The Mighty Crusaders Handbook

Bob Phantom

Created by:

Harry Shorten & Irv Novick

Real Name:

Walter Whitney
Joined Mighty Crusaders:

In an untold story prior to Archie's Weird Mysteries #3
First Appearance:

Blue Ribbon Comics #2, December 1939

Origin:

No origin was ever given to Broadway theater columnist Walt Whitney's crime fighting alter-ego Bob Phantom. By means unknown Bob Phantom could tele-port from place to place. While the limits to the range and frequency of use to this power are unclear, Bob Phantom could move at least twice his own mass for at least short distances. He appears to have some boost in strength beyond the average person. On several occasions he defies the effects of bullets by methods unclear.

History:

Archie Comics

Attn: Chair & Publisher

Dear Mr. Silberkleit,

I see on the Archie Comics website that you are both Chairman & Publisher of the company these days. It has been a long time since I have been in contact with any senior member of your organization.

I clicked my way through just about all of the Archiecomics.com site today. I finally stumbled across the unmarked link to the page that offered to sell me Photostats of the first appearance of my favorite members of the Mighty Crusaders. All eighteen of them. I see some familiar names there. May I ask that you have a copy of number eleven made up for me. Why, you ask? No, you do not know me, but Morris Coyne did. I am Bob Phantom.

Please wait. Don't hit the “delete” button

I am not:

a. crazy

b. pulling a prank

c. after your money, or

d. all of the above

I doubt you have heard this story. Mr. Coyne was rather embarrassed by it. That, plus I never met the other founders of MLJ Magazines.

It was late in the evening of the Fourth of July, 1939. Morris Coyne decided he'd rather walk for a bit than stay on a subway train full of tipsy patriots loudly returning from the fireworks displays. He found himself looking for a taxi in the run down area I soon hoped to move from.

About Memorial Day a punk with delusions of grandeur and just enough connections to keep off the police blotter had declared my neighborhood his personal kingdom. Now I used up a huge amount of time, not to mention my special abilities, keeping the king's soldiers in check while trying to checkmate the king. By the Fourth of July I was ready to explode.

On the job front, things were finally looking up for me that week. After a couple of years of squeaking by as a news stringer, freelance ad copywriter, and boxing sparring partner, I'd finally sold a second string paper the feature column your readers knew as “On Broadway.” The rag paid on publication that would start August first. So I was totally broke. All I had to do was survive July.

I'd watched the fireworks from the roof tops. I moved around quite a bit keeping an eye out for his majesty's thugs. I found them just as they found Morris Coyne. Coming up behind the well dressed man, a couple of mugs pushed him into an unlit alley where others waited. I'm sure I said an evil word or two as I disappeared from that roof in a puff of smoke.

The punks were playing push the mark in a circle. They'd wear him down before they robbed him. If he did anything but cringe they would break as many things as they had the energy for. I'd seen the results before. Not pretty. In this case I arrived early in the ritual. Mad as Hell!

The lead tough pushed Mr. Coyne completely across the circle. The puff of smoke caused by my arrival hid me just long enough so I could grab him. Once I had a good hold I popped us both out. More smoke billowed. We reappeared on a third floor fire escape almost above the ring of crumbs. I made sure his hands had a grip on the railing. Then I popped out again.

Most of the puffs of smoke from my first appearance remained when I refreshed them again coming back. I lashed out before the new smoke could begin to clear. To their dieing days I'm sure the lugs believed that Morris Coyne became the apparition haunting their activities for the last three weeks.

The triple thick knuckles of my leather gauntlet smashed into the leader's nose with everything my shoulder could put into it. He fell into a bunch of trash cans, out cold. I pulled back into the vanishing smoke as I pivoted about 120 degrees. With one quick step I leaned into the side kick one of my Chinese friends taught me. An agonized “Whoosh!” resulted as my hard heel sank into the area just below the man's ribcage. That left five rats.

With the smoke almost gone the cries and yells rang out. “Spook!” “The ghost!” “Its the phantom!” “Get 'im!”

They charged. I disappeared.

Four of them formed a knot. A fifth man kept back. I reappeared behind him. I grabbed him in a bear hug, then popped back out. One reason I'd been on the roof tops was to pick drop off points. I left that clown in the crow's nest of a ship heading out to sea. I popped back to the alley to pull another one out of that knot. A quick gut punch put him over my shoulder in the fireman's carry. I left him in a church steeple four blocks over.

The remaining three split apart. I popped back in next to the one farthest from the other two. After a hard backhand I scooped him up and pressed him over my head like a weight lifter. With every drop of adrenaline energy in my body I threw him at the other two. The fight ended there

I called encouragement to Mr. Coyne as I took his tormentors away. One to a heavily alarmed jewelry store. Another to a ventilated, but time locked, bank vault. One to an isolated ledge in a sanitary sewer. I put another in a tool cage of the factory with the toughest, meanest, night watchman in town. The flat nosed leader I dropped on the roof of the nearest police precinct.

That is how I met Morris Coyne.

After I made sure he was not hurt, I let him buy me dinner. We ate in the back room of faded looking, but excellent Chinese restaurant. Wonderful folks, with Moo Goo Gui Pan to die for. They secretly helped me after I pulled the family patriarch out of a mess similar to Coyne's.

The meal took quite a while. I practically ate the kitchen empty. After his blood pressure and heart rate returned to normal Mr. Coyne took quite an interest in the fact this “Spook” he'd met fought punks and rescued people fairly regularly. Then he told me about his newest venture: MLJ Magazines.

After watching me eat like a ravenous lumberjack, he realized I must be short of money. He told me about how the first issue of “Blue Ribbon Comics” was just about ready to be sent to the printers. He thought the contents were fairly good, but one thing was missing. He'd seen the handwriting on the wall. The “long underwear” characters would soon take over most comics. He saw potential in using a real mystery man in the MLJ line. So we worked out a deal.

--------------------------

Okay, Mr. S., that's how it all started. Coyne and I would meet now and then to toss around stories. I never made more than eating money, but those first few months that was important. I ended up more successful than I would have believed with my writing. Before “Bob Phantom” disappeared from print I began donating that income to charity.

--------------------------

Fast forward half a century. On my desk sits something even Isaac Asimov did not foresee with any accuracy: a personal computer with an Internet connection. I email everyone I know. I try playing on-line games. I give every new search engine a workout. One day I slap my forehead. Why didn't I try this before? I type in “Bob Phantom” and hit return. Well, I don't believe it! Along with items containing “...bob, phantom...” and “Bob Phantom valve bodies” are a couple of hundred hits covering Bob Phantom of MLJ Comics.

So I joined a couple of MLJ groups and mailing lists. I stayed undercover until a serious discussion began about MLJ's stories featuring “real” characters. Some of these folks' parents were not even born in that era. Finally, under another screen name, I revealed myself to them, much as I am to you.

Of course nobody wanted to believe me. At length, (Whoa! Have not used that term in decades.) At length, I convinced three list members to go to the home of a trusted fourth. Then I popped in on them. Any more that's not easy, but I can still do it. By the time I popped out, they believed.

I still belong to that list. We went over every Bob Phantom story MLJ published. Then your Shield trade paperback came out. Suddenly everybody tells me that Bob Phantom should get the same treatment. Now all “my” stories could fit into one TPB. Some of the stories are quite good. A few are less so. One or two I have serious problems with. I asked the list members to give me time to think this over. Before much longer I expect you will be hearing from them.

Attached you will find my comments on each story. I would want some version of that printed in any Bob Phantom book. I would also want some form of donation to an agreed on charity for my participation.

If this interests you, please reply with a time and place to meet in the New York City area. Bring whoever you want. I'll prove to you that I am who I claim to be,

Sincerely,

Bob Phantom

Attachment: “Bob Phantom: Is Fiction Stranger Than Truth?”

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Bob Phantom: Is Fiction Stranger Than Truth?

The “Real” Bob Phantom

Blue Ribbon Comics #2 December 1939

“Bob Phantom, The Scourge of the Underworld” Great tag line! I always liked that. Only problem was that neither Mr. Coyne, nor I, read the right newspaper funny pages. After story was complete somebody discovered that King Features Syndicate had published The Phantom since 1936. I guess “Bob” was the only thing that fit and seemed to make a little sense. I'm still The Phantom on page two, four, and five, but not on page one, three, or six. The story is a jazzed up version of my showdown with a neighborhood “King” that I told Mr. Coyne about. I hate bullies. MLJ used that hatred more than once. As for my powers, I could divert bullets I knew were coming. I was strong, plus jumping caused my adrenal gland to squeeze itself dry. Half set concrete I could split for an impressive show. Otherwise I'd have had to pop the lawyer right out of his shoes and socks. Both Walt Whitney and Bob Phantom had red hair.

Blue Ribbon Comics #3 January 1940

Art signed by Irving Novick. Whoops, I'm both The Phantom, and Bob Phantom on page three. Still got red hair. I “whisked them away.” On page four things go a little nuts. “I” beat the stuffing out of four hoods. No problem, done that. Then I pick them up and fly away with them! I never claimed to be able to fly. I brought that up with Mr. Coyne at our next meeting, but more stories were already in the pipeline. Anyway I terrorized the bad guys into giving themselves up. Poor Walt gets not a mention. I'm supposed to appear in the next issue. Doesn't happen.

Top-Notch Comics #3 February 1940

Changed books, but did not skip a month. Novick art again. This time Bob Phantom is a blond. “Bob Phantom Blows The Trigger Slum Gang To Justice.” That line in the splash panel should have warned me. Slum's gang kidnaps an oil millionaire's kid. The chauffeur is supposed to be in or it, but the story's drawn like he isn't. The gang hides out in a shack in one of Daddy Barnes' nearby oil fields. (Note to self: Locate former oil field on Long Island.) “On Broadway” appears for the first time in the News-Chronicle. The chauffeur confesses off camera. That brings the police to the oil field. In the meantime I am “blowing” the bullets back at Trigger Slum! Mr. Coyne did not have time to fix this story. It gets even better/worse. Trigger sets the oil field ablaze. “Bob Phantom starts a cyclone and sandstorm by waving his cape.” “The shack is lifted into the air by the cyclone...” “Bob Phantom appears inside the shack.” He says: “Just taking you out for a ride, boys.” “The freakish storm sets the shack down on the Barnes' estate.” A -red- headed Walt Whitney broadcasts the news on radio station WSGG. Reading this story again is like experiencing a split personality. It is an exciting, pretty well drawn, little story for its time. Yet I am also embarrassed by it. Blowing bullets away? Come on! Had somebody just come from seeing “The Wizard Of OZ?” Even if I could create a cyclone, no way could I keep that shack intact. I've lived in tornado alley. There is no way!

Top-Notch Comics #4 April 1940 (Skipped a month.)

Novick again. Bob is still a blond. And so is Walt. This is “my” first Chinatown story. Many of the early stories had Bob Phantom just warning the bad guys until they did something some thing drastic. This time I let at least seven illegal alien Chinese get murdered. Only then do I take action by tearing the plane apart in mid-air killing the two white smugglers. By the way, how did “I” get into a moving airplane off the California coast? Then the story introduces Walt Whitney to Princess Ah-Ku, “my” most recurring foe. Following that "I" let another load of Chinese get dumped into the ocean before I kill the pilot. Have “I” been taking Stupid Pills®? The gang starts bringing the Chinese in via the Mexican border. My old buddy Trigger Slum muscles in. Bob takes them all on, but Ah-Ku fakes her death. Exciting story. Boneheaded hero.

Top-Notch Comics #5 May 1940

Signed by Gerry Thorp (or is it Thorpi?) The art is good. In some ways better than Novick. Both Bob Phantom and Walt Whitney now have the famous comic book black hair with the blue highlights. Walt becomes part of the action for the first time and is promptly arrested. “Bob” tries to stop a kidnapper's airplane from getting away. Poison gas from the engine exhausts engulfs him. “Bob Phantom's amazing vitality overcomes the effects of the deadly poison.” Not bad. At one point “Bob” hides the kidnapped girl in a smokescreen. Now that is possible, very briefly. The lion fight that follows is a fun read, but I would have just popped her out of danger.

Top-Notch Comics #6 June 1940

By J. Thorp & H. Shorten. Walt seems to have a blond female assistant. This time Ah-Ku is smuggling narcotics while killing police and witnesses in wholesale lots. Walt Whitney is still a pain in her neck. Walt gets grabbed and tossed into the river. “Bob” goes undercover in an opium den. He lays down a smoke screen. (In an opium den, who needs a smoke screen?) Bob blindly jumps over three miles offshore to the smugglers' boat. A blackjack to the head has no effect. Ah-Ku escapes again.

Top-Notch Comics #7 June 1940

This story about an arson ring is unsigned. Walt actually does some investigating that almost kills him. “When suddenly, as though from the skies... Bob Phantom appears.” Now that's more like it. Walt seems to start dating the girl that “I” rescued. Good story and art for only six pages. Looks like the weirdness about Bob Phantom is under control.

Top-Notch Comics #8 July 1940

By Jerry Thorp & Harry Shorten. Major problem with the coloring. Every police uniform in the story is colored dark GREEN. Walt's feud with the police and D.A.'s office gets a bit over the top. Walt knows too much. So the crooks snatch him, again. To this point MLJ implied, but never stated, that Bob Phantom and Walt Whitney were the same person. If Walt is, why does he worry about getting ropes loose instead of just popping out of the flowing concrete? Again, good story and art.

Top-Notch Comics #9 August 1940

By Bernie Klein & H. Shorten. Walt appears to have a red-head for an assistant. Ah-Ku, shows up one more time. A hatchet man tries to whack the sleeping Walt. In fact, there is the most 'on camera' killing so far in the series. Walt's connection to the honest side of Chinatown gets some needed attention. One racial slur appears in the narration, as opposed to those in the character dialog. With no reason given “Bob” must disable a death trap instead of popping out. Ah-Ku is finally captured. If you don't mind bloodless axes sprouting out of heads, this is a pretty good story.

Top-Notch Comics #10 September 1940

Unsigned, but looks like more of the same. “A rush of wind, a swirl of smoke, and there stands Bob Phantom, sounding the death knell of criminals the world over. Bob Phantom is a lone crusader, whose identity in real life, as Walt Whitney, Broadway columnist, is not known to a living soul!” Finally, somebody said it! That's good, but Walt tells the police chief he will put “my pal Bob Phantom” on the case of multiple suicides by new brides. Walt manually saves himself when pulled out a window, but this time it is logical to do so. Near the end of a good, but dead body laden story “Bob” tosses the begging for his life gang leader out the upper story window. Then he speaks directly to the audience! “And that, boys and girls, is a true picture of the swaggering, treacherous parasites who terrorize society. Take the guns from their hands, and you have........ Joe Chizzler!”

Top-Notch Comics #11 January 1941

By Bobby King. (The last panel is signed Bernie.) Somebody's trying to monopolize pro-boxing. Two boxers are dead. Now I've seen a bunch of masked wrestlers over the decades. Masked boxers, on the other hand, are so rare I can't remember a single one. But, Walt discovers that the Masked Mauler has been kidnapped and temporarily disabled. “I” take his place. No one notices. The bad guy dies by accident this time. I'm referred to as “The Man Of Smoke.”

Top-Notch Comics #12 February 1941

Splash page signed Bernie. Its the old (even then) disgruntled inventor trick. War Department turns him down and he starts using his 'explosive light beam' trick to blow up cop cars. Newsman Walt actually uses the paper's morgue for research. He also gets captured... again. Maybe the MLJ staff thought Bob Phantom had to be in costume before he could jump. The mad-greedy scientist exits by his own invention. One high ranking cop wonders if Walt knows who Bob really is.

Top-Notch Comics #13 March 1941

Signed Bernie. Strangely, only one story in the whole issue has a title. Somebody is killing the Mayor's re-election supporters. One more time... Walt writes. Walt gets snatched. Walt gets left in a death trap. Walt doesn't jump out.

Top-Notch #14 April 1941

Signed by Bobby King. Walt just happens by a jewelry story robbery and murder. Neither Bob Phantom, nor 'the brake their squad cars by crashing' Police, find evidence on the suspects. Using one of wildest diversions ever, the killer lady bandit tries to retrieve the loot. “I” end up rescuing a dead body. Thank goodness for running boards. Bob Phantom crashes the getaway truck, but Walt shows the cops where the diamonds are. A good story that's more inventive than many of the era's efforts.

Top-Notch #15 May 1941

Signed by Meskin, who seems to like “Citizen Kane” style camera angles. For once “I'm” not fast enough to catch a couple of crooks robbing an untenanted mansion. The bad guys are working a con on their mousy girl neighbor, Jinx Friday. Meanwhile, Walt finishes a column and heads off to catch the second act of a new play. Maybe he needs an assistant. The lead crook and the girl attend the same show, but he gets stabbed in the lobby. “I” pop in and grab Jinx. (The cops might accuse her.) I spirit her out of the theater via the fire escape like my pal The Fox would. Maybe Mort didn't understand “my” powers. Later “I” rescue her from the other crook. Then I “send my friend” Walt to see her. Jinx shows Walt the ingenious method the dead bad guy used to hide the diamonds. Walt hires her as his assistant. Then he takes off her glasses and undoes her hair bun. Faster than you can say “Hey Rube!”, she's beautiful. Very strange story, but I like the art.

