Number 1228: Ghost that walks in a purple sweatsuit

As a comic character, the Phantom has been around for three-quarters of a century. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the 400 years of ancestral history the original 1936 Phantom had behind him. Phantoms all: an unending line of physically perfect men who chose to live their lives in a jungle, in a cave, wearing a purple suit and hood that just must’ve been hotter than — well…to each his own.

Lee Falk

The Phantom didn’t start out his comic strip career as that descendant of the first Phantom, a shipwrecked sailor who donned the purple union suit. Nope, the Phantom started out as Jimmy Webb, a rich playboy who became the Phantom. Within a short time Phantom creator Lee Falk had a brainstorm and dismissed that early incarnation of the Phantom as if it had never been, then re-made the former playboy into the cave-dwelling jungle hero. It worked. The Phantom has been one of the most consistently popular comic characters ever, well-known in many countries, even if not so much known nowadays in the country of his origin, the U.S.A.

In 1943 he was popular enough to get his own movie serial starring Tom Tyler, who had also played another iconic hero, Captain Marvel. The Phantom serial from Columbia was Tyler’s last starring role. He died a few years later at the young age of 50. The Phantom serial is available online here, where you can watch all 15 episodes.

This story, “The Terror of the Tiny People” is from Harvey Comic Hits #51, 1951. Diana, the Phantom’s squeeze, looks air-conditioned in her mini-sundress, much more so than the Phantom, wearing his usual uniform of purple sweatsuit with mask and hoodie.

I showed another story from this issue in Pappy's #1065.

Dance of the Doomed

The last THOIA post from the February 1953 issue of Strange Stories from Another World #5 is actually the first story in this issue, blurbed on the tremendous Norm Saunders cover too, and unfortunately for horror comic history, this was also the final issue of this occasionally thrilling, short lived series from Fawcett Pub. For all the tales in this one see the last 3 posts, as well as Vampire's Daughter that we posted last year.

Number 1227: “I was a prisoner of Captain Kidd!”

September 19th is “Talk Like a Pirate Day” and I will have a pirate story for you that day. I also have a pirate story for you today. I guess pirates are on my mind this week.

Bill Ely did the excellent art on this story from DC's My Greatest Adventure #11 (1956). I've featured Ely before, and I'll give you a link after reminding you that Ely was a very early comic book pioneer, and drew all through the Golden Age of comics. He then drew for DC for several years, into the 1960s. He is one of those journeymen who do not get the recognition they deserve from fans. Look at this story, his drawing, the detail, the panel composition. It all points to him being one of the top illustrative artists in the comics. And yet under-appreciated by comics fans. I'd like to help change that.

There's more DC work by Ely in Pappy's #772.

The Flaming Witness

Karl Malden stars in this sizzling supernatural thriller of vengeance from beyond the ladle, from the February 1953 issue of Strange Stories from Another World #5. Flame on!

Number 1226: The funny filler

Fillers in comics can be boring, but I like the backup feature in Plastic Man, starring Plastic Man's pal, Woozy Winks. Like Plastic Man, who was a criminal before becoming a hero, Woozy was also once a crook. But then he became Plas' comic relief. Woozy is the comedian to Plas' straight man (or as straight as a bendable, flexible, stretchable, shape-shifting man can be), and more important for a funny book, the backup is funny!

This story, from Plastic Man #6 (1947), is credited to Jack Cole by the Grand Comics Database, with inks by Alex Kotzky.

The Rain, The Deadly Rain!

Seemed like everyone had such a great time with that last full Fawcett Publications issue, I thought, what the heck, how about another? In fact, how about the freaky February 1953 issue of Strange Stories from Another World #5? We've already got "Vampire's Daughter" in the can (click HERE for it), and today things get extra soggy and saturated with our first of two stories concerning vengeful Earth elements (we'll see what fire has to say in our next post!)