The Phantom:
A Publishing History in the U.S.A.

by Bob and John Griffin


DC Comics (1988 - 1990)

The Phantom - Mini Series (1988)

#1 - #4
May - Aug 1988


#1

#2

#3

#4

Commencing in May 1988, DC produced a four issue colour monthly miniseries by Peter David (writer), Joe Orlando (penciller) & Dennis Janke (inker). The miniseries told of the battles between the Phantom generations and a pirate called Chessman. Some clever scripting saw the action jump backwards and forwards from the time of the 13th Phantom to the 21st. Each issue contained interesting background material on The Phantom "for those who came in late", including in #2 an excellent article by Anthony Tollin (DC Colorist and editor of Comics Revue) called "Secrets of The Phantom".


The Phantom - Regular Series (1989/90)

#1 - #13
Mar 1989 - Mar 1990


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

Following the good sales for the Phantom miniseries, DC launched a regular series in March 1989. The stories were written by Mark Verheiden and illustrated by Luke McDonnell. They were very slick stories in the modern DC style, but remained faithful to Lee Falk's Phantom lore as spelt out in the first Avon novel from 1972, The Phantom, The Ghost Who Walks. The series only lasted one year (13 issues), and the story titles in the various issues are listed below. Interestingly, the last issue finished with the 21st Phantom's marriage to Diana.

IssueStory Title
1Guns (Part 1)
2Guns (Part 2)
3Pirates
4Hate (Part 1)
5Hate (Part 2)
6Waste
7Gold
8Apes
9Trains
10Blind
11Famine
12Framed (Part 1)
13Framed (Part 2)


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Return to The Phantom in the USA

Bryan Shedden / guran@deepwoods.org
Last updated 5 December 1999