Happy Halloween from The Phantom Stranger!

This awesome Phantom Stranger Halloween costume was made and is worn by Fantom Stranger Kevin, who says, "I've gotta say it plays well with the ladies...even if they don't know the character. They seem to have a problem with eye contact though. :)"

Here's another pic of Kevin in costume, along with his wife dressed as Catwoman:

...the Phantom Stranger always did do pretty well with the ladies. Has to the whole "mysteriously silent" thing he has going.

Awesome costume, Kevin, and great pics! Thanks for sending it along!

The Phantom Stranger at the 2010 DragonCon

As the date on the last post will attest, I haven't really been updating I Am The Phantom Stranger very much. But when my pal Shag Matthews sent me this photo--taken at the 2010 DragonCon--I couldn't just let it pass.

Among the hundreds (thousands?) of cosplayers you see at cons, the Phantom Stranger is not a character you see represented much, so this fan deserves an extra bit of praise for the effort! I wonder if he tried to walk away from various dealers tables when their backs were turned, in true PS style?

Crisis on Earth Blog: The DC Challenge!

Courtesy blogger Frank Lee Delano comes a comic book blog crossover event so huge that Zack Snyder is currently developing a movie version--The DC Challenge!

Follow the story below, and choose your answer. You will either get one step closer to the ultimate answer or end up further away.

Frank has lined up an astonishing list of collaborators, which you can see below. Are you up to the challenge?

1982

Zatanna was on her way up to serve a shift aboard the Justice League of America Satellite with Elongated Man, but instead of a high tech headquarters in orbit 22,300 miles about the Earth, she found herself in a dark, dank castle. A grim figure in black approached her from the shadows, and where some might see a Phantom Stranger, the sorceress was relieved to see a somewhat friendly face.

Wordlessly, the Stranger gestured for Zatanna to follow him, as they entered an antechamber populated by some of the most powerful mystical forces in all of creation.

To the left was Doctor Fate, who was the first to speak. He warned of figures from a possible future come to plague modern heroes, such as Firestorm, and Supergirl. He believed these beings must be removed from our time without delicacy or delay.

Dr. Mist, the ancient mage we leads the Global Guardians, warned of a massive surge in organized super-villain activity. Captain Comet, The Metal Men, and others had faced this terrible threat.

Grimmest of all was the Spectre, the embodiment of the Judeo-Christian God's own wrath. He warned of beings from other dimension raining down on creation like a plague, currently afflicting soldiers from throughout time and space, including The Atom, Sgt. Rock, and the Unknown Soldier. Worse, what evil now rose up in the hearts of the fallen mighty, like the Manhunter from Mars?

All of the magic wielders agreed that something had to be done, but by whom? When? The Phantom Stranger turned to Zatanna. "Me?" she asked.

The Phantom Stranger replied, "If not you, then who? If not now, then when?"

Perhaps these others have their own answers to such a question?

The Aquaman Shrine
The Atom: Tiny Titan
Being Carter Hall
Comics Make Me Happy
Crimson Lightning
Dispatches from the Arrow Cave
El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker
Firestorm Fan
Girls Gone Geek
I Am The Phantom Stranger
The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Justice League Detroit
...nurgh...
Once Upon a Geek
Pretty, Fizzy Paradise
random picture day
Reilly2040's Blog
Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
Toyriffic
when is evil cool?

Phantom Stranger (Vol.2) #42 - March 2010

"Deadman Walking" by Peter J. Tomasi, Ardian Syaf, and Vicenete Cifuentes.

As promised, I Am The Phantom Stranger rises from the grave (good one, eh?) for this special one-off post, talking about a book I never thought I'd see: Phantom Stranger #42!

Spinning off from the events in Blackest Night, The Phantom Stranger and Blue Devil find themselves trying to stop one intimidating opponent--am ersatz Zombie Spectre!:

During the fight, the "good" Spectre actually pops out of his own zombie-fied body, which the evil version tries to smash back inside, using the Stranger and Blue Devil as cudgels.

Eventually Zombie Spectre departs, and we learn the Stranger's true mission (always mysterious, that guy): Deadman, who is busy fighting a Zombie version of his own dead body outside the gates of the holy city, Nanda Parbat.

