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!

Skybox Card Original Art by Jim Aparo

Original Jim Aparo art--does it get any better?

These are Aparo's originals to the 1993 Skybox Phantom Stranger trading card, currently for sale at Coollinesartwork. Anyone want to buy these for me, as a way to say thanks for running this cool blog? Anyone?

Thanks to Fantom Stranger Ilke Hincer for the tip!

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 - 1978

I recently got the chance to see complete copies of DC's infamous Cancelled Comic Cavalcade two-issue series (see Dial "B" for Blog's excellent summary), and I was surprised to see The Phantom Stranger makes an appearance, albeit a brief one!

Included in the second issue of CCC was the cover to Dynamic Classics #3, done by none other than Jim Aparo. DC was a reprint title that lasted all of one issue before becoming victim of the even-more-infamous DC Implosion. Presumably this issue was going to feature reprints of Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's Manhunter and (I'm guessing) Wein/Aparo's Phantom Stranger, which would have been an amazing combo to put between two covers. What a crying shame this book never saw print!

I keep thinking I've found the last iteration of The Phantom Stranger by the late, great Jim Aparo, and then I find another one. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
 

Adventure Comics #459 - Oct. 1978

"Murder Haunts the Midway" by Len Wein and Jim Aparo.

Even though I did what I thought was an exhaustive and complete list of the Phantom Stranger's chronological appearances, this one from Adventure Comics #459 managed to slip right by me:

Yep, there's the Stranger, alongside Aquaman (bonus!) in a story by Len Wein and Jim Aparo no less!

This cameo was the last time Wein and Aparo handled the Phantom Stranger since ending their brilliant run on his solo book in 1973, and the last time they ever worked on the character together, ever. A lot of history packed into this one panel!

The Legend of the Green Flame - 2000

"The Legend of the Green Flame" by Neil Gaiman and Friends.

This one-shot was originally scheduled to be the "final" issue of Action Comics Weekly, featuring all that book's characters in one giant story, paving the way for the title to return to its classic, Superman-only format.

But for various reasons (which Gaiman gets into, in a refreshingly honest introduction), that idea was scrapped, so this story sat on the shelf for a long while.

Finally, someone realized at DC realized they had an unpublished Neil Gaiman story sitting around, so they put together a real all-star line-up of talent to bring the story to life.

The Phantom Stranger's main purpose in this story is to be "freed" from the apartment he'd been in during Paul Kupperberg's great run of stories. In the first chapter focusing on him, he's drawn by Matt Wagner:

After three pages, the story cuts back to Superman and Green Lantern, the main protagonists of the tale.

But the Stranger isn't gone from the book, as we can see from this single, wonderful page:

...the Phantom Stranger drawn by Jim Aparo!

The Stranger eventually meets up with Supes and GL (drawn by Kevin Nowlan, sweet!) and then departs.

All in all, a great little book, and definitely worthy of publication, continuity problems be damned.

And its wonderful to see The Phantom Stranger drawn by the great Jim Aparo, one last time.

History of the DC Universe #2 - Feb. 1987

"The History of the DC Universe, Book Two" by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

As a way to explain just what the heck Officially Happened in the DCU post-Crisis, Marv Wolfman and George Perez produced this two book encyclopedia of big events.

Surprisingly, The Phantom Stranger got a page all to himself:

...there's another little surprising nugget thrown in there, and that's the idea that The Phantom Stranger watched over young Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Arthur Curry as they grew into adulthood.

It's a nice touch, and one that instantaneously gives the Stranger a more important role in the DCU. Cool!

Around this time, DC produced a truly all-star "jam" poster that came with (I think) a hardcover edition of History of the DC Universe.

It featured all the biggest stars of the DCU, drawn by (in many cases) the artist associated with the creation character or simply the most famous for drawing them--Curt Swan on Superman, Bob Kane on Batman, Carmine Infantino on Flash etc.

