By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1088-5
The Phantom Stranger was one of the first transitional heroes of the Golden Age of comics, created at the very end of the superhero boom as readers moved from costumed crimefighters to other genres such as mystery, crime, war and western tales. A trench-coated, mysterious know-it-all, with hat pulled down low, he would appear, debunk a legend or foil a supernatural-seeming plot, and then vanish again.
He was coolly ambiguous, never revealing whether he was man, mystic or personally paranormal. Probably created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, who produced the first story in Phantom Stranger #1 (August-September 1952) and most of the others, the six-issue run also boasted contributions from Jack Miller, Manny Stallman and John Giunta. The last issue was cover-dated June-July, 1953, after which the character vanished.
Flash-forward to the end of 1968. The second superhero boom is rapidly becoming a bust and traditional costumed heroes are dropping like flies. Suspense and mystery titles are the Coming Thing and somebody has the bright idea of reviving the Phantom Stranger. He is the last hero revival of DC’s Silver Age and the last to graduate to his own title during the star-studded initial run of Showcase, appearing in #80 (January-February 1969) and debuting in his own comic three months later. This time he found an appreciative audience, running for 41 issues over seven years.
Rather than completely renovate the character, or simply run complete reprints as DC had when trying to revive espionage ace King Faraday (Showcase #50-51), Editor Joe Orlando had writer Mike Friedrich and artist Jerry Grandenetti create a contemporary framing sequence of missing children for the 1950s tale ‘the Three Signs of Evil’, and in a masterstroke of print economy, introduced (or rather reintroduced) another lost 1950s mystery hero to fill out the comic, and provide a thoroughly modern counterpoint.
Dr. Terrence Thirteen is a parapsychologist known as the Ghost Breaker who had his own feature in Star-Spangled Comics #122-130 from November 1951 to July 1952. With fiancée (later wife) Marie he debunked supernatural hoaxes and caught mystic fraudsters, a vocal and determined cynic who was imported whole into the Showcase try-out as a foil for the Stranger. His reprint adventure here was an origin tale ‘I Talked with the Dead!’ by an unknown writer with art by Leonard Starr and Wayne Howard.
Despite this somewhat choppy beginning, the tryout was a relative success and (Follow Me… For I Am…) The Phantom Stranger launched with a May-June cover-date. In another framing sequence by Friedrich and Bill Draut, a tale of impossible escape from certain death is revealed in ‘When Ghosts Walk!’, a Fifties thriller from John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, followed by an all new mystery ‘Defeat the Dragon Curse… or Die!’ Firmly establishing that the supernatural is real, Friedrich and Draut pit the Stranger and Dr. 13 against each other as well as an ancient Chinese curse.
‘The Man Who Died Three Times’ in the second issue is a mystery with a deadly yet mundane origin, but the incorporated reprint Stranger tale ‘the House of Strange Secrets’ (Broome, Infantino and Barry) and Dr. 13’s ‘the Girl Who Lived 5,000 Years’ (France both provide the uneasy chills that Friedrich and Draut’s by-the-numbers tale do not.
Issue #3 once again used frightened kids as a vehicle for Friedrich and Draut to encapsulate vintage thrillers in a tale with a sinister carnival component. The Stranger relived ‘How do you Know My Name?’ by Broome and Frank Giacoia whilst Dr. 13 proved once more that there were ‘No Such Thing as Ghosts!’ (by Herron and Starr).
With such a formularized start it’s a miracle the series reached the landmark issue #4 where Robert Kanigher and Neal Adams (who had been responsible for the lion’s share of eerie, captivating covers thus far) produced a much more proactive hero in the mystery triptych ‘There is Laughter in Hell This Day!’, ‘There is Laughter in Hell Tonight!’ and ‘Even the Walls are Weeping!’
Stalwart Bill Draut provided inks for this classy classic in which Terry Thirteen became a far more militant – and consequently, frustrated – debunker of the Stranger’s “hocus-pocus†when Tala, the demonic Queen of Evil and Mistress of Darkness escapes her ancient tomb to bedevil the modern world with only the Phantom Stranger and an eclectic gang of runaway teens to oppose her.
This new combative format and repositioning of the book was presumably for the benefit of older kids. The protagonist teens were a strange composite of counter-culture stereotypes named Spartacus (Black kid), Attila (greasy biker), Wild Rose (blonde flower child) and Mister Square (conformist drop-out) who feel a little forced now but were the saving of the book, as was dropping of 17 year old reprints. From now on the stranger would really battle the Dark Powers and Dr. 13 would assume the metaphorical role of a blustering, officious parent who had no idea what was really going on. An added bonus in this cracking issue was a nifty three page horror vignette from Kanigher and the wonderful Murphy Anderson entitled ‘Out of This World’.
