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:
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:
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:
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?
3 comments:
For someone who's more or less been waiting for "Phantom Stranger #42" for 30 years, this was an *incredibly* disappointing book! The Stranger was both a minor player in it and very un-Stranger-like. His non-interference rules are "subjective"?? No, no, no. They're mysterious in origin and scope, and the readers don't get to know when they allow him to act, and they might even be self-imposed-- but they're still *rules.* "I am not permitted" is one of the most common things for him to say; that's not what you say about a subjective preference.
I haven't picked this up yet, but I bought Weird Western Tales and it was the absolute WORST comic-book I've read in about a year. Blech!!
I don't find it surprising that the writer is none other than Dan Didio himself. (sigh)
Just read this this morning, and I quite enjoyed it. Jacob, I'm sorry to see you didn't dig it so much, but I can relate a little as I was a big fan of the original POWER OF SHAZAM series and while I did like the new issue that came out last week, overall it was a disappointment because it didn't feel anything like the old series. At least this PHANTOM STRANGER issue had more than just one page featuring it's star character LOL
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