Creation After the success of
Mandrake the Magician,
King Features Syndicate asked Falk to develop a new feature. His first effort was to write and draw a strip about
King Arthur and his
knights. When King Features rejected the strip, Falk developed the Phantom, a mysterious, costumed crime-fighter. He planned the first few months of the story, and drew the first two weeks as a sample. Fascinated by myths and legends (such as King Arthur and
El Cid) and the modern fictional characters
Zorro,
Tarzan and
The Jungle Book Mowgli, Falk envisioned the character as wealthy playboy Jimmy Wells by day and the crime-fighting Phantom by night. During his first story, "The Singh Brotherhood", before disclosing that Wells was the Phantom, Falk changed the setting to a jungle and made the Phantom an apparently immortal, mythic figure. Thinking that there were already too many characters called "the Phantom" (including
The Phantom Detective and
The Phantom of the Opera), Falk considered calling his hero "The Gray Ghost". However, he could not find a name he liked better and decided to stay with "The Phantom". In the
A&E American cable TV documentary
The Phantom: Comic Strip Crusader, Falk explained that Greek
busts inspired him to omit the Phantom's pupils when the character was wearing his mask. He incorrectly believed that ancient Greek busts had no pupils (they were painted on originally and faded with time), which he said gave them an "inhuman, awe-inspiring appearance." Falk was a
Shakespeare enthusiast, and the comic included several references to Shakespeare. These include the third Phantom playing Juliet in the original premiere of
Romeo and Juliet, as well as marrying Shakespeare's niece.
Newspaper strips The Phantom began as a daily strip on February 17, 1936 with "The Singh Brotherhood", written by Falk and drawn by him for two weeks and then by
Ray Moore (assistant to artist
Phil Davis on
Mandrake the Magician). That year,
The Phantom was serialized in the ''
Australian Woman's Mirror. A Sunday Phantom'' strip was added on May 28, 1939. During World War II Falk joined the
Office of War Information, where he became chief of the radio foreign-language division. Moore also served during the war and left the strip to his assistant,
Wilson McCoy. When Moore returned he worked sporadically on the strip until 1949, when McCoy succeeded him. During McCoy's tenure,
The Phantom appeared in thousands of newspapers worldwide and was smuggled by boat into
Nazi-occupied Norway during the war; "Phantom" was a password for the
Norwegian resistance movement. McCoy died unexpectedly in 1961.
Carmine Infantino and
Bill Lignante (who later drew several Phantom stories for comic books) filled in before a successor was found in
Sy Barry. During Barry's early years he and Falk modernized the strip, laying the foundation for what is considered the Phantom's modern look. Under Barry, Bangalla became a democracy and the character of President Lamanda Luaga was introduced. Barry worked on
The Phantom for over 30 years until his 1994 retirement, drawing a total of about 11,000 strips. His longtime assistant George Olesen remained on the strip as penciller, with
Keith Williams inking the daily strip. The Sunday strip was inked by Eric Doescher until
Fred Fredericks succeeded him in 1995. Falk continued to script
The Phantom and
Mandrake until his death on March 13, 1999. His last daily Phantom strip story, "Terror at the Opera," was finished by his wife, Elizabeth. After Falk's death King Features cooperated with European comic publisher
Egmont, publisher of the Swedish
Fantomen magazine (which changed from publishing
Phantom stories in comic-book format to providing the newspaper strip as well) by adapting their own
Phantom comic-book stories into the strip format.
Fantomen writers
Tony DePaul and Claes Reimerthi alternated as writers of the newspaper strip after Falk died, with DePaul handling the daily strips and Reimerthi the Sunday ones. DePaul would later become the strip's sole writer. Some stories were adapted from those originally published in
Fantomen. On July 31, 2011,
Eduardo Barreto became the Sunday-page artist. He died after only a few months, and Ryan temporarily took over the Sunday page again on January 15, 2012 (which featured a memorial to Barreto). Ryan also did the following week's strip, before
Terry Beatty became Barreto's replacement. Ryan died at his home unexpectedly on March 7, 2016.
Mike Manley succeeded Ryan as artist on The Phantom, beginning with the strip dated May 30, 2016. Beatty stepped down as Sunday artist in 2017, and was replaced by
Jeff Weigel.
Internationally United States The Phantom has had a number of publishers in the United States. During the 1940s the strips were reprinted in
Ace Comics, published by
David McKay Publications.
