The Son of the Phantom

The Phantom

by Dale Robertson

OUR COPY HAS A CREASE ON BOTTOM HALF OF BACK COVER. THERE IS LIGHT WEAR AND SOME CURLING AT CORNERS OF COVERS AND SPINE. BOTH COVERS ARE SEPARATING FROM BINDING, BUT ALL PAGES ARE INTACT AND IN GOOD CONDITION. A FEW PAGES COULD HAVE CREASING AT TOP. AGE RELATED TANNING OF PAGES WITH SOME DISCOLORATION. LINING INSIDE FRONT COVER HAS A SPOT AT BOTTOM THAT HAS BEEN TAPED TOGETHER.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a prose Phantom novelization by Dale Robertson based on the famous newspaper comic strip created by Lee Falk and written by Falk with Ray Moore. It's the origin story of the character, beginning with the 1544 ill-fated voyage of The Adventurer and ending with the titular son of The Phantom having to assume the mantle. The book appeared in 1946 and was one of the earliest of the novelizations of adventures that sprang from sequential art characters. It was written for younger readers, but is pretty much an accurate portrayal of the story as it has come to be accepted today. The son of the Phantom is Kip (not Kit) Walker, who is accompanied to Centerville by the faithful Guran to be educated (and perhaps somewhat domesticated) at the home of Uncle Jasper and Aunt Lucy Walker. He meets a six-year old Diana Palmer, has many adventures, grows up, becomes a football star, etc. He returns to Africa and The Skull Cave, his mother dies, he fights pirates alongside his father, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Phantom first appeared in newspapers in 1936, and this served as a good introduction and recap for his first decade.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Phantom (created by Lee Falk) is "The Ghost Who Walks", and supposedly undying. In fact, it's a long line of people, father-to-son. This is the story of the son of the current (1944) Phantom and is basically a school story as the youngster (Kip Walker) grows up and excels at everything he does. I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I knew anything about football or even cared about the sport.