The Phantom has been featured on the Guinness World Records website.

Written by Eleonora Pilastro on the 28th of April 2023, we read a biographical piece titled ‘The Phantom: The Superhero Who Was Saving The World Before Superman‘.

Eleonora takes us on a fun journey on the Phantom, covering a variety of facts within her write-up, from his conception in 1936, what influences he’s had on other comic book characters, the Phantoms mythos, plus his presence/appearance in the pop culture world.

We read about his initial release in 1936:

While Clark Kent’s masked alter ego was brought to life in 1938, making him the first superhero with superpowers, he was not the first crimefighter operating in the shadows to protect humankind. In fact, The Phantom’s public debut pre-dates Superman by two years, kickstarting some design trends for later superheroes and pioneering the genre. 

His mythos is well described by Eleonora:

In the very first story, the Phantom is revealed to be the 21st member of a long-standing family tradition which, generation after generation, secretly handed down the purple costume of The Ghost Who Walks. Although Kit is presented as a modern-day Phantom, the Walkers’ quest originated in 1536, aboard Christopher Columbus’ ship Santa Maria.

The Phantoms image design is also written about, with Lee Falk references noted:

While Falk was mainly inspired by Nordic legends and popular characters like King Arthur and Tarzan, during an interview with Comic Book Marketplace he also revealed that the Phantom’s outfit is inspired by the image of Robin Hood in popular media.

Falk explained in the 1996 documentary The Phantom: Comic Strip Crusader that he had been inspired by Greek busts to draw The Phantom without pupils: the lack of pupils made the statues “inhuman and awe-inspiring.”

Eleonora concludes with notifying us on who the current writers and artists are who work on the Phantom comic strips today, following on from Lee Falk.

‘The Phantom: The Superhero Who Was Saving The World Before Superman‘ is a fun and easy read, without being overloaded with details and statistics. It’s certainly a good write-up on who and what the Phantom is all about, for those who need a reminder!!!

To read Eleonora’s article on the Guinness World Records website, click HERE

---