Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween from The Phantom Stranger!

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It's Halloween--time for a spooky superhero blog crossover!

All across teh interwebs today, various superhero blogs are covering their particular characters from a Halloween-esque perspective. Originally I Am The Phantom Stranger wasn't going to take part because, with a couple of exceptions, we've already covered every PS appearance, so there was nothing new to add.

But then I thought, of all the holidays for this blog not to miss, it's Halloween--the Stranger's favorite time of year, to be sure. So I went out and found something Halloween-ish: someone in costume as The Phantom Stranger!
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I found these pics via a Google search, and they are of someone named Caranth, who posed in London in May 2011. You can read a little backstory about the costume on their DeviantArt page. Quite a nice job, love that oversized medallion!


Happy Halloween everyone!


Make sure to visit the other participating sites to see other spooky content:

Thanks to Chad Bokelman for putting this all together!


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Phantom Stranger (Vol.4) #1 - Dec. 2012

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"When You're A Stranger" by Dan Didio, Brent Anderson, and Phillip Tan.

A young boy playing soccer in New York City chases an errant ball off the field, and bumps into...a stranger:

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The boy retrieves his ball, only to carelessly run into the street, where he is hit by a car and killed...while the Stranger watches, never stepping in. Cut to the young boy's funeral, where a young woman tearfully seems to be talking to the dead boy. No one knows who this woman is, how she knows the boy.

Overcome by emotion, she runs out of the funeral home, with the Stranger watching nearby (how many times have I typed that on this blog?). Out on the street, she is faced by mysterious glowing wraiths, but she is defiant: she emits a large, raven-shaped shadow which briefly holds back the wraiths. Its then that the Stranger (finally!) steps in:
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The Stranger takes the young woman--named Rachel--to a nearby diner, where she sees nearly every other patron as a sinister threat: followers of her father, "The Church of Blood." Suddenly, all of the people don blood red hoods, and approach.

The Phantom Stranger teleports himself and Rachel to Stonehenge, which enrages Rachel. She says this is where her father will look for her first. The Stranger's only response is to say that the voices that guide him have told him to bring her here.

That may be so, but it appears Rachel is right--her father, the demon Trigon, appears:
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Trigon takes his daughter, despite her screams to the Stranger for help. Trigon mocks the Stranger, suggesting this this is some sort of "trade" offered by a higher power to keep the peace. Trigon rubs salt in the wound, by saying that no matter what happens, the Stranger will be stuck on the sidelines, always stuck watching, never truly participating.

But that doesn't seem to be true: soon after, the Stranger shows up at a small suburban home, where he enters, takes off his coat and hat, and is greeted by...his family?
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...to be continued!


I felt like this issue was a distinct improvement over issue 0, both in story and art. The Stranger's bystander-y tendencies are cranked up to eleven here, as he lets a young boy die in the first three pages, a fairly startling act (or non-act, in this case). It only gets worse as he seemingly betrays Rachel, all under the pretense of "It's all God's plan." I've always had my issues with that excuse, whenever it's used, so if I was Rachel getting sucked into the pit of Hell I'd be pretty mad too.

Art-wise, I'd say Phillip Tan is a better match for Brent Anderson than Scott Hanna was in the previous issue, but I'd still love to see Anderson ink his own work, as he's doing on the covers. Anderson is a supremely talented artist, I've been a fan of his for years, and I think he has a shot at being one of the Great Phantom Stranger Artists if given the chance (maybe it's purely a deadline thing).

The Phantom Stranger versus the Church of the Blood is a perfect, no-brainer match, so I'm eager to see where this goes from here!


Friday, October 5, 2012

Action Comics (Vol.2) #13 - Dec. 2012

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"The Ghost in the Fortress of Solitude" by Grant Morrison and Travel Foreman.

It didn't take the Stranger long--less than a month, in fact--after debuting in the New 52 before he started popping up in other DCU books, but what's a little thing like the time stream mean to...The Phantom Stranger?


In this issue, a Halloween story (nice) that opens on Krypton, we meet Doctor Xa-Du, who is banned to The Phantom Zone for his crimes against society:
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Xa-Du's first chance at parole (obviously these Kryptonians are a little less harsh than the ones seen in Superman: The Movie) just happened to be on the day Krypton exploded, which by our calendar would be considered Halloween.

Many, many years later, on Earth, in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, Xa-Du seems to have been able to return from beyond the grave to haunt the Man of Steel:
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Xa-Du manages to ensnare Superman into the Phantom Zone, transporting himself to Earth. As he contemplates what further revenge to wreak, we catch up with Superman, who is met by...a stranger:
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The Stranger, with the help of Krypto (now there's an issue of The Brave and the Bold!), allows Superman time to escape The Phantom Zone and suck Xa-Du back to the his otherdimensional prison.

The Stranger, not being limited to the bonds of this world, summarily disappears, leaving Krypto behind, waiting for his Master. But Superman would never break a promise to his best friend, and he does indeed return, reuniting a Boy and His Dog again. The End!


While I had my issues with The Phantom Stranger as portrayed in his new series, I absolutely loved this guest appearance--it's classic Phantom Stranger: he shows up, says a bunch of cryptic stuff, helps the hero out, and splits. Well done, Mr. Morrison!

Special thanks to Fantom Stranger Oscar Olaide who mentioned this guest appearance to me over on IATPS's Facebook page. I might have missed it entirely if he hadn't pointed it out. Thanks Oscar!


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