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THE STORY OF THE PHANTOM

(Jan 21, 2004)

From September 1972, this was the first of the fifteen Phantom paperbacks published by Avon. It's by far the most important to find if you're interested in the Ghost Who Walks, as it's for all purposes a Phantom Concordance.

THE STORY OF THE PHANTOM is the biography of the 21st to wear the hood and the mask, the Phantom of our time, the one who debuted on newspaper pages back in 1936. The book tells his life story in great detail up until the moment he inters his father (The Twentieth), assumes the costume and responsibilty, and steps out of the Skull Cave to be cheered by the waiting Bandar. Mingled with the Twenty-First's life are fascinating masses of information about the earlier Phantoms, their own triumphs and disasters down through the centuries. Remember Julie, the female Phantom? Or the lesson of The Chain?

There are also detailed descriptions of the Skull Cave, the treasure room which holds Excalibur and Durandal and other artifacts, the secrets of the skull ring and the good sign ring, why the Phantom wears a costume so unsuited for the jungle, what the Jungle Patrol really does, all about Guran and the deadly Bandar, and much more.

And the tale is told by Lee Falk, so you know it will be readable and enjoyable. Falk is one of the most under-rated storytellers in heroic fantasy. There's a reason why the Phantom was for decades read by millions of fans in newspapers all over the world, and Falk was that reason. Here he has assembled all the bits of lore and legend he had spun about his masked hero for over thirty-five years and wove them together into a great story.

Most of the Phantom books in this Avon series were okay but nothing special. It was the ones written by Falk himself that seemed to actually come to life and show some sense of excitement and urgency. THE STORY OF THE PHANTOM is not really a straight narrative, but it's even better... it's the closest to a complete guide to the world of the Ghost Who Walks that we're likely to get from the creator himself. Personally, I would love to see a big coffee table type book with hundreds of illustrations, articles about the Tom Tyler serial and the various artists who worked on the strip. But if it didn't happen when the Billy Zane movie hit the theatres, such a book is not likely to ever materialize.

THE SLAVE MARKET OF MUCAR (Sep 22, 2002) From November 1972, this is a good, solid adventure story but not one of the Phantom's best. For one thing, Diana Palmer is not even mentioned and (although she does tend to get captured a bit too regularly), Diana always brings out the human side of our hero and she's a fun character in her own right. Also, although Devil has one of his best scenes in the entire series, he is regretfully left behind for most of the story. The genuine friendship between man and wolf is one of the most appealing aspects of the Phantom series, and it's sorely missed here. THE SLAVE MARKET OF MUCAR was adapted by Basil Copper from Lee Falk's original 1961 newspaper strip. Like THE SCORPIA MENACE, it's a promising plot that is told in a clear, straightforward style which (unfortunately) has little flair or suspense. Copper writes well and lucidly, but he doesn't have an eye for vivid detail or building tension. We are never admitted into the Phantom's thoughts beyond the surface and he remains an impressive demigod who doesn't come to life on the page. Things also seem to go a bit too smoothly for the Ghost Who Walks, too. There are none of those unexpected setbacks or sudden reversals which made heroes like Doc Savage or the Saint have to think quick and react fast. I know the Phantom is good at what he does, but a little difficulty makes the victory seem more well deserved. The story involves a notorious prison in Bangalla which is infamous for the number of convicts who escape. Ominously enough, none of them are ever re-captured or even seen again and with good reason. The warden, a cunning mastermind named Saldan, has been arranging their escapes so that he can drag them to the ancient city of Mucar, where they will be sold as slaves. He and the corrupt Prince Selim have become extremely wealthy through this vile scheme, but somewhere in the Skull Cave, a masked figure has learned of this scheme.... Aside from the blonde warden, the villains are all Arabs and references to Allah and the flag of Islam are there, but there are very few derogatory comments about Islam or Arabs in general, and certainly no heated speeches as you might get if this book were written in today's atmosphere. Slavery is wrong, but it's slavery and the men who practice it that the Phantom is out to smash, not Arabs or Muslims. It's a bit odd that only one or two female slaves are mentioned. You might think here would be an obvious opportunity to throw in a bit of sexual menace threatening a captured American girl, but this is skipped. To the Phantom's credit (and Lee Falk's, as well), he is just as determined to rescue a group of male convicts as he would be to save a teenage cheerleader. One interesting note is that this book contains two references to the Phantom removing a cap from his right hand ring before leaving the skull mark, which he imprints with moderate pressure. Apparently this casing has the same skull shape as the ring itself, as people recognize the emblem when it's on, and the detail may explain why the Ghost Who Slugs doesn't inadvertently leave his mark here and there. Certainly there are times when he has to smack an interfering police officer or reporter who doesn't deserve to be branded for life, but this is the only time I`ve seen this mentioned. And Devil really gets to show his stuff in one scene. The Phantom and a companion are being pursued through the jungle by two gigantic mastiffs who have been trained to kill people. The Ghost Who Walks smiles and tell his gray partner to go get 'em, and Devil races to leap at the two bigger animals head on. Do I have to tell you who walks away from the fight, licking a few minor cuts? Go, Devil! Who's a good boy, eh?

