Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Phantom Stranger Quote of the Day:
"Men call me the Phantom Stranger and say that I have seen the beginning of this World. Perhaps they are right... ...for each man's world begins with his memory, and ends at the furthest borders of his dreams!"
Everyone knows how much I love the Phantom Stranger. His capacity for strangening phantomly, when I was a child, set him apart from all other heroes and bestowed upon him a wisdom at which the rest of us can only marvel.
But, oddly, it seems not everyone loved him as much as I did.
And so it was that, after just 41 issues, his comic came to an end.
But, having never read it before, what do I make of that end?
And will the presence of Deadman affect my perception of it?
It all begins when, during a presumably typical day at the Sanders School for the Blind, two of its teachers Cassandra Craft and Adam Shapiro go to the assistance of fellow blind person Nathan Seine - only for him to capture Cassandra and knock out Shapiro.
Needless to say, that bid failed and, now, Seine's out for revenge against the titfer-topped tormentor of tyrants, terrors and troublemakers. And he's going to get it by sacrificing Cassandra to his masters the Nether Gods.
But it turns out they don't want her. They want the Phantom Stranger.
Taking advantage of the fact that she's still alive, Cassandra sends a psychic message to the Stranger who's stood around, arguing with Deadman. The Stranger knows that saving Cassandra's bacon is more important even than arguing with a ghost and instantly teleports off to save her.
But the Nether Gods have granted Seine the power to kill our hero and it looks like it's all up for the plucky man of mystery, until, as a last resort, he summons Deadman who takes one look at the situation and possesses the unconscious Shapiro.
But that's all our the Stranger needs. Now he can channel, into Seine, Deadman's pain at the knowledge that he caused Shapiro's death. And that pain robs the villain of his powers before he's taken away by the Nether Gods who don't take kindly to failure.
But not everyone on Team Good Guy is happy either because Deadman's angry about the death of Shapiro and his own part in it.
And that's how the Phantom Stranger's series ends. Not with a bang but with a disappearing act.
It would be nice to say it's a great finale to a great series but the truth is it all feels very rushed, with the story and its characters possessing no time to breathe.
It's nice to see Cassandra Craft and Nathan Seine return from previous issues but I'm not so sure it's nice to see Deadman again. A man who's always seemed, to me, to be a one-note character in the few appearances I've experienced. Not to mention that his constant complaining quickly starts to feel like a contractual obligation, rather than forming organically.
But if little in the story itself satisfies me, at least the issue does boast that mean, moody and magnificent Jim Aparo cover to remind us of the strip's glory days.
But have I fallen into a trap? Is it possible that it was always the covers alone that had lent the book the air of it being a title experiencing its glory days?
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15 comments:
These characters are new to me. Seine's situation, with his lady (albeit she's dead, not catatonic), is like Kang's with Ravonna, or Doom's with Valeria. Deadman possessing people reminds of Frank Charlesworth, in 'Second Chance'! Whether the cover did it for you, or not, Steve - only you can know. Nevertheless, a powerful cover, when you're young, makes an absolutely extraordinary difference, and can definitely permanently colour your memory of a particular comic!
Phillip
reminds me!
Phillip
Thinking on...Adam Warlock ended abruptly, in the middle of nowhere, too!
Phillip
The Phantom Stranger comic at this time was ok but I think Aparos wonderful covers ( from #33 onwards) attracted most folk to pick up the comic. The Strangers glory days were when Len Wein and Jim Aparo worked on the book ( issues 17- 26) together.
Afterlife with Archie was another book that left readers without a conclusion to a massive zombie outbreak storyline after issue 10 when the book was cancelled.
"Titfer-topped tormentor of tyrants..." Excellent, Steve. That's the sort of thing we come here for. I also rather liked that about the Phantom Stranger strangening phantomly, which rather neatly summed up the two dimensional nature of the character.
As ever, your review pretty much gets things right. I say 'pretty much' because while you're right about Fred Carillo being a bit of a journeyman take on the styles of Alex Nino and... well, I reckon he echoes Nestor Redondo more than Gerry Talaoc, I do actually like his work quite a bit anyway.
And I think I'd maybe give Paul Levitz a bit of credit too, going for an unpredictably downbeat story. I was surprised Shapiro - who along with Cassandra was in the previous issue too - got killed anyway, and that our heroes were kind of responsible.
Dark, eh? Ok, its as clumsily written as you'd expect from a 17 year old working on his first ongoing series, but at least Levitz seemed to be trying to do something interesting.
-sean
No thoughts on the back up feature, Steve? I have to admit I do actually like that endearingly daft Legion of Black Orchids storyline. I mean, if you're into the Black Orchid, five Black Orchids are obviously better, right?
-sean
* Oops, six Black Orchids (I forgot one of the villainous Orchids gets tied up off panel, and replaced by the real one).
"...neatly summed up the two dimensional nature of the character."
The Stranger wasn't the only two-dimensional character - Deadman had an appalling track record for making dumb choices throughout his afterlife existence.
There would consistently be a scene towards the end where someone's on the verge of being killed. Deadman's decision? Go and inhabit the body of the potential victim. No, Boston - you go for the person with the gun! Inevitably, the possessed bod gets knocked off and Deadman gets grumpy about it - sheesh, talk about blaming the victim...
The Phantom Stranger - otherwise known as Nigel Farage in Clacton.
Charlie’s best recall of Phantom Stranger has been explained above sort of:
1) Go to spinner rack.
2) Pick it up for the decent cover.
3) Flip through it a couple times appreciating the art.
4) After 2nd flip through, you realize youve digested the entire story.
5) Put back in spinner, hiding it behind Sad Sack or Wendy the Good Witch if you felt you might want to buy it!
Shake and repeat next month (bi-monthly?)
So, B... do I understand you correctly that Deadman's host bodies regularly ended up getting whacked? (I've not read many actual Deadman comics)
Was Paul Levitz just doing a standard move then, finishing off the Adam Shapiro character...?
-sean
Sean, I am saving the Black Orchid tale for a later occasion.
I’ve never encountered that word before (had to Google it, and Spellcheck keeps changing it to “titter”) but it was worth the effort — “titfer-topped tormentor of tyrants” is a total typographical triumph :)
I’ve always liked the Phantom Stranger in theory but never really cared much for the actual comics. He’s a great visual (especially on those Aparo covers) but as an actual character he always seemed a bit “neither fish nor fowl”. I preferred the issues where he was a mostly remote, somewhat spooky presence on the periphery of stand-alone supernatural stories, speaking directly to the reader and only occasionally interacting with the other characters. But when he was a more active participant, using his vaguely-defined magical powers to fight other sorcerous beings, with a recurring love interest and all that, he seemed less interesting.
b.t.
I cant say I really grooved to Deadman either. The Neal Adams art, like Aparo art on Spectre and Phantom Stranger, ended up being the most intriguing aspect of Deadman.
I like the Phantom Stranger too, but I've noticed on several occasions other characters have regarded him as an annoying bastard, particularly John Constantine.
I could see how one would, he just drops in outta nowhere laying some cryptic shit on everybody,
Go find a house to haunt, will ya?
I've rather regarded Alan Moore's take on his origin as probably correct.
M.P.
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