was found in Paul Ryan, who by then already was a Phantom veteran after having worked on the Fantomen comic stories for a couple of years. Ryan's first daily strip appeared in early-2005. Both Nolan and Ryan have grown to become very popular with fans of the strip, giving the strip a more filmatic look than what was common earlier.

Reprints The Phantom by Romano Felmang . The entire run of the Phantom newspaper strip, up to and beyond the death of creator Lee Falk, has been reprinted in Australia by Frew . Edited versions of most of his stories have also been published in the Scandinavian Phantom comics. In the United States , the following Phantom stories have been reprinted, by Nostalgia Press (NP), Pacific Comics Club (PCC), or Comics Revue (CR), all written by Lee Falk. Edit Cover to The Phantom # 4 (published in 2004 by Moonstone Books ). Art by Doug Klauba. In the U.S., the Phantom has been published by a variety of publishers over the years. Through the 1940s , strips were reprinted in Ace Comics published by David McKay Publications . In the 1950s , Harvey Comics published the Phantom. In 1962, Gold Key Comics took over, then King Comics in 1966, then Charlton Comics in 1969. This lasted until 1977, with a total number of 73 issues being published.

Some of the main Phantom artists during these years were Bill Lignante , Don Newton , Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette. DC Comics published a Phantom comic book from 1988 to 1990. The initial mini-series was written by Peter David and drawn by Joe Orlando and Dennis Janke . The regular series that followed lasted 13 issues and was written by Mark Verheiden and drawn by Luke McDonnell . The series had The Phantom being involved with real world problems, like racism, toxic dumping, hunger, and modern day piracy . Despite critical acclaim, the series was cancelled in late 1990, due to declining sales and licensing issues. Cover of The Phantom #1 (published in 1989 by DC Comics ). Art by Luke McDonnell . In 1987, Marvel Comics did a series based on the Defenders of the Earth TV series (written by the legendary Stan Lee ). Only four issues were published. Another mini-series released by Marvel in 1994-1995 explored a more futuristic, high-tech version of the Phantom in three issues (apparently the 22nd Phantom).

Later in 1995 Marvel also released a 4-part mini-series based on the Phantom 2040 TV series, pencilled by none other than legendary Steve Ditko , co-creator of Spider-Man . One issue even featured a pin-up drawing by Ditko and another legend, John Romita, Sr. The gadgets used by Marvel's 22nd Phantom were remeniscent of those in Phantom 2040, only less advanced. For instance, while the 24th Phantom had a talking AI built into one of his wristbands, the 22nd's wristband contained a sophisticated, but clearly present-day, palmtop computer. In 2002, Moonstone Books in the United States began publishing original graphic novels based on The Phantom, and a comic book series followed in December 2003, to critical acclaim. Among their stories is a new version on The Phantom's origin story by Ben Raab and Pat Quinn, called "Legacy", and a series of books introducing an all new format to comic books, called wide-vision books, which aims to look like widescreen films.

In late 2005, Moonstone hired " Lions, Tigers and Bears " writer Mike Bullock and Carlos Magno as the new creative team on the book, with Joe Prado and Doug Klauba being responsible for the covers. As this is written in April 2006, Moonstone is in the process of making two collections of prose stories with The Phantom. Possibly because of huge interest from comic book publications and websites, The Phantom is to date Moonstone's most successful title, and it is considered to be the reason why the small independent publisher's popularity and fame have increased the last years. Although Moonstone's regular writer is now Mike Bullock, several others have participated, like Chuck Dixon , Ron Marz , Rafael Nieves, Joe Gentile, Tom DeFalco , and Ron Goulart . Some of the artists who have participated are Gabriel Rearte, Nick Derington, Jerry DeCaire , Rich Burchett, EricJ, and Eisner award winner Paul Guinan. Scandinavia Edit In addition to the two newspaper strips, original stories are published by Egmont Publications in Scandinavia (where the Phantom is very popular).

Egmont publishes a fortnightly Phantom comic book in Norway (as Fantomet), Sweden (as Fantomen), and Finland (as Mustanaamio {"Black Mask"} Template:Fn ). Egmont has been publishing their own Phantom stories for over forty years. They continue to sell well in a market mostly populated by humor comic books. Cover to Swedish Fantomen # 8 (2003) (# 1303 since the start 1950). Art by Hans Lindahl. Published by Egmont. The first story created originally for the Swedish Fantomen magazine was published as early as 1963, and today the total number of Fantomen stories is close to 900. The average length of a Fantomen story is 30+ pages (compared to 20-24 pages for most U.S. comics).