Anderson returned to ink the unique Mike Sekowsky in Phantom Stranger # 5, a full-length ghostly thriller featuring more of Tala’s handiwork in ‘the Devil’s Playground!’, topped off with another horror short by Kanigher, credited to Sekowsky here but actually a fine example of Curt Swan’s subtle mastery, especially as it’s inked by Anderson.
Sekowsky wrote and illustrated the next issue, with inks from Vince Colletta. ‘No. 13 Thirteenth Street’ is a Haunted House tale with those meddling kids and Dr. 13 getting underfoot in a delightfully light and whimsical diversion before Kanigher and Tala return in #7’s dark saga ‘The Curse!’ wherein both the Stranger and Terry Thirteen are right and the solution to madness and sudden deaths is both fraud and the supernatural!
This issue is particularly important in that it features the debut of up-and-coming Jim Aparo as illustrator. Over the next few years his art on this feature would be some of the very best in the entire industry.
Issue #8 featured an early arctic eco-thriller with supernatural overtones as Denny O’Neil described the tragic ‘Journey to the Tomb of the Ice Giants!’ whilst Dr. 13 got his own feature and dealt with ‘the Adventure of the Brittle Blossom!’ Mike Sekowsky scripted #9’s ‘Obeah Man!’ a tense shocker of emerging nations and ancient magic which showed Aparo’s superb versatility with locales.
Young Gerry Conway wrote ‘Death… Call Not my Name!’ for #10 which introduced another stylish returning villain in the immortal alchemist Tannarak, and found room for a quickie as the Stranger proved to be no match for ‘Charlie’s Crocodile.’ Phantom Stranger #11 (Conway and Aparo) introduced a colossal new threat as evil-doers everywhere began to vanish in ‘Walk Not in the Desert Sun…’ whilst Kanigher returned with a classy haunted love-story in ‘Marry Me… Marry Death!’ in #12 which also featured another debunking solo outing for the Ghost Breaker in Jack Oleck and Tony De Zuniga’s ‘A Time to Die’.
Science met supernature in issue #13 when death stalked a research community in ‘Child of Death’ and Dr. 13 survived an encounter with ‘the Devil’s Timepiece’, both scripts from Kanigher and art supplied by Aparo and De Zuniga respectively.
Len Wein wrote possibly the spookiest adventure to feature the Phantom Stranger in #14’s ‘The Man with No Heart!’, a story which resolved forever the debate about the dark hero’s humanity and also introduced another long-term adversary for our delectation. The Ghost Breaker had his own brush with super-science – but definitely not the supernatural, no sir! – in Wein and De Zuniga’s ‘The Spectre of the Stalking Swamp!’ a tale that actually pushed the Stranger off his own front cover!
Issue #15 returned him to the Dark Continent as a robotics engineer is caught up in revolution in Wein and Aparo’s ‘the Iron Messiah’ whilst Kanigher and De Zuniga send Dr. 13 up against ‘Satan’s Sextet’. On a roll now the Phantom Stranger creative team surpassed themselves with each successive issue, beginning with an ancient horror captured as an ‘Image in Wax’, nicely balanced by a sneaky murder mystery ‘And the Corpse cried “Murder!‒ (Wein and De Zuniga).
‘Like a Ghost from the Ashes’ introduced a nominal love-interest in blind psychic Cassandra Craft as well as returning an old foe with new masters in a the first chapter of an extended saga – so extended it pushed the Ghost Breaker out of #17 altogether. He returned in the back of the next issue in Steve Skeates and De Zuniga’s tense phantom menace ‘Stopover!’, and the artist drew double duty by illustrating the lead strip ‘Home is the Sailor’ a gothic romance with a sharp twist in the tail.
Old enemies resurfaced in ‘Return to the Tomb of the Ice Giants!’ as did artist Jim Aparo, whilst Skeates and De Zuniga’s ‘the Voice of Vengeance’ proved to be another stylish murder mystery in spook’s clothing. ‘A Child Shall Lead Them’ was written by Bob Kanigher, who easily adapted to the new style and produced a tense, powerful chase thriller as all and sundry search for the newest incarnation of a High Lama murdered by magic. Two short suspense tales top off the issue, both illustrated by the veteran Jack Sparling, ‘the Power’ scripted by Mark Hanerfield, and John Albano’s ‘A Far Away Place’.
Phantom Stranger #21 finishes off this superb collection of menace and magic with Wein and Aparo’s ‘the Resurrection of Johnny Glory’ wherein a reanimated assassin finds a good reason to stay dead whilst Dr. 13 debunks one final myth in ‘Woman of Stone’, prompting the question “why don’t killers use guns anymore?â€
The DC Showcase compendiums are a brilliant way to access superb quality comics fare, and these black and white telephone books of wonderment offer tremendous value for money. If you’re looking for esoteric thrills and chills this first Phantom Stranger volume has it all. If you’re not a fan yet give it a chance… you will be.
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