Lee Falk (1911–1999)

Very interesting. I didn't realize that the story of the Phantom developed as the strip went on - he started as a costumed crimefighter with a playboy alter ego, and the immortality and the jungle parts developed over time. It's fascinating watching them appear - Devil, the Bandar, the Skull Throne, the Phantom's Peace...there's no sign, yet, of the Jungle Patrol, and I know (coincidence of timing - reading online vintage comics) where he gets Hero. And like that. The stories are quite show more pulpy, unsurprisingly - he battles pirates of various sorts, including an all-girl group of sky pirates (who lose mostly because two of them fall in love with him), then a jungle war. And love is a major theme - the Phantom and Diana, Diana and Horton, the pirate women and the Phantom, and a Romeo and Juliet slant to the jungle war. Plus, when the Phantom finally rescues Diana and has her safe, a lovers' quarrel about how and where they'll live - she says he can't leave the jungle, he says she can't be happy in the jungle...and the book ends. Now I want to read the next. show less

A fascinating story. It goes into a lot more detail than any of the strips ever did (as far as I know) - it starts with the birth of Kit, who will be the twenty-first Phantom. It follows his growing up in the jungle, then his education in America, and how he met Diana Palmer, and ends as he becomes the Phantom in truth. It's basically all back-story, with minor adventures and stories of old adventures mixed in, but it conveys a _lot_ about the Phantom line and the Twenty-first in particular. show more Very rich. Of course now I want to read more - and yay, I have the whole series now! I was afraid the book wouldn't be as good as I remembered - it's been a good few years since I read it last - but it drew me right in. A great story. show less

A collection of (6 story arcs of) Lee Falk's Mandrake Sunday strips from the 1930s. Mandrake was my favorite comic book character when I was a kid: he was handsome and debonair, always on the side of the underdog, and used his superfast hypnotic technique to trick the baddies. In Sweden, he was published as a feature in The Phantom comic books, so I never read his stories in their published order. It is great to see them resurrected in color and I hope that Titan Comics continues this series show more of reproductions. Probably not to be recommended for someone who hasn't read Mandrake before (they are somewhat dated), but if you have a particular affinity for Golden Age comics, they are quite entertaining. show less

Diana Palmer (this story takes place before she married the Phantom) takes a university course in medieval history. Tales of an ancient pirate brotherhood known as the Scorpia catch her interest when she learns that they were defeated repeatedly by a mysterious masked man whose name is only given as the Phantom. But there are parties who take more than an academic interest in her research...

A functional but boring and uninspired adventure novel adapted from a daily strip adventure of The show more Phantom -- it's not offensively bad, the translation (unusually for a cheap comic strip novelization) is decent, but it's definitely not good in any sense of the word. I enjoyed it when I was 12, but obviously some books of my youth have aged less gracefully than others. Cardboard characters who are flatter than in the comic, terminally stupid crooks, and only as much plot as will comfortably fit into 128 pages. An effortless but unfulfilling read. (I confess I re-read it only to determine whether I should keep it for nostalgia's sake. I still haven't decided.) show less