The Stranger gets close, and he and Zombie Deadman (possessed by the "real" Deadman) tussle:

...I like the nod to the various Phantom Stranger origins, as told in Secret Origins #10.

Eventually, due to their combined efforts, Zombie Deadman is rendered inert, and his body--a sacred item to the citizens of Nanda Parbat--is laid out, and guarded "for as long as it is required."

This part of their mission accomplished, Deadman and The Phantom Stranger depart:

...this clearly isn't the end of The Phantom Stranger's involvement in Blackest Night.

Although he's only played a minor role so far, it was nice seeing him take center stage, and in his own book again! Who knows, maybe haven't seen the last of this--maybe there'll be a Phantom Stranger #43?

PS P.S.: Skybox Trading Card - 1993

This card--from the same set as the Tim Hunter subset from earlier in the week--is a real beauty, and I'm glad a couple of you pointed out its existence to me.

Regular IATPS commenter (and now Fantom Stranger) MW Gallaher first told me about the card (and pointed me to his neat Jim Aparo blog to see it), and then uber-helpful Fantom Stranger Richard Duncan sent it to me. Thanks fellas!


Even though this card came out sixteen years ago, I had never seen it before, so it was an especially nice treat to see the late, great Jim Aparo drawing the Phantom Stranger one more time. So when I decided to wrap up the blog with the items I missed, this seemed like the perfect item to go out on.


...and that's about it. Many of you commented that you hoped the blog would go out on October 31st, because, being Halloween, that would've been the perfect moment to wrap it all up. Initially I didn't think we'd make it, but thanks to you committed PS fans, here we are-ending it all with an exact year of posts (okay, a year and a day), a really nice way to go out.


Of course, The Phantom Stranger as a character isn't gone--if anything, the Stranger has made more appearances in the last few years than he did in almost all of the 90s, and he'll continue to be an ongoing concern in the DCU.

He's also scheduled to make his first animated appearance in an upcoming episode of Brave and the Bold--I can't wait to see the show's take on him!

And, like all of my blogs, IATPS isn't really gone forever (one of the things I love most about the blogs, they are as final as you want them to be)--I plan to do occasional updates as the Strange racks up more appearances. Like the character itself, this blog would pop up when you least expect it!


My thanks to everyone who came by and checked out what I was doing here, left a comment, or sent something in. I Am The Phantom Stranger never had the audience of some of my other blogs, but it was a remarkably consistent one--meaning the people who liked what I was doing stayed with me through this whole journey, which was great.

I also have to thank Mike W. Barr, Alan Brennert, Gerry Conway, Nick Cuti, Dan Mishkin, and my pal Paul Kupperberg for taking time out to talk to me for the blog. Getting to talk to the people whose work I've loved so much is one of the best things about doing these blogs, and each one of them was great fun to talk Phantom Stranger with.

Some of you wrote in to ask if I ever tried to interview Len Wein, who wrote arguably the best run of Phantom Stranger stories with Jim Aparo. The answer to that is I tried--I contacted Len about an interview, and he agreed. I sent him the questions, but not too long after that he had that terrible fire that destroyed his home, so obviously after that he had a lot more to worry about than doing our interview.

I felt so bad over the news that Len and his family lost almost everything in the fire that when Mark Evanier spearheaded the "Let's Rebuild Len Wein's Comic Book Collection" effort, I promptly sent Len my copies of all the Phantom Strangers he did with Jim Aparo--as much as I enjoyed having those great books in my collection, I decided I'd enjoy the idea of them residing with the author even more.


So that's it! Thanks to everyone for coming, and I hope you all enjoyed our time following The Phantom Stranger!

PS P.S.: Who's Who #12 - Feb. 1986

Another appearance I can't believe I missed was the first Who's Who entry for the Justice League, which featured the entire team...which of course includes The Phantom Stranger!

This oversight was corrected by Fantom Stranger Russell Burbage--thanks to his last minute efforts, IATPS made it to today, October 31st! Thanks Russell!

But we still have one more item to get to, so be here when we wrap it all up tomorrow, November 1st!