Among the most prolific artists and writers that have created stories for Fantomen are: Dick Giordano , Donne Avenell, Heiner Bade, David Bishop , Georges Bess, Jaime Vallvé , Joan Boix, Tony DePaul , Ulf Granberg, Ben Raab , Rolf Gohs , Scott Goodall, Eirik Ildahl, Kari Leppänen, Hans Lindahl , Janne Lundström, Cesar Spadari, Bob McLeod (comics artist)|, Jean-Yves Mitton, Lennart Moberg, Claes Reimerthi, Paul Ryan, Alex Saviuk, Graham Nolan , Romano Felmang , and Norman Worker . The artists and writers working on these stories have been nick-named Team Fantomen. In later years, the Team have started to experiment more with the character and his surroundings, in more emotional and challenging stories than what was common before. Egmont have also been trying to dvelve deeper into the character's psyche lately, often giving him personal problems as well as his crime fighting. Don Newton 's cover to The Phantom #74 featuring the Phantom of 1776.

Australia Edit Another country where the Phantom is popular is Australia, where Frew Publications has published a fortnightly comic book, The Phantom, since 1948. Frew's book mostly contains reprints, from the newspaper strips and from Fantomen (in English translation), but has occasionally also included an original story. The editor-in-chief is Jim Sheperd. Frew's The Phantom is the longest running comic book series with the character in the world. India Edit The Phantom also has a long publishing history in India. The Phantom first appeared in India in the 1940s via a magazine called The Illustrated Weekly of India which carried Phantom Sundays. Indrajal Comics took up publication of Phantom comics in English and other Indian languages in 1964. They ceased publication in 1990. This same year Diamond Comics started publishing Phantom comics in digest form, again in many languages including English. This continued until 2000, when Diamond Comics stopped publishing Phantom comics; Egmont Imagination India (formerly Indian Express Egmont Publications) took up publication the same year. They published monthly comics (in English only) until 2002.

Today they only bring out reprints of their earlier stories with new covers and formats. The only regular publisher of the Phantom left in India is Rani Comics which started publication in 1990. However, these comics are available only in the Tamil language . It may be noted that Indrajal Comics, Diamond Comics and Rani Comics, all published reprints of Lee Falk's daily or Sunday strips. Only Egmont Imagination India printed the Scandinavian work. Others Edit Italian publisher Fratelli Spada in Italy also produced a large number of original Phantom stories for their L'Uomo Mascherato series of comic books in the 1960s and 70s. Among the artists that worked for Fratelli Spada were Guido Buzzelli , Mario Caria , Umberto Sammarini (Usam), Germano Ferri , Senio Pratesi , Mario Caria and Felmang . Ferri, Usam, Felmang and Caria have all later worked for the Swedish Fantomen magazine. Brazilian publisher RGE and German publisher Bastei also produced original Phantom stories for their comic books.

Other media See also: The Phantom (1943 movie serial) , The Phantom (film) , and The Ghost Who Walks A fifteen-part movie serial starring Tom Tyler was made in 1943, with Jeanne Bates as Diana Palmer, and Ace the Wonder Dog as Devil. The story featured The Phantom in his search for the lost city of Zoloz. Strangely enough, the Phantom's real name was in the serial Geodfrey Prescott, but this was because the Kit Walker name had not been mentioned in the strip at that point. A sequel was filmed in 1955 starring John Hart , but after problems with the rights to the character it was partially re-shot and re-named The Adventures of Captain Africa . The Phantom was also made into a movie in 1996 . The movie was set in the 1930s , and incorporated elements from several of the Phantom's earliest comic-strip adventures. It starred Billy Zane , Kristy Swanson and Catherine Zeta-Jones and was directed by Simon Wincer . It was written by Jeffrey Boam , who also wrote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade .

Cult-icon Bruce Campbell was another choice for the role, but Zane ended up getting the part because of his convincing screen-test, good looks and knowledge to the Phantom comic. After his casting , he feverishly pumped iron for a year and a half to fill The Phantom's costume. Many scenes developing the relationship between The Phantom and Diana Palmer were cut, to make the film more fast-paced. The movie was the reason why Billy Zane was cast as Caledon Hockley in James Cameron's Titanic , according to the actor himself, which to this date remains his best known characterization. In 2002 , it was announced that Hyde Park Entertainment and Crusader Entertainment had acquired the feature film rights to the Phantom, with the intention of making a new movie in a contemporary setting. As of March 3 , 2006 , the movie's working title was The Ghost Who Walks and is scheduled for release in 2007. Two-time 1992 Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart had been announced as a screenwriter for the production, although the latest information posted on the Internet Movie Database does not mention him in this role.

In an interview, Stewart described the film as a combination of X-Men and Tom Clancy . At least three unauthorized Phantom movies were made in Turkey. Two were made in 1968 and both were titled Kızıl Maske (the Turkish name for the Phantom, meaning Red Mask). The Phantom was played by Ismet Erten and Irfan Atasoy. In 1971, another movie called Kızıl Maske'nin Intikamı (The Phantom's Revenge) was made. It is also known that unauthorized Spanish and Italian Phantom movies exist, although there are almost no information on them available. Television Edit A TV pilot was made in 1961 starring Roger Creed (best known for his work as a stuntman) as the Phantom, with Lon Chaney Jr. , Paulette Goddard as the main villains and Richard Kiel as an assassin called "Big Mike" in supporting roles. The pilot, which never aired anywhere in the world, was called "No Escape", and saw the Phantom trying to break up a slave camp in the jungle. The pilot also featured the Phantom's horse Hero and his wolf Devil.

It was made on a very low budget, and therefore, it only featured small-budget action, like the Phantom fighting a crocodile, the Phantom fighting Big Mike, the Phantom riding on Hero, and the Phantom hunting down the bad guys in the jungle, taking them out one by one, like he is known to do in the comics. In total, scriptwriter John Carr wrote scripts for four episodes, but due to the fact that the pilot never aired, they were never filmed. Although it was never aired, the pilot was shown at the San Diego Comicon . Paul Hogan continually parodied the Phantom on his Australian TV-show, The Paul Hogan Show . He would dress up in the purple Phantom costume, and act out different humorous situations. The Phantom has also been frequently parodied on Scandinavian television, in different humour programs. In 1996, the A&E Network made a long Phantom-biography for television, called "The Phantom: Comic strip crusader", which featured interviews with people like creator Lee Falk, actors Billy Zane and Kristy Swanson , director Simon Wincer, Frew-editor Jim Sheperd, George Olesen, Keith Williams, and the president of the US Phantom fan club Friends of the Phantom, Ed Rhoades.

A&E Network 's biography programs normally focus on real-life persons, and the Phantom is one of the very few fictional characters to get his own program. To promote the 1996 Paramount Phantom movie, numerous TV-programs about the Phantom were made. One of them was an HBO special called "Making of The Phantom", which featured behind-the-scenes information on the movie and the comic. An Indian TV serial named "Betaal Pachisi" (meaning Phantom XXV), starring Shahbaz Khan, Tom Alter and Sonu Walia, and directed by Sunil Agnihotri, was inspired by the Phantom. It was first aired in May, 1997 on the Doordarshan TV network of India. Each episode was half an hour long and in the Hindi language. There were 49 episodes in total. Animation Main articles: Phantom 2040 , Defenders of the Earth Phantom 2040 logo The Phantom has appeared in two animated series. In Defenders of the Earth from the 1980's, the 27th Phantom, teams up with fellow King Features adventurers Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician .

The cartoon also featured a daughter, Jedda Walker, who briefly took on the Phantom mantle in an episode where she believed her father to have perished. Other episodes of the series featured classic Phantom villains like the Sky Band. The episode "Return of the Sky Band" also featured flashbacks to the Phantom of Lee Falk's comic strip; the 21st Phantom, and his wife Diana Palmer. In Defenders of the Earth, The Phantom was able to use supernatural means to give himself increased strength and speed, by saying the incantation: "By Jungle Law The Ghost Who Walks Calls forth the strength of ten tigers " (or "the speed of the cheetah ", etc.) It is only in this cartoon series that the Phantom has such an ability. In the series, the Phantom also used a special helicopter nicknamed "The Skull Copter". In the cartoon, The Phantom was voiced by actor Peter Mark Richman . Like Phantom 2040, Defenders of the Earth spawned a lot of merchandise. The Phantom also made an appearance alongside other King Features characters in the 1972 animated movie Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter.

