| Phantom Stranger | |
|---|---|
Drawn by Jim Aparo and colored by Tom Ziuko in Secret Origins volume 2 issue 10. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics/Vertigo |
| First appearance | Phantom Stranger #1 (August-September 1952) |
| Created by | John Broome Carmine Infantino Sy Barry |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | The Quintessence Justice League The Trenchcoat Brigade Sentinels of Magic |
| Notable aliases | Brotherless One, Grey Walker |
| Abilities | Magic spells Immortality |
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.
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The Phantom Stranger first appeared in his own series, publication date August/September 1952, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. It lasted six issues. After an appearance in Showcase #80 (February, 1969), he received another series on May-June 1969 that lasted until February-March 1976. The first four issues (including the Showcase) consisted of reprints from both the Stranger's 50s title and the Dr. 13: Ghost-Breaker feature from the last nine issues of Star Spangled Comics at the same time, with new, brief framing sequences. These had Thirteen, certain that the Stranger was a fake, determined to expose him. Beginning with issue #4, November-December 1969, the comic went all-new, with stories produced by Robert Kanigher, Len Wein, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, Tony DeZuniga, and others. In these stories, while the Stranger's past remained a mystery, the writers added a semi-regular cast of characters for him. A blind psychic named Cassandra Craft (first appeared in #17, January-February 1972) would assist him, an alchemist/sorcerer named Tannarak (first appeared in #10, November-December 1970) was first an enemy and would later assist him against the Dark Circle (first appeared in #20, July-August 1972) and a demonic sorceress named Tala (first appeared in #4) would become his major personal enemy. The stories hinted at a romantic attraction between the Stranger and Craft, but he eventually left her, deciding she could not be part of his life, convincing her he had been killed in their final battle against the Dark Circle (#24, March-April 1973). She eventually learned differently and turned up occasionally. Doctor Thirteen, dropped along with the reprints, was given a back-up series here as of #12, March-April 1971, which morphed into The Spawn of Frankenstein in #23, January-February 1973.
However, the Stranger is better known for his role as a supernatural assistant to other heroes, such as the Justice League. His status as either a full, reserve, or honorary member of the League is debatable. After a vote of the majority of the League at the time, they offered him membership, with Superman declaring the Stranger "a member" without qualification, though he left before accepting.[1] The Stranger has twice (at least) asserted his membership status when other Leaguers challenged his input, during the vote on the League's re-admission of Wonder Woman[2] and during the crossover with The Avengers.[3] In contrast, many in-story accounts of League membership fail to include the Stranger; when Zatanna was admitted as a member, Superman and Hawkman clarified that the twelve-member limit in the League's charter had been rewritten previously to admit Hawkgirl as the thirteenth—leaving no room in the roster for the Stranger.[4] His failure to accept the membership offer was reiterated in Who's Who in the DC Universe Vol. XII, February 1986. There is also no evidence that he fulfilled the normal duties of membership—attend meetings, serve on monitor duty, record his activities for the JLA archive, or carry a signal device.
The Stranger also starred in a mini-series in 1987. This series portrayed him as an agent of the Lords of Order. They temporarily stripped the Stranger of his powers, due to his desire to continue a battle against the Lords of Chaos. This went against the wishes of the Lords of Order, who had believed a victory by darkness over light was necessary and preordained. This series also featured Eclipso as an agent of Chaos. In Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame, this role is continued. However the Stranger claims he belongs to no group. The Lords of Order threaten to strip him of his powers, and he leaves, claiming he shall continue to wander. However, no stories have referenced these events since, and they might no longer be in continuity due to the reality-alterations during Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis.
| The Phantom Stranger | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | vol. 1 & 2: Bi-monthly vol. 3: Monthly |
| Format | All: Standard U.S., 4 color. vol. 1 & 2: When published, ongoing. vol. 3: Limited series vol. 4: 1-shot |
| Publication date | vol. 1: August/September 1952 - June/July 1953 vol. 2: May/June 1969 - February/March 1976 vol. 3: October 1987- January 1988 |
| Number of issues | vol. 1: 6 vol. 2: 41 vol. 3: 4 vol. 4: 1 |
| Main character(s) | The Phantom Stranger |
The most striking aspect of the Phantom Stranger is that his name, his true nature, and his origins have never been revealed. DC produced a special issue of Secret Origins that postulated no less than four equally possible origins:[5]
Three out of four of these origins rely specifically on Judeo-Christian concepts, which rarely figure into the origins of most comic book characters. In the comic book miniseries The Trenchcoat Brigade, John Constantine sees that the fourth origin story is essentially correct. Note however that the continuity between DC's mainstream books and Vertigo has never been very clear, and that the 1987 miniseries points to a different origin for the Stranger.
The Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger one-shot by Alisa Kwitney and Guy Davis builds upon Moore's fallen angel story and adds the story of the woman Naamah, who was condemned to Hell for loving an angel. This angel is strongly hinted to have become the Phantom Stranger.
