Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, Vol. 2

Showcase Presents: The Phantom Stranger #2

by Len Wein, Bob Haney, Marv Wolfman

A collection of the early Phantom Stranger stories, originally published 1970 through 1978.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Dc Comics, Horror, Superheroes

496 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2008

About the author

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, Vol. 2 collects The Brave and the Bold #89 and #98, Justice League #103, Phantom Stranger #22-41, DC Superstars #18, and House of Secrets #150.

The two Brave and the Bold issues are good, especially the second one, despite Bob Haney's Batman hanging out on the street in broad daylight and having a godson as Batman. The Len Wein/Jim Aparo issues of Phantom Stranger are great, as are the Marv Wolfman/Michael Kaluta Spawn of Frankenstein backups. Unfortunately, things take a nosedive when both of those creative teams leave the book at the same time. Mike Grell doing the art on an issue was good, though, and the team-ups with Deadman were decent.

After reading both Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger volumes in rapid succession, I don't know much more about The Stranger than I got from reading his Who's Who entry decades ago. That's probably for the best. The mystery of who he is is core to the character. Once you give him an origin and start delineating his abilities, things would go south in a hurry.

While I'm not hauling these two volumes to Half Price Books any time soon, I doubt I'll shell out for the hardcover Phantom Stranger omnibus if it ever sees print. I'd be down for a Phantom Stranger by Wein and Aparo hardcover, though. 3 out of 5 stars.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of supernatural horror stories from the 1970s. I enjoy reading these older stories to get a good feel of where the modern comics evolved from. You get to see a lot of artists that went on to fame and fortune in their early careers. Recommended

[tony dillard jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 1 was a classic collection of spooky stories that had plots that skirted the edge of the supernatural. But more often than not, the villain was revealed to be a Scooby-Doo level bad guy in a mask. Occasionally, we'd get an honest-to-goodness ghost with an occasional UFO alien or monster peppered in. But even then, the true monsters turned out to be ourselves with prejudices and biases. It was an honest representation of horror comics restricted by the Comics Code.

Volume 2 is comprised of stories published in the early 70s. At this point in comic book history, the restrictions on stories involving demons, vampires and other ghoulies was lifted and it appears that a now unencumbered DC Comics went wild in the pages of Phantom Stranger.

The Phantom Stranger runs afoul of an international cabal of covens. As these worshipers of evil seek to create a literal hell on Earth, they also seek to destroy the Stranger as he's the only thing that is standing in these devils' way!

Occult denier, Dr. Terry Thirteen, is the foil in many of these stories. I love this character. But he's so very much like Scully from The X-Files, as no matter how much sorcery and witchcraft does his witness, Dr. Thirteen always has an answer for why the episodes that just occurred were mere tricks of smoke and mirror. The last story which reprints an epic horror crossover with the House of Secrets and House of Mystery is proof of such blindness!

This volume also compiles the complete (but short) 'Spawn of Frankenstein' storyline by Len Wein. Based on the Mary Shelley creation, this monster is what will eventually become an Agent of SHADE, and later one of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers. It was neat seeing his origins, or maybe it's more of a revitalization. Plus, really cool and creative how both the Phantom Stranger and Dr. Thirteen are added to the mix.

Lastly, if you are fan of Deadman, then this is an essential read. Several of the final handful of Phantom Stranger issues have the ghost of Boston Brand teaming with the Stranger. Albeit, it's a reluctant pairing as Deadman really doesn't trust this guy. It's a crossover to the level of supernatural excellence of Doctor Fate and The Spectre but with a 70s flavor to it.

I liked this volume. But I am more of a purist. When it comes to horror, I am game to just about anything. But if I had to pick the type of horror that I am least a fan of- it's stuff dealing with demons. Ghosts. Witches. Magic. I can deal with. But once you start opening a portal to Hades and adding demonic possession, I'm just not a fan of that. Unfortunately, while Phantom Stranger, Volume 2 still bears the original formula of the series. But we started edging just a bit too much into Linda Blair territory for my liking.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading over 1,000 pages of Phantom Stranger stories between these two phonebook-sized trade paperbacks and still not knowing the character's origin, I had to head over to Wikipedia (loathe as I am to admit it) for clarification. I like to, you know, read material and interpret and decide for myself what things are. Kind of like how things were in the olden days, before the Internet. The answer is that there is no answer...at least, no definitive answer for his origin. That's cool. I kind of like the mystique and the hints and insinuations, and have my own idea what he truly is. I'm not telling you, though; I'd rather you read it and figure it out for yourself.