He also appeared in the animated Beatles movie called Yellow Submarine , together with other fictional characters. Premiering in the mid-1990's, Phantom 2040 is about the adventures of a descendant, the 24th Phantom. Young Kit Walker, living happily with his aunt Heloise, knows nothing about his family's legacy, when one day, The Phantom's faithful friend Guran turns up to tell him the secret of his life. Kit takes up on the mantle of The Phantom, and starts a battle against the evil company Maximum Inc., and their plans to destroy earth's resources. He also tries to solve the mystery of the death of his father, the 23rd Phantom. The series lasted for two seasons, and spawned a large number of merchandise. The Phantom/Kit Walker was voiced by actor Scott Valentine , while other names like Mark Hamill , Ron Perlman , and Margot Kidder lent their voices to other characters. Stage Edit A musical about the Phantom was produced in Sweden in 1985. It was written by Peter Falck and Urban Wrethagen and starred Urban Wrethagen as the Phantom.

A recording of the songs was released on LP and a comic adaption of the story was published in the Swedish Fantomen magazine. The Falck-Wrethagen musical was also performed in Perth , Western Australia in 1989. It was not well received, mainly due to the poor acting ability and physique of the local lead actor, Robert Peron . Another musical called "Fantomets glade bryllup" ("Phantom's happy wedding") was made in Norway, with Jahn Teigen as Fantomet. It was a humoristic take on the character, and also featured Tarzan and other fictional characters. Video games Edit The Phantom have appeared as a playable character in two video games, " Phantom 2040 " and " Defenders of the Earth ". Both were based on the animated series with the same titles. However, in Defenders of the Earth, the Phantom was not the only playable character, as players were given the choice to control Mandrake the Magician and Flash Gordon as well.

In " Phantom 2040 ", released on Sega Genesis , Game Gear and Super NES , the Phantom was the only playable character, featuring a number of his special skills and high-tech gadgets from the Phantom 2040 TV-series. The game was acclaimed by critics for its complexity and intelligent gaming experience by the time it was released. In 2003, a video game made for Game Boy Advance was announced, simply called "The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks". It was developed by 7th Sense, and produced by Microids, and was described as a free-roaming jungle adventure. Under the development process, Microids went bankrupt, and the game was never released (7th Sense's game based on Mandrake the Magician suffered the same fate). In 2006, a The Phantom Mobile Game became available for Cellphones , where the Phantom fights zombies, undead mages, floating skulls and other strange, magical creatures to find his kidnapped wife, Diana Palmer. Like the canned Game Boy Advance game, it was described as a free-roaming jungle adventure, with a film-like plot. Rumours have been going about a Phantom PC-game, but nothing have been confirmed.

Theme park Edit The Phantom has his own theme park attraction in the Swedish amusement park Parken Zoo, Eskilstuna, where visitors can take a closer look at the Skull Cave , and several other places known from the Phantom comics, and talk to the Phantom "himself" in person. The park was inaugurated by Lee Falk himself in 1986. Trivia Edit The 1943 Phantom serial is so far the only film to actually show the iconic handover of the Phantom legacy from the dying father to his son. In the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros. , the character The Phantom Limb is a direct parody of him, right down to the same purple suit and mask, except that the Phantom Limb's limbs are invisible, making him look like a floating torso. (The name is a parody of the phantom limb syndrome amputees experience.) Sy Barry came to draw Diana Palmer after the Charlie's Angels -star Jaclyn Smith . Donna Marabella, the wife of the first Phantom, resembles Marilyn Monroe . Maude Thorne McPatrick, wife of the 20th Phantom and mother of the 21st Phantom, resembles Rita Hayworth .

