Customer Reviews

Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger - Volume 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This volume contains the Phatom Stranger's debut first issue, following in order till the end of the book. It's not completely Phantom Stranger; this is because that Dr. Thirteen the Ghost Breaker was created for the same series as a foil for the Stranger.

I personally loved it; it was the first Showcase Presents volume that I ever bought, and now I own Superman and Shazam!, and I love them too. It's unfair that this book got such a bad review when it's a prime example of Silver Age DC, with all its camp and classic artwork. Anyone who can't be patient enough or can't stand that particular kind of storytelling really doesn't have any bussiness buying this book anyway.

If you're an all over DC fan or one of the rare Phantom Stranger fans (like I am, on both counts), then get this book. The art is fantastic, and the cheesey dialogue is completely hilarious. I, for one, can't wait for volume two.

As a fan of late 60s and 70s horror, this collection really hits the spot. Spawned in the age of TVs "Dark Shadows" and films "Rosemary's Baby", this series was part of a comic book wave that included a revamped "House of Mystery", "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Witching Hour" and "Swamp Thing".

The art is wonderful, and the Phantom Stranger really comes alive in the Neal Adams and Jim Aparo stories. Most of the stories are pretty decent, tho there are a couple of clunkers, and on the whole it is completely entertaining. I at first balked at the idea of buying a black and white collection of comics I remember in their original color. However, these stories translate well to B&W due to the strength of these superior artists of yesteryear. If only some of todays comic book artists had this kind of flair for drama and composition! Highly Recommended for fans of Groovy Horror.

I hope DC publishes a sequel to this collection as well as reprinting "The Witching Hour" and "Tales of the Unexpected". Color too please. :)

I am picking up many of these Showcase Presents as it is a very inexpensive way to look at many of DC's more obscure characters. What an incredible gem this turned out to be. I had no idea so many great creators worked with this character. You have great writing by Mike Friedrich, John Broome, Robert Kanigher and Len Wein along with awesome art by Neal Adams, Curt Swan, Jim Aparo and Murphy Anderson. The stories and art are wonderful. I see a few reviewers were not happy with the inclusion of the Dr. Thirteen stories but the character was written to be the natural foil of The Phantom Stranger and it works well. I would have been incredibly upset if these stories had not been included. This is a great, fun read. Well worth the few dollars spent for a few hours of entertainment. I am giving this 5 stars because there are absolutely no flaws in the compilation as well as being a great read.

This isn't really "The Phantom Stranger", it's the Phantom Stranger w/Dr. 13 (about 1/3 of the book is Dr. 13 - the ghostbreaker). The stories are woven together, but I thought I'd let prospective readers know, because if that bothers you (some people seem to find Dr. 13 very annoying), I wouldn't buy it.

That said, this is a really interesting collection. PS is more or less like Dr. Strange book if you're not familiar with the PS character from this era. What's really interesting though, here are two things: 1) the narrative is funky and downright 1001 nights bizarre (it's full of framing elements and flashbacks within flashbacks) 2) Jim Aparo's art is gorgeous, esp. in B & W.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of horror/occult comics, odd narratives, or Aparo's artwork.

Thanks to DC comics for reprinting the beautifully illustrated Phantom Stranger comics, which I remember reading waaay back as a pre-adolescent. The early 1970's was a renaissance period for comics, as the writing and artwork reached new levels of sophistication in both Marvel and DC titles. The talents of artists such as Neal Adams and Jim Aparo infused many of the existing DC superheroes with new life and dramatic realism, on such characters as Batman and Green Lantern.

The Phantom Stranger reprints are very readable in the black & white Showcase format, thanks to the generous use of black ink for moodiness. Jim Aparo illustrates about half the PS stories in both Volume 1 and 2, and creates some cool-looking demons and Ice Giants. Neal Adams art graces most of the covers. I didn't feel like I was missing the color as I do with some of the Marvel Essential collections. The Doctor Thirteen stories are a bit distracting, especially early on where his stories are interwoven in the PS stories, using flashbacks within flashbacks. As a backup feature, you can skip over the stories, but the stylish art of Tony DeZuniga will make you pause.

I really enjoyed re-reading the comics I remembered so well from my youth. I purchased both volumes together, for the price you can't beat it!

This comics in my opinion seem to suffer from a wishy-washy is the supernatural real or not dillema. The phantom stranger stories are good to a fault and the doctor 13 rebutals are terrible. I would have prefered a reprint of the phantom stranger limited series than this dreck. Dc history buffs might want to pick this one up on the cheap but otherwise stay away

I finished the first half of the book and throw it away. If you think this book is all about Phantom Stranger, with tales of suspense and supernatural, heaven and hell, like I originally thought, then you are wrong. Half of it is about Dr. Thirteen, the ghost breaker. Cases after cases you will find they were man made, and that keep me less and less interested.