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Robert Greenberger
by Robert Greenberger
The Phantom stranger was one of the few characters introduced directly in his own series during the 1950s, long lasting just a handful of issues before being resurrected in the late 1960s. Today he’s one of the long-running supporting players in the DC Universe, periodically receiving solo tales or titles, but always on call when needed.
The Phantom stranger SC
During the 1980s he had a particularly interesting run of stories that are being collected at long last in The Phantom Stranger, collecting The Phantom Stranger #1-4, Action Comics Weekly #610, 613-614, 617, 623, 631-634, 636, 641, Secret Origins #10, and DC Comics Presents #72.
DC Comics presents #72
The last title came first, as Superman and the Stranger, who had partnered before, in addition to, of all people, the Joker. This unlikely trio confronted Maaldor the Darklord, a character writer Paul Kupperberg had created previously. given the magical nature of the foe, it made ideal sense to use mystical help. Alex Saviuk and Dennis Jensen illustrated the oddball story.
“I was a long-time fan of the Phantom Stranger. I first saw him in his showcase #80 appearance, around 1968, which featured a new story, a framing sequence by Mike Friedrich and the great, great Jerry Grandenetti and bill Draut, wrapped around a story from the 1950s Phantom stranger #2 and a Dr. Thirteen story from Star-Spangled Comics. The book also had a kick ass Neal Adams cover,” Kupperberg told Iamthephantomstranger.blogspot.com.
Secret Origins #10
In 1986, DC was searching for ways to tie its Legends miniseries to other titles around the line and Paul Levitz suggested a distinct idea: four different teams tackle the Phantom Stranger’s arrival for an issue of secret Origins. As the series editor, I jumped at the chance and found four diverse teams that included: Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn with Ernie Colon, Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo (naturally), Alan Moore and Joe Orlando (who asked to work with the British writer), and Levitz paired with Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Under the M.C. Escher-inspired Aparo cover (sketched by Ed Hannigan), the four tales went from the Wandering Jew to the outer space and shown a critical success.
A few years later, Kupperberg was able to successfully pitch a stranger miniseries to editor Denny O’Neil, who quickly turned the approved series over to newly arrived editor Mike Carlin. In turn, Carlin partnered the writer with rising artist Mike Mignola. The four issue miniseries arrived in 1988 and clearly recognized the character as a formidable player in the post-Crisis universe.
The Phantom stranger #4
“I wanted to ground this story in a much more human place,” Kupperberg recalled. “The story I originally pitched…was essentially Phantom stranger as Jesus. The Lords of purchase say it’s over, the stranger is left to wonder why he has been forsaken, and left to the tender mercies of mankind to judge him. I’ll admit; I certainly played off of Denny’s Irish Catholic upbringing when I pitched him that one!
“I needed “real” people to put together with the Stranger, not a lot of magical and super-powered characters.”
Carlin then enticed P. Craig Russell to ink the story creating the strongest visuals the stranger had had because Jim Aparo drew his adventures a decade earlier. In fact, Kupperberg first wanted Aparo as artist but shown unavailable. “But as fantastic an artist as Jim was, I think in the long run, Carlin’s instinct to choose Mignola, was the best course. Carlin knew from working together at marvel where he’d just come over from to take the DC job. It was so different from much of the look of DC books at the time, which made it really stand out.”
Despite the battle against Eclipso, the series featured some of the writer’s patented dark humor and ended on an optimistic note.
Action Comics weekly #631. Cover by Jim Starlin.
By this time, action Comics weekly was underway and fill-ins and space breathers were required so Editor Mike Gold asked Carlin, his assistant Rene Witterstatter, and Kupperberg for several Phantom stranger tales. Mignola managed one cover to tie things together, but the various stories were actually illustrated by Kyle Baker, Joe Orlando, Tom Grindberg, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Andy Kubert, and previous PS artist Fred Carrillo.
“I’d write a script, turn it in to Mike or Rene and they did a great job matching up an artist to the material,” Kupperberg explained. “The one Kyle drew, about a supernatural virus in a computer, was the first one I did for ACW. We called on Fred Carrillo, who’d been drawing PS when I was reading it as a fan, to do a four-parter that brought back Cassandra and the rest of the Stranger’s old cast of characters.”
As one of the most prolific, if not the most prolific chronicler of the Phantom Stranger’s adventures, it’s good to have all of Kupperberg’s stories in one place and a chance to revisit some of the finest artists working during that time period.
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The Phantom stranger SC