Appearing on the CBR website, written by Timothy Donohoo, is an interesting post titled ‘How The Phantom Influenced Modern Superhero Comics‘.

The post covers the subject of the Phantoms appearance in 1936, prior to so many comic book based characters, and how his style and mythos seen in publications would shape how we perceive superheroes up to this day.

Timothy highlights similarities between the Phantom and Batman upon his commencement of the post, noting similarities such as:

• Both characters initially having secret alter egos,
• Both characters having their fathers die in tragic criminal acts at a young age, resulting in the start of their missions in life to fight crime,
• Both characters are mistaken as having supernatural powers by the evil/criminals they fight,
• Both characters relying only on their brains, strength, heritage and gadgets to fight crime,
• Both character having secretly located cave themed hideouts which is their base for battling crime.

The Phantoms costume is notes as being the precursor to the superheroes look. Although The Shadow and The Spider wore costumes to fight crime before the Phantom came along, the skintight costume was a unique design created by Lee Falk. Timothy notes Superman in his post as wearing a costume similar to the Phantom, with Superman appearing two years after the Phantoms creation.

The 1996 Phantom movie staring Billy Zane as the Phantom is also mentioned in the post. The jungle location that so many Phantom adventures take place in, remaining a unique setting not adopted by too many comic book characters, with Timothy identifying that even in the Phantom movie, the adventure was highly centered in the jungle, a nod to the Phantoms mythos origin.

New takes on traditional comic book characters are also identified. The Phantom had two futuristic based spinoff features, both in the form of animated cartoon series, which were ‘Defenders of the Earth‘ (released in 1986) and ‘Phantom 2040‘ (released in 1994), with the Phantom in each of these series reflecting back on his ancestors. Similar productions are recognized in the post, with Spider-Man 2099 (released in 1992 by Marvel Comics) and Batman Beyond (released in 1999 by Warner Bros. Animation).

How The Phantom Influenced Modern Superhero Comics by Timothy Donohoo is an interesting read and the connections made to modern day comic book heroes is very insightful. The full post can be found on the CBR website HERE

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