Thankfully, The Phantom Stranger was included on the poster, drawn by none other than Jim Aparo! Click the thumbnail to see the poster in all its glory.

Secret Origins #10 - Jan. 1987

The Secret Origin of The Phantom Stranger...sort of.

In this very special issue of Secret Origins, DC presented us with four separate, possible origins for the Stranger, written and drawn by an all-star roster of talent.

The cover--an idea so perfect, its a wonder no one ever thought of it before, is by classic PS artist Jim Aparo, with a little help from M.C. Escher.

The first story is also drawn by Jim Aparo, drawing his last Phantom Stranger story, written by Mike W. Barr:

"Tarry Till I Come Again" stars with a priest, Father Knox, who is feeling nothing but despair on Christmas Eve. He sees the world around him falling apart, and he wonders if he's doing any good.

His dark thoughts are interrupted by The Phantom Stranger, who is here for a startling reason--to offer confession!

Knox is reluctant, but finally agrees, and the Stranger tells his story, which begins many centuries ago: he was a man named Isaac, who had a wife and son, living in Bethlehem.

One day, the soldiers of King Herod arrived in town, slaughtering people in the search for someone, and in the melee they kill Isaac's wife and son.

Three decades later, Isaac gets to see the man they were looking for: no less than Jesus Christ, who, despite his talk of love and peace, send Isaac into a rage--it was because of this man his family was killed.

When Jesus is apprehended by the authorities, Isaac bribes a guard to let him take the guard's place, allowing him to dispense some physical revenge on the man.

But instead of begging for mercy, Jesus quietly pronounces that while he may die, it is Isaac who is condemned to walk the Earth, until Jesus returns.

At this point, Father Knox is understandably shocked--this Phantom Stranger guy is claiming to be no less than The Wandering Jew!

But the Stranger assures he is telling the truth, and continues with his story--over time, the Stranger is there to see many of the most famous events in world history. At one point he delves in black magic to try and break Christ's decree, all to no avail.

At one point, he attempts to rescue a woman--accused of being a witch--who is the spitting image of his late wife Rebecca. The Stranger uses his powers to free her of her captors, but she dies anyway.

But her death sparks something in the Stranger: this woman did not blame God for her death. This forced the Stranger to rethink how he has looked at life, and eventually he "joined the service of that God whose name I once did curse."

Father Knox still isn't buying any of this, until something happens that he can't believe:

...the end.

But we're just getting started! Next is "...And Men Shall Call Him Stranger" by Paul Levitz and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez:

In this version, a "City of man fell into the ways of evil, rapt in the sinful ways of the deceiver." Only one man seems despondent over this turn of events, and prays for the town's forgiveness.

But that forgiveness doesn't come, and in fact a series of disasters befall it--lightning storms, great winds, and then finally a flood, carrying people to their deaths.

The one good man survived, and prays to God for the people and the town to be spared. He offers his own life in return.

His offer is rejected in person, by an angel, who says they have been sent to take this man away from this evil place. "The city has been judged, and must fall."

The man refuses, threatening to kill himself. The angel warns him not to do this, but he doesn't listen, and ends his life.

But before his soul ascends, the angel says this man's work is just starting--he must return to his body, to perform good in the world.

We see the man set out on journey, saving lives and souls. "As long as there are the damned, so long so shall you suffer to be prisoner of this fate":

...so that's two possible Phantom Stranger origins that start out in ancient times.

For the third, we are thrown into the far-flung future(!), in "Revelations" by Dan Mishkin, Ernie Colon, and Pablo Marcos:

Aboard a spaceship, we see several scientist-types hard at work at nothing less than forestalling the end of the universe!

In their work, the scientists have figured out a way to reach through time. As if that's not amazing enough, they see a swirl of star energy swirling, almost purposefully, until it forms some sort of human hand!

As they attempt to capture an image of what they see, they are stopped by...The Phantom Stranger!He warns them they are "Tampering with things man was not meant to know!"

The scientists of course won't listen--their plan is to siphon off a tiny fraction of the energy used in the Big Bang to save their own universe, and they think they know how to do it.

The Stranger tells them this will bring even further destruction, but is stopped when he is zapped by one of scientists and finds himself imprisoned.

The Stranger and the man that zapped him, a Dr. Alt, talk, and its revealed that Dr. Alt has no intention of saving his world--he wants to destroy everything in creation!

The younger scientist tries to stop Alt, but he is also imprisoned. The Stranger tells him that he can stop Alt, but he needs some of the Stranger's powers.

After touching his hand, he transfers his powers to the younger man, which leaves The Phantom Stranger--this version, at least--dead.

The man, dressed in a space suit, gets the drop on Alt, and jumps into a portal, carrying him out into space. At this moment, Alt tries to siphon the energy, but all of it is absorbed into the young man, changing him:

Whew! After these three very different stories, I feel like my head is going to explode. But we're not done yet: let's give Alan Moore a chance, in a story titled "Footsteps", drawn by the late, great Joe Orlando:

This "origin" is set in much more familiar territory--the streets of New York.

Two "Subway Angels" bemoan how their city seems to be getting worse and worse, and talk of a whole group of people living underground. As they leave to check it out, we see The Phantom Stranger is present.

He recalls his past, when he was an angel, met by another angel, named Etrigan. Etrigan talks of revolution, and they head off to find the angel named...Satan.

Back in New York, we meet the underground people, and the Stranger is there, also. Two of the Subway Angels talk, and one tries to convince the other that he can either help sweep up the trash above, but why bother, since its "Better to reign down here."

The story hops back and forth between both places, and we see that in both cases, the quest for power does not work out for those who pursue it. The angel who became the Stranger loses his wings, violently, and one of the Subway Angels is killed once he realizes he shouldn't be here.

Luckily, for him, the Stranger is there to help him:

...the end.


I think one could make the argument that this one issue is The Phantom Stranger's finest moment--not only do you have people like Moore, Barr, Mishkin, and Levitz all writing the stories, and artists like Aparo, Garcia Lopez, Colon, and Orlando drawing them, but I think the idea of presenting four possible origins is everything that the Stranger is about--mystery.

One of the things I have found the least interesting about modern comics is that all questions or mysteries seemingly must be answered: comics fans don't seem to like things unresolved (and its not limited to comics fans: check out all the prequels in movie theaters over the last ten years, where every character--whether its Darth Vader, Michael Myers, or even Leatherface--has to have their backstory delineated in exacting detail).

So to present an issue of a series devoted to giving specific, "officially correct" origin stories like Secret Origins was, and to purposely not give an official answer, seemed like a small act of creative bravery. For my money, I could read a whole series of possible Phantom Stranger origins.


Like I mentioned here previously, I did get to interview two of this issue's authors--Dan Mishkin and Mike W. Barr--about their origin stories, but wanted to save their answers until we got to this issue. So here's Mike talking about "Tarry Till I Come Again":

I Am The Phantom Stranger: Years later, you wrote one of the four possible origin stories for The Phantom Stranger in Secret Origins #10. How did that come about?

Mike W. Barr: Writers often talk about their pet projects; a story I had mentioned more than once around the DC office was the idea that PS was actually the Wandering Jew. Either I pitched the story to Editor Bob Greenberger or he, having heard me talk about the idea, asked me to write it.

It's still one of my favorite ten stories, and the last feature, Alan Moore's poignant story, bookends it nicely. Of course, everyone was "on" for that book; it's a definite high-water mark.

IATPS: The origin story you wrote, "Tarry Till I Come Again," was drawn by your longtime collaborator, the great Jim Aparo. Was it your idea to work with Jim for the story?

MWB: Yes, definitely. I was editing Jim on The Outsiders at that time, and I freed up his schedule with the understanding that he would draw my script. (He was spelled that month on The Outsiders by Dan Jurgens and Mike Gustovich.) He and I had earlier worked on PS when the character guested in Batman and the Outsiders #8, but this story, a "pure" PS story, remains one of my favorites.

Incidentally, the priest in the story, Father Knox, was named after Father Ronald Knox, a British priest and mystery writer of the 1920s.

IATPS: Jim Aparo was--and remains--one of my all-time favorite artists, and of course he had a great run on The Phantom Stranger himself. What was it like to work with him for so long?

MWB: I've tried for years to crunch the numbers to prove that I worked with Jim longer than any other writer, but I have to admit that Jim's collaboration with Bob Haney on The Brave & the Bold edges me out. Well, Bob was a great guy; there's no shame in coming in second to him.

Jim was a throwback to the Golden Age, a rarity in that he did everything on the page except the script, at the rate of one page of story per working day. You'd send him blank art boards and a script and he'd return artwork that was penciled, inked and lettered; it had only to be colored. Even when he lost time on the schedule, as he began to do when he was aging, any time he lost could usually be bought back during the production stage. The Production Department loved his work because it took so little time on their end. He would occasionally misspell a word, or--even less frequently--flub a visual, but those were quite rare.

Jim required little reference, but even when he did--he was soft on Asian culture, so he required a lot of reference when we created "Katana" in BATO--he read it and used it to its best advantage. I was happy that he made a lot of money in royalties from BATO and on The Outsiders, and feel his run on those books I edited was his last extended burst of really good artwork. After that, DC tried to turn him into another factory hand, often giving him an inker rather than allowing him to ink his own work; a lot of that inking was horrendous.

And I got a huge kick out of seeing the creator credit for Katana for Jim and myself at the end of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, "Enter the Outsiders!" Jim would have enjoyed it, too.


I agree that Aparo's work on Batman and the Outsiders was some of his best, and I'm glad to hear he made some decent money out of it. It was fitting that he got one last chance to draw The Phantom Stranger in an issue entirely devoted to him.

On the other end of the spectrum, let's talk about the Phantom Stranger origin set in the future, "Revelations", written by Dan Mishkin:

I Am The Phantom Stranger: How did writing one of the four possible Stranger origins in Secret Origins #10 come about? Were you asked to come up with an idea, or had you pitched this story previously?

Dan Mishkin: I'm pretty sure it was editor Bob Greenberger's idea to show four different possible origins for the Stranger, without having any of them considered to be canonical. On the one hand, you had people like Alan Moore dropping hints in other places about what they thought the Stranger's background really was; while in other quarters, there was a feeling that a Phantom Stranger origin story should never be told. In fact, Len Wein didn't even like the idea of telling four different (and conflicting) possible origins; but I think Bob's approach split the difference nicely. And I was very happy he asked me to be one of the contributors.

IATPS: Do you remember the genesis of "Revelations"? Having a Phantom Stranger story set in a futuristic world is certainly a wild idea, even by Phantom Stranger story standards.

Dan Mishkin: Well, I was determined to take an approach that no one would expect, one that would not fit any of the conceptions that were floating about at the time. And since those concepts tended toward a religious explanation for the character's existence, my contrarianism immediately pushed me toward science fiction. And I had another goal for this story, though I honestly can't remember if it was one I sought from the very beginning: I wanted to have the origin story follow the classical Phantom Stranger formula in which a person who is about to confront a momentous choice has the starkness of the choice--the huge divergence in the possible outcomes--highlighted by this mysterious figure who comes out of nowhere.

As an aside, I need to say that it amazes me how sloppily the character is sometimes used. And I don't mean in the other stories in Secret Origins, which as origins were under no obligation to labor under the strictures I chose to set for myself, but in his various appearances in other books, where he's basically an omniscient guy with magic powers. He may in fact be omniscient and have magic powers, but he should never be portrayed that way, in my opinion.

As I said before, I like to use as little as I can that's clearly supernatural when I write the character--I think it's way cooler when he reveals only the minimum that he has to, and when his appearances and disappearances can almost be explained as normal movements that you just happened to miss the details of (like Batman suddenly not being in Commissioner Gordon's office when Gordon’s still talking to him).

Anyhow, here I was with the idea of doing an SF story that would read like a Phantom Stranger story, and the idea of the time loop (it's probably not quite a paradox)--in which the normal guy facing a stark choice and is confronted by the Phantom Stranger ends up turning into the Stranger--pretty much presented itself whole. It also solved the issue of whether one should ever tell the Stranger's origin, because in my telling he lives out a circle from the end of time to the beginning to the end again--an origin story in which the actual point of origin is obscure. I was really proud of my solution, and I was pretty darned sure it would not be like anyone else's.

IATPS: Did you ask Ernie Colon to draw the story, since you worked so well with him on Amethyst?

Dan Mishkin: I believe I did ask if Ernie could be the one to do the story, though it might have been Bob who thought it would be great to pair us again. I love working with Ernie, and I love his work. I've got his After 9/11 book at my bedside to read after finishing this interview.

IATPS: Were you given any indication of what the other possible Stranger origins might be like?

Dan Mishkin: Except for the sense that a religious explanation for his origin is where most of the current thinking was going, I had no idea what the others were up to.


Once again, I thank Mike Barr and Dan Mishkin for their time in talking to me about their experiences writing The Phantom Stranger, and I thank them for their specific contributions to this issue, an extraordinary chapter in the career of the character.

Who's Who Vol. XXIII - Jan. 1987

Sure, we've already covered The Phantom Stranger's listing in Who's Who, but some of his supporting characters earned their own spots in the series, like his nemesis (and sometimes quasi-squeeze) Tala:

This listing is drawn by Henry Bismuth, an artist I had never heard of at the time, and still don't know anything about.

Its not a particularly strong piece, I wish DC had gotten The Man, Jim Aparo, to do this one, but maybe he was really busy (in that case, if only they had gotten Dave Stevens...!). Oh well.

At least Aparo did get tapped to do the other Stranger-related listing in this issue, of the villainous Tannarak!:

Nice!

Since real estate in Who's Who was at such a premium, DC included only a handful of supporting characters, like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Commissioner Gordon, etc.

That meant Cassandra Craft, the erstwhile girlfriend of The Phantom Stranger (and how many women can say that?) didn't earn a listing.

Too bad, I would've loved to have learned what she was doing circa 1986. Probably running a health food store or something...

Who's Who Volume XVIII - Aug. 1986

It's Phantom Stranger time in Who's Who, The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe!

I guess one could argue who the biggest character in this issue was, so DC decided to split the difference and having Plastic Man wrap himself around Power Girl (and who could blame him?) so they could share the spotlight. As a PS fan, I'm glad to see he got a prominent place on the front.

The Phantom Stranger of course got his own listing in the Who's Who series, written by PS scribe Mike W. Barr and drawn by, of course, Jim Aparo:

The Stranger's powers are initially described thusly: "Just as The Phantom Stranger has often exhibited abilities that defy rational explanation, these abilities also defy any attempts at classification."

Well said, Mr. Barr.


My admiration for the Who's Who series knows no bounds--as a kid, I loved seeing all these obscure characters I had never heard of, and it made the DCU seem so much bigger and cooler to me.

As an adult, I appreciate the extra little touches DC added--like on the cover, where they let The Pied Piper lay his head on the Table of Contents, and bump the Pursuer text over to fit.

On the inside, some of character/artist combos are Comics Nirvana--Jaime Hernandez on Phantom Girl, Dave Stevens on Phantom Lady, Steve Rude on Poison Ivy, Art Adams on Punch and Jewelee, and Marv Wolfman(!) drawing the Plasmus entry!

Batman and The Outsiders #8 - March 1984

The Phantom Stranger teams-up with Batman and the Outsiders!

This issue is like an old home week for the Phantom Stranger--not only does it feature him teaming-up with Batman again, not only does it feature the return of an old Phantom Stranger foe, not only it is written by Mike W. Barr, who wrote some of the Phantom Stranger back-ups for Saga of the Swamp Thing, but it features a return to the character by Phantom Stranger Artist Numero Uno, Jim Aparo:

Batman is investigating the kidnapping of a woman's baby. After consoling the mother, he heads off, while the woman's neighbors (who are expecting a child) take her in so she isn't alone.

Later, Batman is contacted by the GCPD, saying they have picked up a nearly-catatonic old man, muttering like a baby. His prints match those found at the woman's house, but Batman doubts this harmless old man could have pulled off such a deed.

While swinging off into the night, his thoughts are interrupted by an old "friend":

After consulting the Gotham City Hall of Records, Batman makes a startling discovery--according to the birth certificate, that old man is the kidnapped baby!

We cut away briefly to see what the Outsiders are doing, and each of them are having a sad, lonely Christmas.

Later, at a nursery school, Batman is hearing an unbelievable story--a roomful of babies turned into old people overnight! Afterwards, while Batman is talking to the GCPD, The Phantom Stranger "appears" to help point Batman a certain way in his investigation.

That same night, as Geo-Force is making his way across town, he hears a cry for help--Mr. and Mrs. Dennison, the expecting parents. They are on the way to the hospital, since Mrs. Dennison is in labor, but their car is stuck in snow-driven traffic.

Geo-Force takes them--car and all--to the hospital, and Mrs. Dennison is wheeled into the emergency room, and that's when things get even weirder:

...Tannarak again! Doesn't he ever give up?

While the Stranger and Tannarak battle, Batman rounds up the Outsiders. Once they arrive to help, Tannarak shoots a beam at all the babies in the nursery, causing them to become malevolent and start attacking the adults!

The Outsiders find ways to subdue the babies without hurting them, while the Stranger/Tannarak battle concludes:

...the end.

A sweet ending to definitely one of Batman's goofiest cases. I love Aparo's rendering of the evil baby, floating nude and upside down, as it zaps the doctor. Priceless.


It was cool for Mike Barr pick up one of the story threads he left dangling in his PS stories for Saga of the Swamp Thing. And since I've always been a fan of MWB's work, I thought it'd be great to have a chat with him about his experiences writing The Phantom Stranger.

So be here tomorrow where we talk with Mike W. Barr!

Justice League of America #200 - March 1982

The Phantom Stranger helps the JLA celebrate their 200th issue anniversary!

The Phantom Stranger's next appearance in the DCU was in another anniversary issue, this time the Justice League's 200th. Much like Detective Comics #500, Dv really pulled out all the stops, rounding up an amazing roster of talent--Perez, Kubert, Aparo, Bolland, Kane, Giordano, and more--for this special issue.

Writer Gerry Conway managed to work in many of the team's frequent guest-stars in the story, as well, like Adam Strange, Snapper Carr, The Martian Manhunter, and...The Phantom Stranger.

My obsession with this particular issue has been documented before, and my contention that it is the single greatest piece of literature ever produced by Western Civilization is something I'm still not backing down from.

But since its been so thoroughly covered over on my JLA Satellite blog, I'm not going to get into the details of the whole 72-page story all over again. Instead, let's just concentrate on the moment The Phantom Stranger enters the story, in Chapter 2:

The Phantom Stranger does his "I see the big picture" bit, which he says is the reason he chooses sides in the Aquaman vs. Red Tornado struggle:

As an Aquaman fan, I have a slight reservation over the plot point that Aquaman needs help defeating Red Tornado, but it was a treat to have the Stranger worked into the story, and to have both the Sea King and the Stranger drawn by Jim Aparo was a beautiful touch.

That said, when Chapter 2 ends, we go back to George Perez, who was drawing the in between material:

This is the only time George Perez ever got to draw the Stranger in a JLA story, so that's another nice touch.

The Stranger doesn't make any further appearances in the story, though he is mentioned by our narrator once its clear Red Tornado is going to pull through:

Perez was also thoughtful enough to slip in the Stranger on the book's back cover, quietly standing on a mountaintop. He can be seen just to the right of Manhunter's left arm:

While The Phantom Stranger would appear in Justice League of America story one more time, that story is a "Casebook Tale", making this chronologically the last time the Stranger helped the JLA out in a crisis. Similarly, this is the last time Gerry Conway ever got to write The Phantom Stranger, after a decade or so of sporadic run-ins with the character.

I figured this was a good time to take a moment and talk to Mr. Conway about those run-ins, so be here tomorrow where we'll have an interview with the legendary Gerry Conway!

DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #6 - Feb. 1981

You will believe in Ghosts!

This issue of DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest features seventeen stories culled from DC's horror titles.

Fifteen of the seventeen stories are anthology-style tales, but DC devoted a little space to our hero The Phantom Stranger, as well as his frequent sparring partner, Dr. Thirteen.

The Phantom Stranger story is from the 17th issue of his title, the classic "Image in Wax" by Len Wein and Jim Aparo:

The suitably spooky front cover is by Nick Cardy, and the spiffy back cover is by Ross Andru and Steve Mitchell, where Dr. Thirteen isn't even polite enough not to dis the book he's guest-starring in:

Seeing this back cover, it really makes me wish DC had thrown the Stranger a bone and given him his own digest collection. A hundred pages of Stranger stories by Wein/Aparo and Broome/Infantino would've made for one hell of a collection, don't you think?

Brave and The Bold #145 - Dec. 1978

The Phantom Stranger re-teams with The Dark Knight Detective!

The Phantom Stranger made a third appearance in Brave and the Bold, drawn again by classic PS artist Jim Aparo. The story is by Bob Haney--so you know we're in for it--and is titled "A Choice of Dooms!":

Batman brings Lustig to police headquarters, and Commissioner Gordon puts him under police protection in exchange for testifying. He agrees when Batman offers to protect Lustig himself.

The following day, in court, Lustig collapses from some sort of attack, grabbing his neck in pain. He mutters something about someone named Kaluu, and we see a mysterious hand as it jabs a needle into a voodoo doll of Lustig...

Lustig falls into some sort of coma, and Batman tries to figure out what's going on. His thoughts are interrupted by...The Phantom Stranger!

The Stranger warns him of growing storm clouds, and he shows Batman a vision forming in them, the face of this man Kaluu! Stranger explains Kaluu is running the Ice House Gang, and controls them with the threat of his voodoo powers.

The Stranger disappears, leaving Batman alone. He feels drawn to the new skyscraper in Gotham, and heads there to search for clues. Inside, he finds a cache of voodoo dolls, and trouble:

...I love that bit with Phantom Stranger casually terrifying the gunman by turning his gat into a snake. Don't mess with The Phantom Stranger.

Batman and the Stranger warn Kaluu they are on to him, but without hard evidence, they can't arrest him. Batman then takes off to meet back with Lustig, but does not know that Kaluu has obtained a strand of hair from The Phantom Stranger's head. Uh-oh...

Batman brings Lustig to the Batcave, and uses his high-tech equipment to terrify Lustig, so much so that he will (hopefully) fear Batman more than Kaluu, and free him of Kaluu's mental grip.

Lustig screams in torment, and Batman stops his interrogation:

With the Stranger's help, Lustig comes to, free of Kaluu's voodoo. With the evidence needed, Batman heads back to Kaluu's penthouse to arrest him.

Once he arrives, Kaluu sics a mountain of a man, another mental slave named N'Daka, on Batman, who is so strong that he nearly beats Batman to a pulp!

But Batman is not alone:

A fun outing for Batman and the Stranger, and of course having Phantom Stranger Artist Numero Uno Jim Aparo back on the character is a total treat.

For a Bob Haney story, this tale is pretty straightforward, and doesn't have any of the bizarre left and/or right turns that his stories frequently contained. Phantom Stranger + voodoo = win!