The Phantom: The Ghost Killer

    (Moonstone, 2002)
™ and ©2003 Steve Ellis and Fred Van Lente

A good Phantom story has to have certain things: his dog (Devil), his horse (Hero), a retelling of his origin, and that moment when he confronts a bunch of crooks — and they laugh at him. One of the most endearing things about The Phantom is, unlike Batman, he doesn’t automatically assume he’ll generate fear in the bad guys; in every adventure, he has to go out and earn his reputation of being The Ghost Who Walks.

And “The Ghost Killer” is a good Phantom story, one that: involves an international gun smuggling gang, gives his wife Diana a substantial part to play, and introduces a nameless beautiful but deadly assassin who gives The Phantom a good run for his money. With all its explosive violence and babes in bikinis, it makes for a nice change from the daily comic strip, which has all the pulse-pounding excitement of Rex Morgan, M.D. The only false note comes when Devil gets kicked and doesn’t do anything about it. He’s a better dog than that.

— S.A. Bennett
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