THE SCORPIA MENACE (Nov 19, 2001)         From December 1972, this was the third in the series of more than a dozen Phantom novels that Avon published. Unfortunately, it's not especially good. Adapted from Lee Falk's original 1957 newspaper strip, Basil Copper put it into novel form without fleshing it out much or putting much fire in his writing. Copper also continued the Solar Pons stories after August Derleth's death, and his prose there was also rather prosaic and uninspired. Copper was not a bad writer by any means-- THE SCORPIA MENACE is readable and even enjoyable in many spots-- but he did not seem to put any enthusiasm into the work, and there are no moments in this book where you're startled by an unexpected twist or delighted at a creative detail.     The first half of the book is concerned with Diana Palmer, with the Phantom only making a totem appearance. Diana seems very much like a college-age Nancy Drew. She's gorgeous, intelligent and very 'nice', every parent's wish for how their daughter will turn out. Diana has won an Olympic gold medal for diving, she has a pilot's license and over 1500 hours in the air, and she's taking college-level classes just for her own curiosity. Warned by gangsters to keep quiet, she doesn't turn a hair. With just a bit more daring and maybe some karate skill, she could easily have a series of thrillers all her own.       One big problem with this book is that the menace is not very intimidating and the Ghost Who Walks flattens them much too easily. A surviving pirate brotherhood four hundred years old, Scorpia today is supposedly a global crime ring powerful enough to run whole countries-- but this is never convincing and they certainly seem no more than a bunch of crooks with a headquarters in an old castle on an island. (They claim to be a hundred times more dangerous than the Mafia, yeah right.) Any feeling that these are dangerous international criminals is ruined when the Phantom busts up one of their local outposts and finds both detailed records in an unlocked filing cabinet (?!) and a map in plain view with intersecting lines converging to point out the location of the secret headquarters. ("Yoo-hoo! Mr Phantom! Here we are.")       It would have been easy enough to have one of Diana's college professors revealed to be a Scorpia spy. Or to show a Scorpia operation underway, involving smuggling or assassination. As it is, they seem to be doing nothing deserving the attention. The only crime we see committed by Scorpia is kidnapping Diana.              One of the delights of the Phantom is his rich, extensive history and mythology which Lee Falk developed for sixty years and kept consistent. The concept of a dynasty of heroes, thought to be the same immortal man, is terrific and the best moments in Phantom strips and books are when villains fall apart into hysteria as they realize who is after them. There are a few such moments here, but they're not developed enough to be effective, and the main mastermind hasn't enough personality or presence to make the scene work

THE VEILED LADY   (March 12, 2002) From March 1973, this was the fourth in the series of Phantom books and it suffers from the same sketchiness and blandness that detracted from the others in the series. Adapted by Frank S. Shawn from Lee Falk's original comic strip, THE VEILED LADY is pretty much a straightforward recap of the adventure but with nothing new to replace the visuals lost without the artwork. To make the novel compelling or exciting, Shawn would have had to either add many descriptive details and incidents, or go into the characters' thoughts in greater depth. Maybe Falk didn't want this, or perhaps the writers in this series were told to just put the comic strip into straight text without embellishments.             In this book, the Phantom finds himself plunged into a story that would have been perfect for a 1950s black & white drive-in flick like THE CYCLOPS or LOST CONTINENT. His mission is to rescue a beautiful blonde biologist named Dr Love (?!) and her cohorts. Jan Love has decided to explore the inside of a dormant Bangalla volcano called the Veiled Lady (named for the streamers of steam and mist that conceal it). A handful of small-time crooks are also interested in the reputed treasure that was thrown into the volcano over the ages, so we have a potentially workable plot here....scientists looking for knowledge, crooks looking for treasure, hero trying to intervene, and all of them menaced by the wildlife.             As the cover to the paperback gives away (and as the story itself quickly reveals), there are monsters insde the jungle area within the volcano. Sadly, there are NO dinosaurs surviving (dinosaur fans shake their heads at this lost opportunity), but the plants and animals have been enlarged by the peculiar conditions. So we have a preying mantis six feet tall, giant frogs capable of wrapping their tongues around gorgeous blonde biologists, bees that can bring down a helicopter and so forth. Adding to the urgency is that the Veiled Lady chooses this very moment to erupt. There must be something in the presence of outsiders that causes volcanoes to erupt. In literally dozens of movies and books, a Lost Civilization is doing fine until people from the outside world show up, and then it's only a few hours until the lava starts flowing and the area is destroyed. Must be bad karma or something.         The Ghost Who Walks goes about his mission in an unexcited, workmanlike way. Luckily, his friend Guran has thoughtfully gifted him with a spear dipped in especially potent poison, as the two 45s are of limited effectiveness. One nice touch in the books is how the Phantom is careful not to discuss himself or even give his name. Lee Falk was very insightful here and the writers in the series follow his policy. The masked man never claims to actually be four hundred years old but he never denies it either, leaving the mystique to stand for itself. In the most atmospheric moment, the Ghost Who Walks is sitting far enough back from the camp fire that his face is in shadows. When Dr Love asks if the legends of the Phantom are all true, he says quietly, 'There's a grain of truth in all legends."