Today’s Comic> The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #8

Coming at you!

The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #8

Moonstone (2010)

WRITER/PHANTOM GROUP EDITOR: Mike Bullock

ARTIST: Silvestre Syzilagyi

COLORIST: Bob Pedroza

LETTERER: Josh Aitken

PHANTOM CONSULTANT: Ed Rhoades

COVER “A” (shown): Marat Mychaels

COVER “B”: Vivek Goel

A kid is convinced to kill his own parents, who happens to be Guran’s friends. Another of his friends is also killed, as is the man’s village. The reason: someone is out to scare people from allying themselves with the Phantom…and they just grabbed his kids!

What they got right: Although the only thing that qualifies as “Best Scene” is a bit too dark to get a nomination, the art is still beautiful and shows both the light and dark moments in the story.

What they got wrong: There are two Bullock-created Phantom foes that could be responsible, and I’m hoping neither is the case. There have to be more going on in Bangalla besides crazed religious cults and groups.

Recommendation: It’s a good start, but I’m worried about where this story is going to go. I’m kind of hoping Bullock doesn’t turn out to be a “one-trick writer”.

Tomorrow’s Comic: Actually, I didn’t get a fifth comic this week, so I’m going to do a “speed run” through Tangent: Superman’s Reign volume one to make up the space.

Before I end this review I have to point out a few errors in Ed Rhoades’ “Behind the Mask” section in this issue. Rhoades knows his Phantom comic history, but not his cartoon history. Now, I can’t say one way or the other if the Phantom actually appears in the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine animated movie, mostly because I watched it once, and darned if I know what was going on half the time, or the Popeye cartoon “Popeye and the Man Who Hated Laughter”. If he did, someone tell me where to see it.

On the other hand, the cartoon the Phantom appeared in with other Hearst-owned (Flash Gordon, Mandrake The Magician, and Lothar) characters was called Defenders of the Earth, not “Defenders of the Universe”. (The latter would belong to any giant robot named Voltron.) The other mistake is one I’ve seen him make before. Phantom: 2040 was an animated series first, with Marvel Comics doing a four-part miniseries based on the cartoon during their brief use of the Phantom license. (There was also a three-parter mini, interestingly titled The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks, which featured a more modern Phantom, something that the comic strips haven’t done yet, despite writing the ultimate “legacy” character.)

However, Rhoades words things to make it seem like the cartoon was based on the Marvel mini, which it wasn’t. Also, the Marvel version was a poor shade of the awesome cartoon, which you should all track down. (Someone get the full series on DVD already!) I just thought I’d point this out to anyone not as familiar with the animated version of Mr. Walker. Hopefully, Mr. Rhoades comes across this information and corrects it in a future edition.