Phantom Stranger

Revision as of 13:26, 30 September 2005

A mysterious and extremely powerful individual, always clad in a dark blue suit with matching cape and hat, and wearing a gold medallion on a chain around his neck. His origin is shrouded in mystery and the source of his powers and his motivation are unknown. He has assisted Superman, the Justice League of America, and other heroes on numerous occasions.

In February 1980, the Phantom Stranger mysteriously intervenes in Superman's battle with Dracula and causes both Dracula and his servant Frankenstein's Monster to be whisked away to a place he describes only as "nightmare" (S No. 344: "The Monsters Among Us!").

In September of that year, the Phantom Stranger again meets Superman when Superman is experiencing painful attacks brought on by the magic of Madame Benita who is working on behalf of Pete Ross, Superman's childhood friend, to torture Superman. Ross, who has long known and protected Superman's secret identity, had turned against the Man of Steel when he refused to bring Ross's son, Jon, back from the planet Nyrvn. Superman had refused to rescue Jon because the Legion of Super-Heroes had told him that Jon was destined to one day lead an alien starfleet and save the earth, and that returning Jon to Earth would doom the entire planet (see Jonathan Ross).

When the Phantom Stranger confronts Madame Benita he becomes locked in a spiritual battle with the demonic Tala, who has been using Benita, Pete, and another man who stole tokens from the Superman Museum for Benita's spells in her plot to trap Superman's soul. For their deeds Tala believes that she already has the souls of Benita and the thief and soon she will have Pete Ross's soul, and Superman, who is vulnerable to her magic because of his guilt over failing Jon and Pete, will soon be her as well.

But while the Phantom Stranger and Tala engage in their primal battle, Superman has a change of heart and goes to Nyrvn to retreive Jon, saying to Jon, "Maybe you'll come back to Nyrvn someday, to become that great hero the Legionnaires say you're destined to be." Once Jon is reunited with his father, Tala's "hold on Superman is broken--and with it [her] hold over" the others as well.

Tala then vanishes, leaving the Phantom Stranger this parting threat:

     It is your doom to place yourself between me
and these poor, pitiable mortal fools, and one day
they shall disappoint you and on that day you are
mine!

The Phantom Strange calmy responds, "No, Queen of Darkness that day shall never dawn" (DCCP No. 25: "Judgment Night").

External Links

Wikipedia entry on the Phantom Stranger

Phantom Stranger Index by Mike