Fandom Feature #1

Courtesy Fantom Stranger Ilke Hincer here's this obscure piece of Phantom Stranger ephemera--an original cover to a comics fanzine called Fandom Feature...by Jim Aparo no less!

This is a great piece, full of typical Aparo movement and dynamics. Whatever this magazine paid for it, they got a good deal!

I Follow The Phantom Stranger

If this blog isn't enough for all you Phantom Stranger fans--and how could it be?--IATPS suggests you visit the I Follow The Phantom Stranger on Tumblr, a page created by a fellow Fantom Stranger! (Though I suggest turning down the volume on your computer first)

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.: 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.: Justice League of America #103: Autographed Edition

Yes, that is the Len Wein's signature on the cover to Justice League of America #103, The Phantom Stranger's first guest appearance in the book!

This was obtained for me by Fantom Stranger Russell Burbage, who spends almost as much time finding cool stuff for my blogs as I do. He met the estimable Mr. Wein at the recent Mid-Ohio Comic Con, and got him to autograph this very appropriate book. Thanks Russell!

PS P.S: Lobo #50 - April 1998

While I didn't miss chronicling the Stranger's appearance in Lobo #50, at the time of the post I hadn't managed to get a hold of a copy of the book itself, so all I could do was post the cover.

But Fantom Stranger Chris Roach helpfully provided me with a scan of the page in question from Lobo #50:

...thanks Chris! I wonder what the Stranger is drinking?

Okay, that seems to be it on the comic front, in terms of missing PS appearances. But there are a couple more items I need to get to, so be here tomorrow!

PS P.S.: Swamp Thing #46 - March 1986

"Revelations" by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben.

...man, this was embarrassing.

A few weeks after the appropriate timeline on the blog, I got an email from Amy Kerns, who was a faithful follower of IATPS, pointing out I missed this issue of Swamp Thing--not only does the Stranger appear inside, he's right there on the cover! Ouch!

This issue took place right in the middle of the Crisis, and when Swamp Thing finds himself suddenly aboard the Monitor's satellite, he searches out some people he knows, like The Phantom Stranger:

Good catch, thanks Amy!

This makes Amy our first Fantom Stranger--a term I award to anyone who sent some PS-related item in that I missed. I really can't believe I missed this one.

Tomorrow we induct another Fantom Stranger!