The Phantom

The Phantom is one of comics' earliest costumed heroes, a mysterious masked figure who patrols the jungle as a seemingly immortal guardian. The mantle is passed from father to son across generations, creating the legend of a ghost who never dies.

Few characters can claim roots as deep as The Phantom, who strode onto the page in 1938's Feature Book #20 — a Platinum Age original whose purple-masked legend has endured across an extraordinary 84 years of publication. Across The Menomonee Falls Gazette, Comics Revue, and The Complete Sundays collections, this ghost-who-walks has accumulated 77 catalog appearances and three collector-significant key issues, a testament to a staying power that most characters can only dream of. The company is rarefied, too — the same pages that carry The Phantom's adventures also feature icons like Superman, Batman, and their alter egos Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson, placing this Platinum Age pioneer squarely among the greatest names in the medium. If you love comics history and the thrill of a character who was thrilling readers before the superhero genre even had a name, The Phantom is an essential piece of the puzzle.