THE MYSTERIOUS AMBASSADOR
(Aug 3, 2002)
From July 1973, this was written by Lee Falk based on his original newspaper strip, and it's a completely satisfying pulp style novel. The Phantom goes after a brutal general who has stolen the election in Bangalla and cheated the people. Civil war and mass slaughter are impending, the neighboring nations are uneasy, and a team of United Nation medical volunteers has been taken hostage -- and among them is a beautiful young American woman named Diana Palmer. So as you might expect, a white horse soon thunders from the Skull Cave, with an angry rider.
Much of the reason why this book is so satisfying is that the main villain, General Bababu, is clearly based on Idi Amin. One of the most atrocious tyrants in modern history, Amin not only was responsible for the deaths of 500,000 of his fellow Ugandans, along with torture and terror and mass rapes, he got away with all of it. As far as I can find out, he still lives in luxury in Saudi Arabia, unrepentent and unpunished. So it is a deep vicarious pleasure to see Bababu pursued and brought to justice by the Phantom.
[A serious correction here, as it has been brought to my attention that this book was based on the newspaper strip which first appeared in 1962...several years before Amin came to power. Sadly enough, there were many other African military dictators in office after the colonial periods which could have served as a model for Bababu.]
Lee Falk's prose style is just right for this kind of story, descriptive but not ornate, with a strong sense for the dramatic image. The Phantom is at his best, going straight up against a literal army of half a million soldiers and heading directly for Bababu. Other writers in this series underestimate the Phantom's use of pyschological intimidation. The skull marks left on shattered radios, smashed tables, and the broken jaws of unconscious soldiers have a believable effect of unnerving the thugs our hero is hunting. Even if you hadn't grown up in the jungle, finding those skull marks all around you would be unsettling.
Falk makes an observation I had wondered about before. The sworn enemy of pirates, who used the skull and crossbones as their emblem, it seems an odd symbol for the Phantom. ("It is ironic, and not accidental, that the first Phantom, seeing his father killed by pirates, took part of the time dishonored insignia of piracy for his mark.") And of course, a skull symbol IS scary. If you saw one on anything, you'd steer clear of it.
By the way, the Phantom's protective "good mark" is usually described as being four crossed sabers or four capital Ps. But doesn't it seem more likely that it was originally the crossbones part of the pirate flag? Did Lee Falk ever mention this, or why its derivation was so ambigious? Any Phantom experts out there know?
Our own Diana Palmer is, as usual, right in the middle of all the shooting and shenanigans. If she wasn't the Phantom's beloved, I'm sure she'd still be getting into all kinds of dangerous adventures.. . it's just her personality. If she carried a gun or had mastered martial arts a bit more, she'd be right up there with Modesty Blaise and Honey West in the pantheon of gorgeous women who can kick your ass. At least she gets to spend a few happy days visiting her boyfriend at his home, picnicing and swimming and possibly seeing him with more than his mask off. (Well, after all, there has to be a 22nd Phantom some day to cary on the line...)
One bit of Phantom trivia is that "Kit Walker" is not literally his true identity. He uses the name Walker for convenience, but the traditional first name of the first born males, Kit, had been "discarded by him long ago." So the Kit Walker name is just a useful pseudonym at this point. He also seldom introduces himself, but if asked directly if he is the Phantom, will sometimes affirm it.
It's always great seeing Devil taking part. He's a lot more help to the Ghost Who Walks than most heroes' sidekicks, and he never gets tied up or knocked out by a pretty girl and have to be rescued. I especially enjoy the way the Phantom explains to a prisoner that the mountain wolf has been trained to fight big cats three times his own weight, but he's not a good retriever ("A good retriever... brings back the game undamaged. Devil never learned to do that.") So when Devil is guarding you, it's best to just sit still.
Even Hero, the great white stallion, gets a moment to shine. The most neglected member of the cast, Hero seldom gets to do more than just gallop like mad back and forth through the jungle, but here, when a captive tries to escape on him, Hero bucks and throws the man twenty feet away. Still, I wish the horse had more chances to show some intelligence or courage. Compared to Silver or Trigger, he's underused.
Finally, it's worth noting that although the Phantom is a mediator and keeper of the peace between the tribes, he's not a dictator himself. When he calls a council of all the tribal chiefs in this emergency, he abides by their decision, even when he strongly disagrees with it. And it's interesting to speculate that the Phantom may not appear particularly "white". Not only has he spent his life in Africa (or India, in the earliest concept), but his lineage is so mixed (I seem to recall the earlier Phantoms marrying Asian and Arab brides), that he probably is as dark a bronze as Doc Savage. |