Another possible origin was hinted at in The Kingdom (the sequel to Kingdom Come) in which it was implied that Jonathan Kent, the future son of Superman and Wonder Woman, might grow up to be the Phantom Stranger. This also tied some of his abilities into the Hypertime concept, saying that he had the innate ability to enter other alternate timelines and to exist in the spaces between them. However, the story ultimately revealed this a red herring. The character in question had been deliberately drawn in shadows to suggest that he was the Stranger; but when Wonder Woman finally saw his face, she said that she now realized he was not the Stranger.
Yet another story, in the mini-series Conjurors (outside regular DC continuity), has him as the Father of Magic, the first human ever to wield arcane forces through his medallion, which he had stolen from extradimensionnal Lovecraft-type deities, arcane forces he then shares with humanity.
It's been shown in his appearances in Doctor Fate-related titles that the Stranger was a servant of the Lords of Order during the Ninth Age of Magic (at least). However, this may be a later development unrelated to his actual origin.
In his earliest appearances, the Phantom Stranger would prove supernatural events to be hoaxes. In later stories, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified superhuman powers to defeat them. He later appeared in various other DC Universe titles, sometimes as a major participant; in others, the Phantom Stranger just appears and gives advice or warning to the featured heroes. Occasionally he serves simply as narrator. In some stories, he seems to be answerable to a mysterious Voice, implied to be God, or the Lords of Order.
The Phantom Stranger played a major part in Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic, taking protagonist Tim Hunter through time to show him the history and nature of magic. He has assisted the Justice League on numerous occasions, even being formally elected to the group in Justice League of America #103 (although he did not acknowledge his membership until Justice League of America #143). The Stranger also had his own limited series, where, lacking much of his power, he tries to foil Eclipso's plan to cause a nuclear war.
During Kevin Smith's relaunch of Green Arrow, he prevented Hal Jordan from uniting the resurrected body of Oliver Queen with his soul in Heaven. This earned him Jordan's wrath; indeed, the Spectre threatened to judge the Stranger to see whether God had "punished" him properly by refusing him access to Heaven itself. Nonetheless, the Phantom Stranger assisted Hal Jordan during his tenure as the Spectre on numerous occasions as well, most notably in a short stint babysitting Hal's niece, Helen.
In 2005's Day of Vengeance, the Stranger had been turned into a small rodent by the Spectre. Upon the Spectre's confrontation and battle with the Stranger, the Stranger states that "You can't kill me. I doubt that the universe would allow it", implying some sort of holy protection. He was still able to advise the Detective Chimp, who sheltered him in his hat while he recovered his powers. He changed back using recovered energies in Day of Vengeance #6 and aided the Shadowpact, allowing them to see the battle between the Spectre and Shazam. The series makes a point that the supernatural community generally regards the Phantom Stranger as invincible. The first reaction of some characters to the Spectre's assault on magic is simply to presume that the Stranger will take care of it. Other stories have shown the Stranger nearly as powerful as the Spectre. This, however, is a recent interpretation. While others have never considered the Stranger as an easy foe to combat, given his unknown abilities, they also never considered him as invincible, though it's conceivable that fellow magic-wielders would have a better sense of his powers than "outsiders."
In the Day of Vengeance: Infinite Crisis Special, The Phantom Stranger works with Nabu, Doctor Occult, Zatanna, the Shadowpact and other mystics to re-form the Rock of Eternity and help defeat the maddened Spectre.
The Phantom Stranger's relationships with the other mystic heroes are usually a bit tense. The Stranger has no qualms gathering various forces in order to combat a certain evil (the Sentinels of Magic, but also other loose outfits), often invading those people's personal lives. However, he does not usually extend them that same courtesy. The Phantom Stranger has resisted such people as Doctor Fate (notably Hector Hall) in this, although Fate is in almost any incarnation an ally of the Stranger. Despite this, he does get along well with Zatanna; in Justice League of America #6 he appeared by her side to help remove the influence of Faust on Red Tornado, and in the Justice series he seems to have a fatherly affection for her, calling her "my dear."
Since he is ultimately an unpredictable force, others often meet the Phantom Stranger's appearance with distrust. Nonetheless, most heroes will follow him, seeing not only his immense power, but also knowing that the Stranger is, in the end, a force for good. He has generally shown to side with humanity first in many supernatural-based problems, such as when he aided Superman in a confrontation with the magician Arion, who attempted to force Superman to retire in the belief that Superman and other alien heroes would hold back the 'darkness' that would make civilisation fall- Arion describing human history as existing in a cycle that would allow humanity to develop to a certain point before they collapsed and had to start again- for so long that it would destroy humanity when it came; although the Stranger acknowledged that the future Arion had foreseen, where Earth was completely destroyed by the mysterious and powerful Khyber due to Superman delaying him for so long that he only struck at his peak, was possible, he also told Superman to keep fighting to find another way as the cost in souls and experience if Arion succeeded would be too great. A notable exception to the heroes who will work with the Stranger is Madame Xanadu, who has refused to join the Stranger on a few occasions, although she is a member of his Sentinels of Magic. Eventually it was revealed that Madame Xanadu's hatred for the Phantom Stranger stems for his involvement in the events costing young Nimue her powers and heritage, and turning the young fey into the immortal yet powerless clairevoyant.