Flame Stanbury, the wife of the ninth Phantom, resembles Jane Russell Lee Falk originally intended the Phantom's alias to be the rich playboy Jimmy Wells (years before the similar Batman was created). However, halfway through his first story, "The Singh Brotherhood", he decided to move the Phantom to the jungle and gave him the name of Kit Walker. On the premiere of The Phantom movie starring Billy Zane in 1996, creator Lee Falk received a telegram from President Bill Clinton congratulating him. According to the 1996 A&E Network Phantom biography, the Phantom strip was smuggled by boats into the Nazi -occupied Norway during World War II . The Nazis controlled almost everything in the Norwegian newspapers, and continued to publish fake news about the United States' fall. However, Norwegians knew better, as they knew the Phantom, still seen in the papers, was an American creation, therefore giving them hope in a difficult time. The word "Phantom " was also used as a password for the Norwegian Resistance.

Lee Falk was a huge admirer of William Shakespeare , and left several tributes to his hero in his stories throughout the years, even going as far as having the 3rd Phantom work as an actor for Shakespeare and marry his niece, Rosamunda. The Phantom have been featured as a guest character in a few Mandrake the Magician stories, where the two crime-fighters, both created by Lee Falk, co-operate. It is unclear if they are considered to be part of the Phantom-canon. In Sweden, early in the 1990s , there was a soft drink called Fantomenläsk (Phantom soft drink) featuring the phantom on the label. The soft drink itself was relatively opaque and was colored azure blue .

External links The Phantom, the Ghost Who Walks The Phantom, The Ghost Who Walks Real Name: Christopher Walker Identity/Class: Normal human Occupation: Crimefighter Affiliations: His ancestors and descendants; Diana Palmer, Hero (his horse), Devil (his wolf), Dart (his falcon), Joomba (his elephant), Mandrake , the Jungle Patrol Enemies: Chessman, the Sky Band, the Golden Circle, Mermaids of Melo Straits, Lady Luck Pirates Known Relatives: Diana Walker (wife); Kit (son, the 22nd Phantom); Heloise (daughter), Rex King (adopted son), Maude (mother, deceased), Dave Palmer (wife's uncle), Lily Palmer (mother-in-law), Christopher Standish (ancestor, first Phantom, deceased) Aliases: The Ghost Who Walks, Kit, Kip, the Man Who Cannot Die, Guardian of the Eastern Dark, the Gray Ghost Base of Operations: Skull Cave, The Deep Woods, Bangalla, Africa First Appearance: Phantom newspaper strip ( King Features Syndicate , 17th February 1936) Powers/Abilities: Expert horseman. Marksman. Good fighter, trained in many forms of combat. Extremely agile and athletic.

The Phantom usually carries a dagger, twin .45 pistols, and two distinctive rings which can leave permanent marks on those they touch - the "Good Mark" on the left hand, a four overlapping swords / letter P's forming a rotating cross, which marks the bearer as being under the Phantom's protection; the "Skull Mark" on the right hand, normally delivered with a solid punch to the face, which shows the victim as someone who has crossed the Phantom and been punished for same. History: For more than four centuries criminals and villains the world over have spoken in whispers of a legendary figure, the Ghost Who Walks, a seeker of justice who cannot be killed or stopped in his pursuit of those who prey on the weak. This Phantom operated out of Bangalla (whose exact location is a bit inconsistent in the stories, but seems to be near or part of coastal Africa), but would pursue evildoers across the globe. Those who faced him were usually marked for life, left with a skull-shaped scar on their faces, indelibly marked by the ring on his right hand when he strikes his enemies. The Phantom is both more, and less, than his legend.

Instead of a single, undying apparition, the Phantom is a dynasty of crimefighters who have sworn down the years to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, and if necessary, to lay down their lives in the service of justice. Directly descended from Christopher Standish, Columbus' cabin boy, the current Phantom, Kit Walker, is the 21st of the line. Since the 1930s, when he took over after the death of his father, Kit has fought the good fight. In 1977, after decades of courtship, he married his love Diana Palmer, and they now have two children, Christopher (Kit) and Heloise. Comments: Created by Lee Falk, who wrote the strip from when it started until he died in 1999. Falk had also created Mandrake the Magician a couple of years earlier, and the two have occasionally shown up in the other's strip, most notably when they attended one another's weddings. They were also depicted as allies in the Defenders of the Earth cartoon (see below for more details).

After the death of Lee Falk, his wife Elizabeth completed his last two stories (daily strip #195 and Sunday strip #150) from his notes. Various artists have illustrated the strip over the years, such as Wilson McCoy . To begin with the Phantom appeared in his daily strip in black and white, and it wasn't until the Sunday supplement began on 28th May 1939 that he was coloured purple. No one seems to know why the colourist chose this colour, but it stuck with the character thereafter (although various foreign editions have used a wide range of colours). Falk was apparently a little surprised by this choice too - he had envisioned the Phantom as wearing grey. Before settling on calling the character the Phantom, he had considered "The Gray Ghost" for a moniker. Additionally, the text of the black and white strip referred to the Phantom as being grey twice before the colour strip launched, and at least four times after this Falk reiterated this. It wasn't until 1956 that Falk finally gave in and stated within a story that the Phantom's costume was purple. With the success of the newspaper strip, it wasn't long before collected reprints started.

The first of them were in Big Little Books (a.k.a. Better Little Books), who released 6 volumes: The Phantom 1936 The Phantom and the Sign of the Skull 1939 The Phantom and Desert Justice 1941 The Return of the Phantom 1942 The Phantom and the Sky Pirates 1945 The Phantom and the Girl of Mystery 1947 The Phantom soon made the natural progression to appearing in comics, although to begin with they featured only reprints. David McKay publications began the reprints in Ace Comics, between #11 (February 1938) to #151 (November 1949). While that title concentrated on the daily strip, the same company began reprinting the Sunday strip, first in Future Comics #1 to #4 (June 1940 to September 1940), then as part of King Comics, starting from #61 of that title (May 1941). He continued there until #158 (with a break in #148 to #155 where he didn't appear).

McKay also reprinted some Phantom daily strips in Feature Comics, the first time the hero had a comic all to himself, in issues #20 (1938), #22, #39, #53, #56. and #57 (1949). Harvey Comics took over the reprints next, featuring the Phantom in #51 (October 1951) and #56 of Harvey Comics Hits, then in Harvey Hits #1, #6, #12, #15, #26, #36, #44 and #48. It wasn't until Gold Key launched a Phantom comic in 1962 that he got his own title. It ran for 17 issues before King Comics took over the licence in 1966, continuing the numbering to publish #18 to #28. Then in 1969 it was Charlton's turn - they went from #29 to #74. In 1973 King Features released a single issue of a Phantom comic, then Pacific Comics had their turn for 2 issues in 1977. D.C.

Comics released a four issue mini-series in 1988, followed by an ongoing series a year later, which lasted 13 issues. Meanwhile Pioneer Comics were releasing a variety of comic format reprints of the newspaper strips around the same time. In 1993 Wolf Comics released 9 issues of a Phantom Comic. Then it was the turn of Marvel Comics , with both Phantom The Ghost Who Walks (five issues, apparently starring the 22nd Phantom) and Phantom 2040 (four issues) - they had previously published the Phantom as part of their Defenders of the Earth comic, based on the cartoon of the same name. Most recently (2002 on) Moonstone Publishing have been releasing their version of the iconic character. Between September 1972 and July 1975 Avon Books released a series of 15 novels based (mostly) on Lee Falk's strips. In 1996 a novelisation of the movie was released.

The Phantom has been a world-wide phenomenon - he is published under a variety of names: Le Fantôme in France and French Canada Fantoom in the Netherlands El Hombre Enmascarado (The Masked Man) in Spain L'Uomo Mascherato (The Masked Man) in Italy Fantomet in Norway Mustanaamio (Black Mask) in Finland Fantom in Yugoslavia Kizilmaske (Red Mask) in Turkey (thanks to Joshua D. Walker for correcting my translation of this) Phantomas in Israel Bethala (Ghost in the Kannada) or Betaal (Hindi for Phantom or Ghost) or Aranyadeb (The God of the Jungle in Bengali) in India Fantasma in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, Venezuela Bera-Na-Liva in Fiji In some of these countries, the demand is sufficiently high that local creative teams have produced new strips, not available elsewhere - some of these have depicted the future adventures of this Phantom's children.

Vesa Lehtinen notes that "before Marvel comics came to Scandinavia at the 1980's, Phantom was the most popular US superhero alongside with the Superman (and more popular with the older population since he was not as "impossible" as Superman - my grandmother used to read the strip). Scandinavian comics publishing house Semic Press (that later become Egmont Publishing) has had its own Phantom comic books in the Finnish and Scandinavian languages from 1970's onwards. It has published both the original strips and its own stories, written and drawn by Swedish and Finnish comic artists. For example, Finnish artist Kari T. Leppänen made a number of stories that depicted historical Phantoms in historical situations, including one where one of the modern Phantom's ancestors defends the Island of Malta against Turkish conquerors. Some of the writers also used the background of Bangalla to write adventures based on real-life third-world problems or elaborated on Phantom's background, like how he met and befriended the wolf Devil." Anshuman Gaur adds "Phantom was one of the more popular characters in India. He went under the name 'Betaal', which in Hindi means Phantom.

There were minor changes in the names of his dog/wolf- Shera and horse- Toofan, and some place names were also rendered into Hindi. He began appearing in the Times of India in the mid 60's and later was published by Indrajaal comics till about mid 80's. Some pocket formats were also introduced and one full length novel in Hindi- which borrowed from the original comics but was not an authorized version." In 1943 the Phantom was the star of a fifteen part Columbia Pictures serial, starring Tom Tyler in the lead role. It's recently been released on DVD. Josh Geren notes that "1996 saw the release of the big budget, still set in the thirties, Phantom with Billy Zane as the title character and Treat Williams as the villain. While a flop at the box office, it is a cult favorite." In the movie, Zane plays Kit Walker, the (presumably) 21st Phantom, with Patrick McGoohan playing his father, the 20th Phantom.

A new movie version, "The Phantom Legacy" is currently in the works, scheduled for a 2009 release (thanks to Craig Killian for this information - some more is on his website ). There have also been two cartoons which featured the Phantom, more on which below. There's an excellent, in-depth site devoted to the Phantom at Thanks to Dick Walker for correcting me as to the Phantom's pistols not being revolvers. Affiliations: Unknown Enemies: Singh Pirates Known Relatives: Christina (wife), Eric the Rover (father-in-law), Christopher (father, deceased - accounts vary as to whether his surname was Standish or Walker), his various descendants (most named Kit, Phantom #2 on) Aliases: Christopher Walker, Eric Nelson, Kit, Guardian of the Eastern Dark Base of Operations: Skull Cave, The Deep Woods, Bangalla, Africa First Appearance: Phantom newspaper strip, Sunday editions (1936) Powers/Abilities: Expert horseman. Marksman. Good fighter, trained in many forms of combat. Extremely agile and athletic.

The Phantom usually carries a dagger, twin pistols, and two distinctive rings which can leave permanent marks on those they touch - the "Good Mark" on the left hand, a four overlapping swords / letter P's forming a rotating cross, which marks the bearer as being under the Phantom's protection; the "Skull Mark" on the right hand, normally delivered with a solid punch to the face, which shows the victim as someone who has crossed the Phantom and been punished for same. History: In the early 1500's Christopher "Kit" Standish sailed the oceans with his father, a sea captain who had once been the cabin boy of Christopher Columbus. Kit was due to take over control of the vessel once their current voyage ended, but destiny stepped in to prevent this. Off the coast of Africa the ship was raided by the Singh pirates, and the two crews fought a vicious battle in the middle of a raging storm, with the pirates gradually gaining the upper hand. Then the ship ran was smashed by the tide onto a reef, ripping it apart. As his vessel went down, so too did the Captain, struck down by a blow to the heart from the sword of the pirate chief.

Kit's attempt to gain vengeance for the murder of his sire was prevented by the destruction of the ship, and he was washed overboard into the stormy waters, and lost consciousness. He was discovered washed ashore by a group of Bangallan pygmies, who nursed him back to health. Once he had recovered, he returned to the beach were he had been found, where he discovered the remains of a European man. Closer examination of the corpse revealed it to be his father's killer. Kit left the body for the scavengers, but returned some time later. Taking the skull, he swore an oath that he and his descendants would live to ensure "the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice." Both Kit and his descendants have remained true to this oath for over four centuries. Kit freed the local Bandar tribes from slavers who were preying on them, gaining their friendship and allegiance for all time. Taking inspiration from one of their native idols, he designed a costume and set up base in a cave with an entrance which resembled a skull. Thus began the legend of the Phantom, the Ghost Who Walks.

Question: """Devil"" was the pet wolf of which comic strip character?"
Answer: The Phantom