Harvey Comics published
The Phantom during the 1950s. In 1962
Gold Key Comics took over, followed by
King Comics in 1966 and
Charlton in 1969. By 1977, a total of 73 issues were published. Principal
Phantom artists during this period were
Bill Lignante,
Don Newton,
Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette.
George Wilson drew several covers for the Gold Key series. In 1943,
Columbia Pictures released the 15-episode serial
The Phantom starring
Tom Tyler as "The Phantom" and
Jeanne Bates as "
Diana Palmer".
DC Comics published a
Phantom comic book from 1988 to 1990. The initial May–August 1988 miniseries was written by
Peter David, penciled by
Joe Orlando, and inked by
Dennis Janke. A subsequent series, written by
Mark Verheiden and drawn by
Luke McDonnell, ran for thirteen issues from March 1989 to March 1990. In the series, the Phantom fought racism, toxic dumping, hunger and modern-day
piracy. According to Verheiden, the series ended as much because of licensing issues as falling sales. In the final panels of issue 13, the Phantom marries Diana. In 1987,
Marvel Comics published a four-issue miniseries written by
Stan Lee and based on the
Defenders of the Earth TV series. Another three-issue Marvel miniseries,
The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks (February–April 1995) followed which was written and drawn by
David de Vries and
Glenn Lumsden; it featured the 22nd Phantom with an updated, high-tech costume. Marvel later released a four-part miniseries (May–August 1995), pencilled by
Spider-Man co-creator
Steve Ditko, based on the
Phantom 2040 TV series. One issue featured a pin-up by the original two Spider-Man signature artists, Ditko and
John Romita, Sr. In the United States and Australia,
The Phantom was released in theaters as a major motion picture starring
Billy Zane as “The Phantom/Kit Walker,” the 21st Phantom. Opened June 7, 1996 nationwide in the aforementioned markets.
Moonstone Books published Phantom graphic novels beginning in 2002. Five books, written by
Tom DeFalco,
Ben Raab and
Ron Goulart with art by
Mike Collins were published. In 2003, Moonstone introduced a
Phantom comic-book series written by Raab, Rafael Nieves and
Chuck Dixon, and drawn by Pat Quinn, Jerry DeCaire, Nick Derington,
Rich Burchett, and EricJ. After eleven issues
Mike Bullock took over the scripting, with Gabriel Rearte and
Carlos Magno creating the artwork before Silvestre Szilagyi became the regular artist in 2007. Bullock's stories often feature topical issues, based on actual African conflicts. In a 2007 three-part story arc, "Invisible Children", the Phantom fights a fictional warlord called "Him" (loosely based on
Joseph Kony). In 2006, Moonstone published a
retcon of the Phantom's origin, "Legacy", by Raab and Quinn. Three years later the company reintroduced the series as
The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks, beginning with issue 0 (a retelling of the first Phantom's origin). The aim was to make the comic darker, grittier and more realistic, similar to the 1930s stories by Lee Falk and Ray Moore. It updated the Phantom, giving him modern accessories, and introduced a number of supporting characters and villains. In the series, the Phantom fights reality-based enemies such as modern terrorists,
organ smugglers and
Somali pirates.
Dynamite Entertainment introduced a monthly comic-book series,
The Last Phantom, in August 2010. The series was written by
Scott Beatty and drawn by Eduardo Ferigato, with covers painted by
Alex Ross. In 2013, the Phantom appeared in Dynamite's five-issue miniseries,
Kings Watch. In the series, written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Marc Laming, the Phantom joins Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician to fight Ming the Merciless and prevent his attempt to take over the planet. It was followed by the 2015 five-issue miniseries
King: The Phantom in which Lothar as the new Phantom looks for the rightful heir to the legacy. In 2016, started a new crossover of King Features characters (The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Jungle Jim),
Kings Quest. In 2014,
Hermes Press announced that it would publish a Phantom comic-book miniseries with new content, written by Peter David and illustrated by Sal Velluto, scheduled for publication in November 2014. For
Free Comic Book Day 2015, Hermes published a Phantom comic book with art by Bill Lignante and samples of the new miniseries. In 2024,
Mad Cave Studios published a new Flash Gordon comic book, a
trade paperback of Marvel's
Defenders of the Earth series, and launched a new series of the team. Mad Cave released an issue #0 for Free Comic Book Day 2025 written by
Ray Fawkes and illustrated by
Russell Mark Olson.