The Stranger also holds a unique relationship with the Spectre, as the two forces often come into conflict. He was responsible for gathering a group of mystic heroes in order to combat the Spectre, when its human host Jim Corrigan seemingly lost control of the Spectre. (It was during this time that they destroyed the country of Vlatava.) The Phantom Stranger participated in Jim Corrigan's funeral, when Corrigan's soul finally earned its rest and left the Spectre. The Stranger subsequently became one of the forces that stood against the Spectre when it went on a rampage without its human host, until the soul of Hal Jordan bonded with it. The Stranger occasionally took on an advisory role for this new Spectre. In Infinite Crisis #6, aware that the Spectre now has yet another new host, the Phantom Stranger gathered a large group of magic wielders in an unsuccessful attempt to solicit the Spectre's assistance in the Crisis.
In the new Madame Xanadu miniseries, the first encounter between the then young and innocent Nimue, as Xanadu was known in the Arthurian Age, and the Phantom Stranger himself is told. There, Nimue acknowledges his unearthly nature, describing him as "Ageless and yet so...uneasy", and claiming that "You're not human! Nor are you of the Ancient Folk! Nor fey creature. Nor...nor demon...". However, before Nimue is able to grasp his nature, the Stranger goes away, claiming to be "compelled to counsel and yet forbidden to interfere in the course of history" [6] This makes the Phantom Stranger the almost equivalent of the Marvel Comics character Uatu, since both of them are described as immensely powerful, both of them agents of cosmical relevance, but strictly bound by an oath of non-interference that can only be loosened, never broken, by employing other people as their "agents".
In the pages of Shadowpact the Phantom Stranger has adopted the role of narrator. He is shown to be aware of the mystical happenings not only on Earth but across several dimensions; once again he is shown unable to interfere no matter how dire the danger he's aware of.
In Blackest Night #2, Black Hand refers to Phantom Stranger as neither dead nor alive, meaning he cannot be killed, resurrected or raised as a Black Lantern. The Stranger watches as black power ring attaches itself to Crispus Allen's body, turning him into a Black Lantern, and sealing the Spectre within him. In the tie-in one shot revival of Phantom Stranger #42, the Stranger, with the help of Blue Devil, attempts to fight the Black Lantern Spectre, but fails. The two then travel to Nanda Parbat, where the Stranger helps Deadman remove the black ring from his body. The Stranger has the body brought into Nanda Parbat and placed under guard, stating that it is of "singular importance". The issue number (42) is the next that would have been used had volume two continued publication.
The natures of these are as mysterious as the Stranger himself, who seems to be effectively eternal, never aging. The Phantom Stranger has demonstrated enormous powers and capabilities, the exact origin of which is undetermined. He can travel enormous distances in a very short period of time, such as to the JLA Watchtower and Apokolips, as well as to mystical dimensions, such as Heaven, Hell and the realm occupied by the Quintessence. He can fire energy bolts of great force, travel through time, dispel magic, reveal illusions, and survive in space without earthly life-support systems. The limits of his power have not been defined. In many cases, despite his obvious capabilities, he claims he is not allowed to end a crisis directly, only to guide others to take the necessary actions. (This restriction allows the Stranger to guest-star in virtually any title without becoming a deus ex machina whose actions would immediately end the story.)
The Phantom Stranger's greatest power, of which he is most well known, is his mysterious omniscience: he seems to know nearly everything about any character and situation he encounters in the DC Universe, and in the JLA/Avengers crossover this extends to the Marvel universe as well. This allows him to provide helpful advice and assistance to others, as if he is a guiding angel sent on a mission of mercy. (See also the various origin stories above.) He claims that "nothing remains hidden to him." His omniscience has even allowed him to come to the aid of DC Universe characters trapped out of their own times. In Animal Man #19, Animal Man had found himself trapped in the 1960s, in a ghost-like state "in between" reality and non-reality. He wandered listlessly, until the Stranger met him and offered a helping hand. The Stranger was already aware of Animal Man's current state of despair, and even knew that he was from the future (i.e. the late 1980s). However, in Swamp Thing Annual #2, the Stranger was not completely aware of all the details of Alec Holland's transformation into the Swamp Thing; he knew enough to be aware of the swamp creature's existence and life, but was still surprised when he encountered the creature's astral body on a trip through the afterlife.
The Phantom Stranger is one of the few truly immortal beings in the DC Universe. Not even cosmically powerful beings such as the Spectre are capable of killing him.[7] He has been described as neither dead nor alive, so the very concept of "killing" itself may not apply to him.[8]
Contrary to some trick-of-the-light impressions, the Phantom Stranger does not wear a mask; instead, the shadow of his hat almost constantly cloaks his eyes. However, when shown unmasked in the Madame Xanadu miniseries, set in Arthurian age, where the Stranger's disguise was a simple cloak, his eyes appear as white and devoid of irises and pupils even in broad light, and his eyes sunken in a gaunt, sad visage, thus perpetuating the shadowy look around them.
Bruce Timm had intended to utilize the Phantom Stranger in the DC animated universe, but was not allowed to do so. However, his design for the character did appear in the following DC comics: