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DC Premiere #3
Phantom Stranger: The Heart of a Stranger
Incluye Phantom Stranger USA #1-4 más Firestorm #90, publicado en español dentro de los números 7 al 9 de DC Premiere.
- GenresDc ComicsGraphic Novels
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Paul Kupperberg
748 books55 followersPaul Kupperberg is a nearly 50-year veteran of the comic book industry as a writer and editor for DC Comics, Archie Comics, Marvel, Bongo Charlton, and many more. He is also the author of more than three dozen books of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, as well as of short stories, articles, and essays for Crazy 8 Press, Heliosphere, Titan Books, Stone Arch Books, Rosen Publishing, Citadel Press, Pocket Books, TwoMorrows, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 2, 2017
This series is more the Phantom Stranger I remember growing up with. Powerful, mysterious and always fighting the good fight no matter the odds or what anyone else believes or says. Nice art and story. Recommended
March 20, 2020
Beautiful art by two of my favorites. Too bad the story isn’t worthy of the talents of the visual artists.
Actually, I’d originally read this as individual issues back 1987. But it left absolutely no impression at that time, I’d all but forgotten that I’d already read it.
Actually, I’d originally read this as individual issues back 1987. But it left absolutely no impression at that time, I’d all but forgotten that I’d already read it.
February 5, 2022
I initially posted these reviews of the first three issues on a Facebook account that was deleted on false pretenses. I found these pasted into an e-mail sent to a friend on February 1, 2010. I didn't change anything except fox some typos.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 #1
Aside from James (don't call him "Jimmy") Olsen's pursuit of a mob accountant that leads him to a Russian consulate with all its cold war trappings, this issue, with its middle east tensions and religious fervor, seems right in line with our time. Although this series isn't particularly expensive, they can take some looking due to the popularity of artist Mike Mignola. I wasn't terribly unimpressed by the art--it struck me as very typical '80s comic book artwork that sent me heading to the back issue bin for 1970s comics. The writing is quite good, but the Stranger is a bit more of a mystery with the severe limitations placed on his powers in Dr. Fate #3, which was published only one month prior and which I have not read.
Lycaon has duped people ready to sacrifice themselves to a god that is a demon who wants to consume them, while Eclipso is shattering the world. Nonetheless, a lot of stuff is going on for which Kupperberg is simply setting the stage, also involving Negative Woman, Dr. Jenet Klyburn, and Dr. Bruce Gordon, who is falling down drunk at the end of the issue in order to forget that Eclipso is the product of his own mind.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 #2
This is the other issue set at Mount St. Helens that I read last night. They were published six years apart, so the fact that I read them both, not knowing that fact, is an eerie coincidence. One of Lyacoan's followers nearly getting eaten by a demon in the previous issue is reflected in the Lords of Order's grab of the Stranger. These Lords are paltry excuses for gods--petty, insolent, and defeatist. I am not sure when they were first introduced. Who's Who in the DC Universe says it was in More Fun Comics #55, but this is a retcon--there is no reference to them, let alone an appearance, in any of the Golden Age Doctor Fate stories. I believe they were Roy Thomas's idea, and thus, at best, they are functioning behind the scenes alone in those stories. (I can't blame him--I found Gardner Fox's Doctor Fate stories rather tedious and disappointing, and I'm glad I checked them out of the library rather than spending $75 on them.)
This issue is even more timely than the previous one--it even shows a plane having crashed into a building. Eclipso has been causing seismic activity along every faultine in the world. Suspense is created as Drs. Klyburn and Gordon get below the surface of the volcano along with the Phantom Stranger in there encountering demons. James Olsen is continuing on the trail, but finds an ally. Val Vostok doesn't appear in this issue.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 # 3
I wonder if Ronald Reagan read this issue? DC claimed that he read Kupperberg's _Vigilante_. This one has a "good" Ronald Reagan and an Eclipso imposter firing a machine gun at a depowered Phantom Stranger! I'm still not crazy about Mignola's jaggedy artwork, and it seems to me that Val Vostok is showing too much sk...in for safety. It was established in DC Comics Presents #52 that she has to be fully bandaged up like Larry Trainor had to, but this seems to have no ill effect on anyone (quite a bit of her face is showing, as well as parts of her arms). The names of the players may be different, but it's still a pretty relevant issue to today's times, perhaps even more with Lycaon and his cult. PS finally meets up with a wily James Olsen in this issue, who has been doing an undercover investigation as an unshaven bum. The bathroom scene is quite clever.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 #1
Aside from James (don't call him "Jimmy") Olsen's pursuit of a mob accountant that leads him to a Russian consulate with all its cold war trappings, this issue, with its middle east tensions and religious fervor, seems right in line with our time. Although this series isn't particularly expensive, they can take some looking due to the popularity of artist Mike Mignola. I wasn't terribly unimpressed by the art--it struck me as very typical '80s comic book artwork that sent me heading to the back issue bin for 1970s comics. The writing is quite good, but the Stranger is a bit more of a mystery with the severe limitations placed on his powers in Dr. Fate #3, which was published only one month prior and which I have not read.
Lycaon has duped people ready to sacrifice themselves to a god that is a demon who wants to consume them, while Eclipso is shattering the world. Nonetheless, a lot of stuff is going on for which Kupperberg is simply setting the stage, also involving Negative Woman, Dr. Jenet Klyburn, and Dr. Bruce Gordon, who is falling down drunk at the end of the issue in order to forget that Eclipso is the product of his own mind.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 #2
This is the other issue set at Mount St. Helens that I read last night. They were published six years apart, so the fact that I read them both, not knowing that fact, is an eerie coincidence. One of Lyacoan's followers nearly getting eaten by a demon in the previous issue is reflected in the Lords of Order's grab of the Stranger. These Lords are paltry excuses for gods--petty, insolent, and defeatist. I am not sure when they were first introduced. Who's Who in the DC Universe says it was in More Fun Comics #55, but this is a retcon--there is no reference to them, let alone an appearance, in any of the Golden Age Doctor Fate stories. I believe they were Roy Thomas's idea, and thus, at best, they are functioning behind the scenes alone in those stories. (I can't blame him--I found Gardner Fox's Doctor Fate stories rather tedious and disappointing, and I'm glad I checked them out of the library rather than spending $75 on them.)
This issue is even more timely than the previous one--it even shows a plane having crashed into a building. Eclipso has been causing seismic activity along every faultine in the world. Suspense is created as Drs. Klyburn and Gordon get below the surface of the volcano along with the Phantom Stranger in there encountering demons. James Olsen is continuing on the trail, but finds an ally. Val Vostok doesn't appear in this issue.
Phantom Stranger vol. 3 # 3
I wonder if Ronald Reagan read this issue? DC claimed that he read Kupperberg's _Vigilante_. This one has a "good" Ronald Reagan and an Eclipso imposter firing a machine gun at a depowered Phantom Stranger! I'm still not crazy about Mignola's jaggedy artwork, and it seems to me that Val Vostok is showing too much sk...in for safety. It was established in DC Comics Presents #52 that she has to be fully bandaged up like Larry Trainor had to, but this seems to have no ill effect on anyone (quite a bit of her face is showing, as well as parts of her arms). The names of the players may be different, but it's still a pretty relevant issue to today's times, perhaps even more with Lycaon and his cult. PS finally meets up with a wily James Olsen in this issue, who has been doing an undercover investigation as an unshaven bum. The bathroom scene is quite clever.
August 30, 2016
Otra ganga que me supo dar un buen rato de entretenimiento, aunque creo que el dibujo de Mignola me convenció más que el guion de Kupperberg. Creo que de chiquito había leído algún número suelto pero recién cuando me encontré con este taco pude leerme la saga completa. Y como lindo extra, una historia de Firestorm que ni recuerdo si me gustó. Quedará para una rerreseña futura.
Want to Read
September 5, 2015Tercer taco recopilatorio de DC Premiere, recopila el primer arco de Phantom Stranger.
April 26, 2016
Tercer taco recopilatorio de DC Premiere. Traduce Phantom Stranger USA #1-4 más Firestorm #90.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews