The Phantom

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philcom55
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Re: The Phantom

Post by philcom55 »

paw broon wrote:and before I use up any more MMM's, how about The Flaming Avenger from the Rover?
I was thinking about him too! I've never read any of his stories but he looks really impressive on this cover. :)

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- Phil Rushton
Last edited by philcom55 on 31 Jan 2014, 20:44, edited 2 times in total.

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philcom55
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Re: The Phantom

Post by philcom55 »

Oops - double post! :oops:

Phoenix
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Re: The Phantom

Post by Phoenix »

And let's not forget The Iron Teacher, The Hotspur's contribution to the war effort in Holland in 1942. He starts a school for young Dutchmen in which he teaches them how to fight the Huns. The Nazis meet their match in him.
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paw broon
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Re: The Phantom

Post by paw broon »

What a great Flaming Avenger cover.
Phoenix, I hadn't realised that The Iron Teacher went back so far. Thank you. Now, if you can come up with an avenging/fighting team from the '40's to match my 'Society of Remarkable Chaps' - which is of course the brainchild of Mr Rushton - I'm sure that would encourage some others to join in. I HOPE. Detectives, masked men, adventurers, policemen. All welcome. It's simply that I'm a MMM fan.

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Re: The Phantom

Post by Phoenix »

paw broon wrote:Phoenix, I hadn't realised that The Iron Teacher went back so far.
Just to clarify, Paw, The Iron Teacher Fights The Crooked Cross was the second serial to feature The Iron Teacher. His first appearance was in The Iron Teacher Speaks in The Hotspur 412 (Jul. 19 1941) - 429 (Jan. 17 1942). See below the advert from issue 411, which I've chosen to post rather than just the heading picture from 412, which is the same anyway, because of the informative blurb below it.
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Re: The Phantom

Post by Lew Stringer »

The Iron Teacher sounds great! It was a clever technique editors often used, to mix the extraordinary into an everyday situation so that children could more easily imagine themselves in that scenario. Thomsons seem to be masters of this. (I think that's what appealed to me about strips such as The Red Wrecker and The Crimson Ball in The Dandy in the 1960s.)
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philcom55
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Re: The Phantom

Post by philcom55 »

I've got absolutely no idea who this MMM was, or what he did, but he certainly looks as though he's got what it takes to be a 'Chap'.

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...Even if he wasn't a hero I don't think it should automatically disqualify him as reformed villains have a long and honourable tradition in comics, from the Steel Claw onwards!

- Phil Rushton

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paw broon
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Re: The Phantom

Post by paw broon »

Sorry, I have the bad habit of abbreviating Masked Mystery Men (Man) to MMM. There are a few of us superhero/MMM nuts who do it - it's shorthand.
The Clutcher cover is a new one on me and very effective. I have no problem with reformed villains and one of my favourites is The Black Sapper. What I find interesting is that officialdom in comics often considers crimefighters and villains as one and the same. Being a vigilante is usually against the law, yet Batman was exactly that. The Spider was a super villain, yet "the law" saw him in the same light as Batman.
If anyone fancies speculating on possible lineups for another crimefighting group, this time, perhaps The Fair Play Brigade - motto, "I say, that's not cricket" I'd like to propose, Captain Zoom, Birdman of the RAF, from Skipper. Any advance.

JT Mirana
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Re: The Phantom

Post by JT Mirana »

Interesting news on The Black Sapper coming soon...

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Re: The Phantom

Post by Phoenix »

philcom55 wrote:I've got absolutely no idea who this MMM was, or what he did, but he certainly looks as though he's got what it takes to be a 'Chap'.
The title of the serial was Karga The Clutcher, Phil. The story ran from 162 (Oct. 7 1933) - 181 (Feb. 17 1934). A second serial in The Skipper ran from 192 (May 5 1934) - 206 (Aug. 11 1934). There was also a complete in 1935. Along with a couple of other characters, Karga survived the sad demise of The Skipper in 1941 to reemerge in a text story in The Hotspur in 1952, and a picture strip serial in 1954.

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philcom55
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Re: The Phantom

Post by philcom55 »

Thanks Phoenix - the later Karga definitely rings a bell!

Now how about this one: I know there was a Paul Power in Chips during the early 1950s, but does anybody have any information about this version? Above all, did he make his debut before or after that other 'Man of Steel' from the other side of the Atlantic (and since he was featured in Film Fun was he an original creation or a real life film star?

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paw broon
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Re: The Phantom

Post by paw broon »

I have some episodes of Paul Power and his Speed Shell but this one is new to me. The Guide doesn't list him under Film Fun and there is no mention of him on International Hero. Stumped!

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Re: The Phantom

Post by felneymike »

Would the Keeper of the Dread Sword count?

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Re: The Phantom

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felneymike wrote:Would the Keeper of the Dread Sword count?
Well, that's for others to decide, but it may be worth pointing out that the 1948 picture strip serial is a pale version of its source, a much more substantial text serial with the same title that appeared in Adventure 793 (Jan. 9 1937) - 806 (Apr. 10 1937). In fact, most of the picture strip tales on the cover of Adventure between the first one, The Human Eagles in 1946 and The Son Of The Electric Shadow in 1953, and indeed several later ones, even as late as Happy Andy and Johnny Bull's Broadway Boys in 1959 and 1960 respectively, are either reasonably faithful reproductions of pre-war text serials in Adventure, or, in a few cases, are clearly influenced by them. The same can be said about the black and white picture strips that appeared inside Adventure between The Human Torpedo in 1951 and Tinker Cobb in 1958. Just a handful of the picture strips in colour on the cover and the black and white strips inside are completely new.

N.B. The picture serial Keeper Of The Sword in The Wizard in 1970 is a genuine rerun of the original text serial in Adventure, apart from the fact that the character Bunster is renamed Jake Cranshaw, and the Maharajah of Dizac is downgraded to Rajah.

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Re: The Phantom

Post by Phoenix »

JT Mirana wrote:Interesting news on The Black Sapper coming soon...
How soon is soon, JT?

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