Star Comics - Marvel - Defenders of the Earth - Vol 1, No 1

This is an oddity. Printed in 1987 in the States, written by Stan Lee (of Spider-man fame), this was an attempt by Marvel to re-introduce the Phantom to America, along with Mandrake and Flash.

Weirdly, the Phantom has 'super powers', like an ability to jump ten storeys high when he says he has "the strength of ten tigers", and can smell another human miles away.....he's asked to join up with Mandrake & Lothar to help find Flash's wife and son, who are held captive by Ming, Flash's mortal enemy. The four men become the Defenders of the Earth when Ming threatens to destroy our home planet. The Phantom is on board because he can track anyone in the jungle....and he also has a daughter called Jedda, filled with angst, who has a pet panther called Kisa. Diana is never mentioned, nor Kit or Heloise! What the?

Yes, I know, it doesn't sound good or make sense, and the story doesn't work. This was a short lived series, thankfully.

Marvel Comics - The Phantom, one of three

This is an experiment Marvel tried in 1995; they commissioned a three part comic featuring someone called 'The Phantom', but he's not "our" Phantom. This one has a computer on his wrist (in those silver gauntlets), which switches on infra red in his mask - hence the redness on the cover - and allows him to open a safe. He's also quite psychotic and homicidal.

It didn't work and Marvel didn't try to replicate this again. The story is pretty blood thirsty and gory, I have it in my collection as a curiosity, I don't recommend reading it if you're seeking a Phantom tale.

The Phantom 2040 tv series was about to come to tv at the time of publication, which featured a futuristic teenage 24th Phantom. A comic book was to be published, featuring this Phantom, but I've never located a copy of it. The tv series is pretty corny, with very stilted animation, and cheesy dialogues. Check out this website for more info on the series, including images. It's dated, so I doubt the contest it mentions is still running.

Written by David De Fries
Art by Glenn Lumsden - the artist on the G6 card from Dynamic, below.