Sorry, I wasn’t trying to take anything away from the character’s influence. Simply suggesting “the ghost who walks” has been overshadowed by the costumed heroes (mostly super powered) who followed in his footsteps. Green Hornet and The Spirit were also influential, but they themselves have been largely forgotten.
Fair to say, I don’t love The Phantom’s costume, but other than that, I don’t know the character well enough to dislike him. But what really stands out about him, other than his adventuring in exotic locales, is that he has Devil, Hero, and the skull cave. Why that’s enough for audiences outside the U.S., but not for Americans, I can’t say.
You’re right about Zorro being set in California, but depending on which stories you’re talking about, they were also in the period of either Spanish or Mexican rule. That, plus the swashbuckling and the sword fighting make him seem “exotic” enough to me. You’re also right that the Scarlet Pimpernel is set in England, but he’s saving French noblemen from the Reign of Terror.
Devil, Hero and the Skull Cave wasn't what had people in Australia, India, Scandinavia, Brazil and other countries falling in love with the character. You make them sound like very simple minded. Rather - and I touch on this in the article - it's because he ISN'T tied to any one culture that is the appeal. Unlike many other heroes, he isn't fighting for "truth, justice and the American way," he fights for truth, justice and the right for people to live ANY way they wish, as long as they aren't harming others. Indeed, he fights in every country, for all people. Unlike the vast majority of Marvel and DC heroes he is truly a global hero, not just staying in one country.
And can you blame them? If you live in India and you see Superman saying you should be bowing to the Stars and Stripes or the Phantom saying you should embrace and love your own culture, which do you think would be more appealing?
Hmm. Maybe I should completely re-write the article as this conversation has brought up points I didn't think to cover when I originally wrote it years ago.
Fair enough! I hope you get another article out of it and I look forward to reading it.
As far as the rest, as I said, I don’t know the character well enough to even have an opinion. When I mention his costume, wolf, horse, and cave, it’s not as an insult, it’s because comics are a visual medium and, as an outsider, those symbols make him visually distinctive. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Clearly you love the character, so I’m glad you’ll be taking a deeper dive at some point.
Just looking at fellow members of the “domino club”, you also have The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, and The Spirit. Those are the ones who come readily to mind anyway. Green Hornet suffers much of the same problem as The Phantom, but in a different milieu. And he had a tricked out car decades before James Bonding. Also, there for a little while he had Bruce Lee!
Meanwhile, back to comics, The Spirit had Will Eisner. One of the most important artists comics have ever had. The Spirit started as a daily strip about four years after The Phantom, so of all the characters I’ve mentioned this is probably the fairest comparison. Much as I hate to say it, the character has close to zero mainstream recognition today. Other than the movie, of course, about which the less said the better.
Interesting take, but then you have to reconcile that fellow mask wearers the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro are, arguably, more popular characters. Maybe I’m mixing apples and oranges, given that both of those characters originated outside of comics and predate The Phantom by several decades. I’m just trying to point out that their being of different nationalities and set in “exotic” locales hasn’t hurt their popularity any. If anything, that’s part of their charm.
The Phantom just comes across as generic when compared to the characters that came after him. The costume isn’t helping matters any (and I say this as a huge fan of Michael T. Gilbert’s Mr. Monster). Identity wise, the best things he has going for him are his wolf, his horse, and his cave.
Well, I’m going to have to 100% disagree with you there. The character can hardly be “generic” if he’s what inspired all that came after. I don’t know much about Scarlet Pimpernel (wasn't it set in England, though?), but Zorro debuted in pulps, not comics, and he also didn’t wear a skin tight suite. Also, I’d hardly call California, where most of Zorro’s adventures take place, exotic.
Clearly you don’t like the Phantom character, and that’s fine, but it’s kind of hard to marry up your claimed unlikability of him when the strip has never been out of print since 1936. Your take seems to be an incredibly American-centric one, which just goes to solidify what my piece is saying; for whatever reason Americans just don’t seem to “get” the character as those from the other countries mentioned do.
Great article! I mentioned to you before how one of my Brazilian aunts collected The Phantom. I'm going to drop her a line today and ask her a little more about - how her interest started.
Do you think Mandrake may have influenced Dr Strange? They almost seem the same character. Your article also made me think of Hollywood's attempt at The Phantom, and what a box office flop it was - it could be partly due to him not being a character the public cared for.
I'd LOVE to hear what your aunt says. It's always really interesting to hear other fans' reasons for enjoying the character.
At the risk of sounding contrarian, while I can't say that Mandrake had no influence on Doctor Strange, I don't think it would have been a huge one. Falk originally envisioned Mandrake as an illusionist; he didn't actual have magic powers, he just was able to hypnotise people to think they were seeing things. Strange is much more embedded in the mystic/occult/sorcery style of magic, whereas Mandrake, at least originally, had some science behind it.
In regards to the Phantom movie, yes you are totally right. It was very successful in countries where the character was already popular, but not in countries where he wasn't. I guess that stands for reason. I don't think Asterix movies have ever done terribly well in the US, but they are very successful in Europe. It kind of just goes to prove the point of the article. It's interesting to note, though, that no film based on a classic comic or pulp character - the Shadow, Rocketeer, the Spirit - has been successful. So it's certainly not a Phantom-only problem.
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to take anything away from the character’s influence. Simply suggesting “the ghost who walks” has been overshadowed by the costumed heroes (mostly super powered) who followed in his footsteps. Green Hornet and The Spirit were also influential, but they themselves have been largely forgotten.
Fair to say, I don’t love The Phantom’s costume, but other than that, I don’t know the character well enough to dislike him. But what really stands out about him, other than his adventuring in exotic locales, is that he has Devil, Hero, and the skull cave. Why that’s enough for audiences outside the U.S., but not for Americans, I can’t say.
You’re right about Zorro being set in California, but depending on which stories you’re talking about, they were also in the period of either Spanish or Mexican rule. That, plus the swashbuckling and the sword fighting make him seem “exotic” enough to me. You’re also right that the Scarlet Pimpernel is set in England, but he’s saving French noblemen from the Reign of Terror.
Devil, Hero and the Skull Cave wasn't what had people in Australia, India, Scandinavia, Brazil and other countries falling in love with the character. You make them sound like very simple minded. Rather - and I touch on this in the article - it's because he ISN'T tied to any one culture that is the appeal. Unlike many other heroes, he isn't fighting for "truth, justice and the American way," he fights for truth, justice and the right for people to live ANY way they wish, as long as they aren't harming others. Indeed, he fights in every country, for all people. Unlike the vast majority of Marvel and DC heroes he is truly a global hero, not just staying in one country.
And can you blame them? If you live in India and you see Superman saying you should be bowing to the Stars and Stripes or the Phantom saying you should embrace and love your own culture, which do you think would be more appealing?
Hmm. Maybe I should completely re-write the article as this conversation has brought up points I didn't think to cover when I originally wrote it years ago.
Fair enough! I hope you get another article out of it and I look forward to reading it.
As far as the rest, as I said, I don’t know the character well enough to even have an opinion. When I mention his costume, wolf, horse, and cave, it’s not as an insult, it’s because comics are a visual medium and, as an outsider, those symbols make him visually distinctive. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Clearly you love the character, so I’m glad you’ll be taking a deeper dive at some point.
Thanks. It's been a good discussion. I do have at least one more article to share so hope you check it out.
Just looking at fellow members of the “domino club”, you also have The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, and The Spirit. Those are the ones who come readily to mind anyway. Green Hornet suffers much of the same problem as The Phantom, but in a different milieu. And he had a tricked out car decades before James Bonding. Also, there for a little while he had Bruce Lee!
Meanwhile, back to comics, The Spirit had Will Eisner. One of the most important artists comics have ever had. The Spirit started as a daily strip about four years after The Phantom, so of all the characters I’ve mentioned this is probably the fairest comparison. Much as I hate to say it, the character has close to zero mainstream recognition today. Other than the movie, of course, about which the less said the better.
Will Eisner actually wrote a letter to Lee Falk saying The Phantom helped inspire The Spirit. I’ve letter around here somewhere.
Interesting take, but then you have to reconcile that fellow mask wearers the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro are, arguably, more popular characters. Maybe I’m mixing apples and oranges, given that both of those characters originated outside of comics and predate The Phantom by several decades. I’m just trying to point out that their being of different nationalities and set in “exotic” locales hasn’t hurt their popularity any. If anything, that’s part of their charm.
The Phantom just comes across as generic when compared to the characters that came after him. The costume isn’t helping matters any (and I say this as a huge fan of Michael T. Gilbert’s Mr. Monster). Identity wise, the best things he has going for him are his wolf, his horse, and his cave.
Well, I’m going to have to 100% disagree with you there. The character can hardly be “generic” if he’s what inspired all that came after. I don’t know much about Scarlet Pimpernel (wasn't it set in England, though?), but Zorro debuted in pulps, not comics, and he also didn’t wear a skin tight suite. Also, I’d hardly call California, where most of Zorro’s adventures take place, exotic.
Clearly you don’t like the Phantom character, and that’s fine, but it’s kind of hard to marry up your claimed unlikability of him when the strip has never been out of print since 1936. Your take seems to be an incredibly American-centric one, which just goes to solidify what my piece is saying; for whatever reason Americans just don’t seem to “get” the character as those from the other countries mentioned do.
Great article! I mentioned to you before how one of my Brazilian aunts collected The Phantom. I'm going to drop her a line today and ask her a little more about - how her interest started.
Do you think Mandrake may have influenced Dr Strange? They almost seem the same character. Your article also made me think of Hollywood's attempt at The Phantom, and what a box office flop it was - it could be partly due to him not being a character the public cared for.
I'd LOVE to hear what your aunt says. It's always really interesting to hear other fans' reasons for enjoying the character.
At the risk of sounding contrarian, while I can't say that Mandrake had no influence on Doctor Strange, I don't think it would have been a huge one. Falk originally envisioned Mandrake as an illusionist; he didn't actual have magic powers, he just was able to hypnotise people to think they were seeing things. Strange is much more embedded in the mystic/occult/sorcery style of magic, whereas Mandrake, at least originally, had some science behind it.
In regards to the Phantom movie, yes you are totally right. It was very successful in countries where the character was already popular, but not in countries where he wasn't. I guess that stands for reason. I don't think Asterix movies have ever done terribly well in the US, but they are very successful in Europe. It kind of just goes to prove the point of the article. It's interesting to note, though, that no film based on a classic comic or pulp character - the Shadow, Rocketeer, the Spirit - has been successful. So it's certainly not a Phantom-only problem.