PS P.S.: Alex Ross Poster - 2004

Yet another item I missed was this 2004 gatefold poster by Alex Ross featuring all the members of the classic Justice League of America, plus some of their friends, honorary members, and assorted hangers-on:

This was sent to me by Fantom Stranger Russell "Eagle Eyes" Burbage. Thanks Russell!

PS P.S.: Vertigo Tarot Deck - 2008

Another item I missed was The Vertigo Tarot Deck, which featured various Vertigoians(?) as Tarot characters, featuring art by Dave McKean.

In this case, The Phantom Stranger is The Hermit:

This set was pointed out to me by Fantom Stranger Jacob Levy. Thanks Jacob!

PS P.S.: The Vertigo Encyclopedia - 2008

This updated, expanded version of The Vertigo Encyclopedia was published by DK in 2008, and featured Who's Who-ish listings for various characters from the Vertigo universe.

I've never actually seen the book, so I can't say what kind of listing The Phantom Stranger got. Apparently there were two types of listings--a full one, with pictures, and a second one that was smaller and featured mostly (if not nothing but) text. I don't know which kind of listing the Stranger got, but he's in there somewhere!


Thanks to your efforts, it turns out IATPS will make it all the way to not only October 31st, but November 1st! We have a couple more pieces of merch, and one weird little thing, all coming to you in the next couple of days!

Update! Courtesy Fantom Stranger MW Gallaher comes the above image from inside this book, which is the listing the Stranger received. MW says he's mentioned on a few other pages, but this is his official entry. Thanks MW!

PS P.S.: DC Universe: Trail of Time - 2007

Fantom Stranger MW Gallaher, like a Governor from some 1940s crime movie, granted IATPS a stay of execution for 24 hours, since he pointed an item out that should--nay, needed--to be included on the blog before it signed off. Thanks MW!

This was one of the half-dozen or so of "DC Universe" prose novels that hit bookstore shelves in the middle part of the decade. And, even though he isn't on the cover (drat!), this story features a major appearance by The Phantom Stranger!

It involves a nefarious (aren't they all?) plot by Felix Faust, Mordru, and Vandal Savage which gets the attention of the Stranger and Etrigan the Demon. They in turn get Superman in on it, and even some of DC's western heroes make an appearance. Sounds like a fun book!

PS P.S.: Skybox Trading Card - 1993

This tryptych is actually three cards from Skybox's 1993 DC Comics series of trading cards, featuring a neat little visual history of Tim Hunter and the Books of Magic!

I had never even seen this before, until Fantom Stranger Richard Duncan (him again!) generously sent me all three cards for the blog.

Tomorrow: One last item, and some final comments!

PS P.S.: DC Heroes RPG: Magic Sourcebook - 1992

Here's the cover to the other RPG book, sent to me by Fantom Stranger Jacob T. Levy.

Unfortunately, the Stranger doesn't appear on the (nifty!) cover, but he's obviously a proper subject for the book, focusing as it does on DC's magic characters.

Thanks Jacob!

PS P.S.: DC Heroes RPG: When A Stranger Calls - 1987

Not being a gamer at all, I have very little knowledge of any of the DC-related RPG games/modules that came out over the last couple of decades.

Luckily Fantom Stranger Jacob T. Levy clued me in two Phantom Stranger appearances in in RPG modules--the first is this appropriately-titled one.

Sadly, I don't have any inside images available, but here's the description: "From the depths of a mystical dimension arises an ageless force of evil bent on earthly domination.

Under the guidance of the Phantom Stranger, the Justice League International must learn the secrets of an ancient tome in order to forever seal the Vengeance Gate, a dimensional portal separating the realms of chaos and order.

The race against deadly, arcane opponents is on--a journey to the corners of the globe--a harrowing adventure for the mightiest of heroes which begins when a stranger calls."

Thanks Jacob!

PS P.S.: Back Issue! #15 - April 2006

I can't believe I forgot this one!

This issue of TwoMorrows' fine publication Back Issue! focused on "Weird Heroes", and included an article on The Phantom Stranger by Tom "The Comics Savant" Stewart. Here are two pages from it:

Stewart talked to Len Wein and Paul Levitz for the piece, adding their valuable insights. A fine article, well worth hunting down--you can buy it from TwoMorrows here!