The quality of this title nosedives, largely because of "artist" Gerry Talaoc, who is the very definition of a hack. There is nothing about his artwork that I like, and he leaves me cold. The bright spot in the book is when Mike Grell fills-in on Issue 33. I had never seen his artwork but have heard others rave about it. I can see why. He turns in some of the finest comic book artwork that I have ever seen, and I am interested in looking further into his body of work down the road.

The Phantom Stranger's popularity wanes, and his title turns into first a title with a back-up feature (Frankenstein by Marv Wolfman) and then a co-star on his own title with Deadman. Deadman was also on the outs in terms of popularity, this being after his much celebrated Neal Adams run. The title ends with a whimper, and the Phantom Stranger pops up in a couple more titles before vanishing into the mists of time...at least for a while. There was a mini-series in 1987 and a few odds and ends (thanks, ComicBookDB!) and then only guest appearances. I think that it's high time we got a Phantom Stranger revival.

[Jonathan Briggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, it sucks that DC is too cheap to print its Showcase volumes in color and on paper that doesn't turn your thumbs black. Then again, it's not like the comix collected in this volume are timeless classics worthy of painstaking restoration. Here's more dopiness from the era when comic books WERE just for kids. I always thought the Phantom Stranger was one of DC's cooler characters, but my impressions were based on Alan Moore's retooling. In this book, the Stranger's just a plain ol' tool, endlessly delivering windy pronouncements that sound like they could almost maybe mean something. This reads like a fourth-string comic that nobody at DC taxed themselves working too hard on. The art ranges from serviceable to almost offensively amateurish. Bernard Bailey draws a Spawn of Frankenstein that looks more like Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. There are some unintentional laughs over the 500 pages of '70s comix collected here, but I think I'll stick with the Vertigoed version.

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a shame that only to the end of the run the Phantom Stranger tales acquired a much sought consistency and drama. The whole "spawn of Frankestein" arch was a mess, and the loss of Dr. Thirteen a pity. However, the appearance of Deadman and the recurring sorcerous villains reinvigorated an amazing character.

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up, comic books were a staple at home. It seemed we had too many Archies, but not enough of what to me were DC's creme de la creme: The House of Mystery, The House of Secrets, The Witching Hour, Ghosts, Tales of the Unexpected, and that alpha male of supernatural comic books, The Phantom Stranger. We only had a handful of this attractive, mystical Dirty Harry, which may account for why most of his narratives and plot lines have stuck with me to this day. Looking back, I think his stories had more depth, more gravitas than the rest of the supernatural selections from DC's deck. I have TPS Volumes 1 and 2, and I'm hoping there is a Volume 3 still out there.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Phantom Stranger series reprinted in this volume and the previous. It's very much a DC horror title such as House of Secrets, but the Phantom Stranger also gives the stories a superhero element. I wish the volumes had included the Black Orchid back up stories, but at least we did get the Dr. Thirteen stories.

We also got all of the Spawn of Frankenstein stories. Those started out strong with some early Michael Kaluta art, but then the series sort of fizzled out.

Overall this was a strong DC horror series, and I think it's an underrated series as well.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another very fun-to-read Showcase Presents volume, finishing the reprints of the original Phantom Stranger series.There are also a few issues of The Brave and the Bold, the issue of Justice League of America in which the Stranger was voted onto the team, and a few follow up stories from DC Super Stars and House of Secrets. Also featured are the Spawn of Frankenstein tales that were the back-up for a while, and Deadman features prominently in the last five or six issues.

There's some excellent art here by Jim Aparo, along with Mike Kaluta providing the pencils on the first few chapters of the Spawn of Frankenstein stories. Arnold Drake (creator of the Doom Patrol) provides about half the scripts. The stories are very fast paced and will draw you in! Recommended for the horror comic book fan.