Nordic region Egmont Publications has published original Phantom stories in a fortnightly
Phantom comic book in Sweden as
Fantomen, in Denmark and Norway as
Fantomet and in Finland as
Mustanaamio (
Black Mask). The first issue of
Fantomen was dated October 1950, and over 1,600 issues have been published. The first story created originally for
Fantomen was published in 1963, and there are a total of over 900
Fantomen stories. The average
Fantomen story is over 30 pages, compared to 20–24 pages for most American comics. Artists and writers who have created stories for
Fantomen include
Dick Giordano, Donne Avenell, Heiner Bade,
David Bishop,
Dai Darell,
Georges Bess,
Jaime Vallvé, Joan Boix,
Tony DePaul,
Ulf Granberg,
Ben Raab,
Rolf Gohs,
Scott Goodall,
Eirik Ildahl,
Kari Leppänen,
Hans Lindahl, Janne Lundström, Cesar Spadari,
Bob McLeod, Jean-Yves Mitton,
Lennart Moberg, Claes Reimerthi,
Paul Ryan,
Alex Saviuk,
Graham Nolan,
Romano Felmang and
Norman Worker, and they have been nicknamed "Team Fantomen". The team have experimented with the character and his surroundings, with Singh Brotherhood leader Sandal Singh taking over as President of Bangalla and the Phantom and Diana having marriage problems. In particular, the team has elaborated on the Phantom's back story, producing a lot of historical stories for all twenty earlier Phantoms. In 2018, the Norwegian branch of Egmont issued a statement that the Norwegian Fantomet edition would get cancelled at the end of 2018, thus leaving the Swedish edition as the only remaining edition in Scandinavia. The Phantom has been a noticeable part of culture in Sweden especially. Between 1986 and 2010, there was even a "Fantomenland" (Phantom Land) at the Parken Zoo in
Eskilstuna in Sweden. Due to the strips and comics being exported without a coloring guide, old
Fantomet and
Mustanaamio comics had the Phantom wearing a light blue costume.
Australia In Australia, the ''
Australian Woman's Mirror began publishing the strip in 1936 and Frew Publications has published a fortnightly Phantom'' comic book since 1948, celebrating sixty years of uninterrupted publication in September 2008. Although Frew's comic book primarily contains reprints from the newspaper strips,
Fantomen (translated into English) and other Phantom comic books, it has occasionally included original stories drawn by Australian artists such as
Keith Chatto. The editor-in-chief was Jim Shepherd until his death. Frew's
The Phantom is the longest-running comic-book series with the character in the world, and Australia's bestselling comic book. Frew
Phantom comics appear in a number of
Sydney Royal Easter Show, Royal Adelaide Show, Melbourne Show and
Perth Royal Show showbags. In 2013, publisher Jim Shepherd, who had bought the rights from the original owners during the late 1980s, died of a heart attack. Shepherd had taken over the company and introduced some minor changes to placate King Features, which had become unhappy at Frew's treatment of its character. Shepherd's changes included glossy covers (replacing the standard newsprint covers), brief editorials, regular 100-page specials and, most significantly, an annual special of between 200 and 300 pages which included multiple stories and a standalone "replica" reprint of a very early Frew edition. Shepherd also embarked on an ambitious project to reprint the entire backlist of Lee Falk stories in their original formats: Frew's reprints had often been heavily edited to fit its 32-page format. Following Shepherd's death, Frew and
The Phantom were continued by Shepherd's wife Judith until she sold the business to artist
Glenn Ford and Rene White in 2016. Since then, the new "Frew Crew" (with new publisher Dudley Hogarth) have introduced a range of innovations: •
Kid Phantom, a standalone quarterly all-colour, glossy comic book aimed at children, with original material, illustrated by Dr Paul Mason and written by Andrew Constant. •
Giant-Size Phantom, a standalone quarterly comic book series reprinting Frew's other characters from the 1950s as well as
The Phantom. The title revives an earlier title published by Frew between 1957 and 1960. • ''Phantom's World'', a standalone quarterly comic book series which features Phantom stories from around the world, often seen for the first time in English, as well as original material.
New Zealand King Features sold
The Phantom to a number of New Zealand newspapers, included
The New Zealand Herald.
The Phantom also appeared in a successful comic from the Wellington-based Feature Publications during the 1950s. The Frew comics are also available in New Zealand. The Phantom wore a mustard-colored costume in older comics printed in New Zealand, due to also not receiving a coloring guide.
India In India,
The Phantom first appeared in
The Illustrated Weekly of India in the 1950s. In 1964, the Indian publisher
Indrajal Comics began publishing a
Phantom comic book in English. Later Indrajal would also publish
The Phantom in several Indian languages. The
Telugu regional daily
Eenadu published translated versions of Phantom comics during the early days of its Sunday supplements. Phantom is also published in Bengali and Hindi language in local newspapers. In Hindi it is published by Indrajal comics as character name Vetaal. They have also published it in Bengali as character name, Betaal. In the early 1990s, Regal Publishers from Kerala started publishing Phantom comics in Malayalam Language. After a gap, Regal Publishers have again started publishing Phantom comics in Malayalam in 2019.
Other countries Italian publisher Nerbini reprinted the Phantom strip in its weekly comic newspaper L’Avventuroso, starting in issue 101, September 13, 1936. In 1939, Roberto Lemmi and Emilio Fancelli started to produce some new stories. Italian publisher Fratelli Spada produced original Phantom stories for their ''L'Uomo Mascherato
(The Masked Man
) series of comic books during the 1960s and 1970s. Contributing artists included Raul Buzzelli, Mario Caria, Umberto Sammarini ("Usam"), Germano Ferri, Senio Pratesi, Angelo R. Todaro, and Romano Felmang. Ferri, Usam, Felmang and Caria later worked for Fantomen
. Brazilian publisher RGE and German publisher Bastei produced original Phantom stories for their comic books; in Brazil, the Phantom is known as o Fantasma'', and wore a red costume until 1990 due to printing issues that prevented the purple from being properly reproduced. In 1939, the Phantom appeared in the second story of the Yugoslav comic
Zigomar, "Zigomar versus the Phantom", as an opponent and then an ally of the title character. In South Africa,
The Phantom ran in Afrikaans newspapers as
Die Skim. In the Republic of Ireland, the Phantom appeared in both the
Irish Independent and
Sunday Independent newspapers during the 1950s and 1960s. Also in 1939, the Phantom appeared in Turkey as "Kizilmaske", which translates to "Red Mask" in Turkish, by publishers Tay Yayinlari. Originally, the publishers colored the hero's costume in red on the covers, and decided to stay with that color throughout the history of the comic in Turkey, rather than use the original purple coloring. Under the name "Kizilmaske" and with color covers drawn by Turkish artists, older Lee Falk stories of the Phantom has since appeared in Turkish comic books primarily in black and white.
Reprints The entire run of the
Phantom newspaper strip was reprinted in Australia by
Frew Publications, and edited versions of most stories have been published in the Scandinavian
Phantom comics. In the United States, the following Phantom stories (written by Lee Falk) have been reprinted by
Nostalgia Press (NP), Pacific Comics Club (PCC) or
Comics Revue (CR): • "The Sky Band", Ray Moore, November 9, 1936, CR • "The Diamond Hunters", Ray Moore, April 12, 1937, PCC • "Little Tommy", Ray Moore, September 20, 1937, PCC • "The Prisoner of the Himalayas", Ray Moore, February 7, 1938, NP • "Adventure in Algiers", Ray Moore, June 20, 1938, CR • "The Shark's Nest", Ray Moore, July 25, 1938, PCC • "Fishers of Pearls", Ray Moore, November 7, 1938, CR • "The Slave Traders", Ray Moore, January 30, 1939, CR • "The Mysterious Girl", Ray Moore, May 8, 1939, CR • "The Golden Circle", Ray Moore, September 4, 1939, PCC • "The Seahorse", Ray Moore, January 22, 1940, PCC • "The Game of Alvar", Ray Moore, July 29, 1940, PCC • "Diana Aviatrix", Ray Moore, December 16, 1940, PCC • "The Phantom's Treasure", Ray Moore, July 14, 1941, PCC • "The Phantom Goes to War", Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy, February 2, 1942, PCC • "The Slave Markets of Mucar", Sy Barry, August 21, 1961, CR In its October 2009 issue,
Comics Revue began reprinting the Sunday story "The Return of the Sky Band" in color. As of August 2019,
Hermes Press has reprinted sixteen volumes of Phantom dailies and five volumes of Phantom Sundays. Volumes nine and ten of the dailies also carry the color Sundays from 1949 to 1951, when the stories for dailies and Sundays were synchronized. In 2011 Hermes began reprinting the Complete Gold Key Volumes 1 and 2 with issues 1–17 and King's complete
Phantom issues 18–28 comics side by side. The following year, it began reprinting the Charlton Years: Volume 1 through volume 5, issues 30–74. There was no issue 29, as Charlton started their series with issue 30) Hermes has also published a full-size Phantom Sunday Archives, 1939–1942. == Other media ==