Exploring the Introduction of Phantom Sunday Comic Strips

When Lee Falk’s The Phantom first hit US newspapers on the 17th of February 1936, it fundamentally shifted the trajectory of sequential art. Operating as a black-and-white daily strip, it introduced the world to the concept of a skin-tight superhero uniform and the blank, pupil-less eyes that would later define icons like Batman.

However, it wasn’t until the 28th of May 1939, that the Phantom truly leaped off newspaper pages. On this landmark Sunday, King Features Syndicate unleashed the very first full-color Phantom Sunday strip, treating readers to a massive, vibrant look at the mysterious world of the 21st Phantom. That very first Sunday story is titled “The League of Lost Men”, written by Lee Falk and illustrated by Ray Moore, which ran for exactly 21 weeks (21 Sunday strips), through until the 15th of October 1939. The first two weeks published from this story can be seen below.

For the millions of readers opening their weekend newspapers, that first Sunday installment was designed to be both a gorgeous visual feast and a definitive gateway for new fans. Writer/creator Lee Falk and artist Ray Moore knew they had to utilize the larger real estate of the Sunday layout. Instead of diving headfirst into an ongoing plot, they dedicated a significant portion of this debut strip to re-establishing the grand, mythic origin of the character. It gave a whole new segment of the public their first taste of the sacred “Oath of the Skull”.

The strip masterfully recounted the tragedy of 1536, where a young sailor named Christopher Walker watched his father perish during a brutal pirate attack by the Singh Brotherhood off the coast of Bengal. Washed ashore as the sole survivor, the young man found the skull of his father’s killer, held it to the sky, and swore a generational blood oath to destroy piracy, greed, and cruelty. This sequence explicitly laid out the dynastic lineage that separates the Phantom from standard superheroes: he wasn’t immortal, but rather a mantle passed flawlessly from father to son, giving the outside world the illusion of an eternal guardian.

“The League of Lost Men”, this premier Sunday storyline hit the ground running with classic pulp energy. The premise was instantly gripping: a prison ship capsizes near the Bengal coast, allowing roughly forty dangerous convicts to escape into the dense, unforgiving jungle. Rather than fleeing, these criminals band together under a ruthless collective, terrorizing local tribes and extorting protection money.

On the 22nd of October 1939, Lee Falk and Ray Moore immediately pivoted into the second Sunday adventure, “The Precious Cargo of Colonel Winn“, keeping the momentum going for a weekend audience that had officially hooked into the vibrant, expanded world of the Jungle Patrol, the Bandar, and the Phantom himself.

The fourth Sunday story titled “The Beachcomber” commenced publication in Sunday newspapers on the 29th of December 1940, we see the Phantom himself tell of his ancestral origin story when asked by dancer Manna Day. It gave readers another reminder of the mythos of the Phantom which is drenched in history. This original newspaper comic strip can be seen below.

Visually, Ray Moore’s artwork on Sunday comic strips was nothing short of breathtaking. Known for his atmospheric, moody use of shadows and ink, a style heavily influenced by his work on Falk’s other hit strip, Mandrake the Magician, Moore adapted beautifully to the addition of color. The deep greens of the Bengal jungle contrasted sharply against the stark vibrancy of orange/red of camp fires and the blue in the sky. Most notably, the Phantom’s costume, cementing the color purple to readers of US newspapers.

Eighty Seven years on, Phantom Sunday comic strips continue to be published, both in digital and physical forms. Our current Sunday comic strip story which commenced on the 1st of February 2026, written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by Jeff Weigel, is titled “1536“. Coincidentally, this story expands on the very first page published back on 28th of May 1939. “1536” details how the Phantom came to be shipwrecked on a Bengal beach, taken into the care of the Bandar Tribe before taking the “Oath of the Skull” hence becoming the first Phantom. Two Sunday comic strips from this continuing storyline can be seen below.

The introduction of Phantom Sunday comic strips represents a significant milestone in the publishing history of the Phantom, which total 197 created and continuing to this day. It demonstrated that the Phantom’s adventures could successfully navigate complex, multi-layered mythologies within a weekly format without sacrificing storytelling momentum. By providing the Phantom Sunday comic strips with a vast, vibrant canvas, Lee Falk and Ray Moore expanded readers’ imaginations, allowing them to explore expansive, colorful visuals that transport them to distant lands.