Top-Notch #16 June 1941

By R. Petereude (At least that's what it looks like.) and Joe Blair. Some two bit hoods threaten the world's top woman tennis player in her hotel room while Walt takes Jinx shopping for a glamorous new wardrobe and makeover. I hope she really didn't need the glasses Walt takes away from her. Then, just by chance (and only six story pages), its off to visit the tennis star. I've had to explain what happens next to a lot of younger fans. The tennis player manages to get the phone in the hotel room off the hook. In those days that meant that a light lit up on the hotel switchboard. The operator would literally plug in a cable and could hear anything going on in the room. (Think Lily Tomlin as Earnestine.) The operator spills the beans. Walt dashes to the rescue, but somehow Bob Phantom beats him to the room. “I” manage to get the two hoods to shoot each other. (I recall that Joe Blair seemed the MLJ artist most likely to put lots of on-camera blood into his art. This page looks like the editors cleaned it up some.) The tennis star must lose her match that evening, or die in her tracks. (For some reason the bad guys even toss a note-brick through Walt's upper floor office window.) She wins and “I” stop the killer.

Top-Notch #17 July 1941

Jinx and Walt go to the fights. On the card is Walt's old college buddy, Johnny Napoleon, who wins easily. Johnny is murdered on the next page while a notorious gambler flees the scene. Walt, then “I”, take off after him. Jinx puts her glasses back on and sees a clue. Just like so many times with Walt, she's grabbed by Johnny's manager before she tells what she saw. “I” believe the gambler when he says he didn't do it. Walt thinks Jinx went home, but she's left tied up somewhere for the four legged rats to eat. The manager sneaks into the morgue. He cuts off the boxer's hands, then throws them in the morgue furnace. Later “I” pop in to the morgue. Walt decides that Johnny must have broken his hands in career ending fashion, so the manager killed him for insurance money. Continued next month, but Walt still hasn't realized that Jinx is actually missing.

Top-Notch #18 August 1941

Signed “-Pat-”. The big splash page of Jinx tied to a chair recaps last issue. Two things have changed. The chair has turned from blue to brown. And Jinx's feet are no longer tied together. Rats surround her, but tied to a light duty chair she could stand up and walk away. Bob Phantom searches for the manager. “I” get to the insurance office a moment too late to stop the payout. Meanwhile, instead of walking somewhere, Jinx uses her glasses and a shaft of sunlight to start a fire. “I” become Walt, in a different colored suit, to warn a cop about the manager. This “just happens to be” across the street from the building Jinx set ablaze. Walt must be taking Stupid Pills® again. He decides not to check out the burning building for trapped people -until- he hears Jinx's scream for help. “I” bat out the flaming hem of Jinx's dress, then pop her to safety. She's been tied up for who knows how long while wearing no watch, but she tells “me” that the manager might be on the S.S.Vandergrift which sails in a few minutes. Walt is too late so “I” pop on board and remove the bad guy. And at the end Walt refuses to let Jinx put her ruined glasses on her expense account. Bonehead! A real two parter, they tried something different. Too bad it has bunches of holes. The writer, the artists, and the editor really should have communicated better.

Top-Notch #19 September 1941

Unsigned, with rather primitive art that serves the story fairly well. Jinx and Walt stroll past a jewelry store being bobbed. Walt would not buy her new glasses last issue. Now he tells her to keep her big eyes open so she can identify the famous people she sees. The duo muscles in on the robbery investigation. Neither the cops, nor Walt, nor even Bob Phantom, can figure out how the masked thief got out of the building without being searched for the loot. Outside, Jinx whispers an observation in Walt's ear. Bob Phantom catches the crooks, but the police still shoot at him. (It did not help that every male in the story, cop or not, wore a blue suit.)

Top-Notch #20 October 1941

Unsigned, but better than last issue. Walt walks over a bridge to the office when he sees one car knock another off the bridge. Rather than pop up down on the riverbank, or even just above the water, “I” appear on the bridge and do a headfirst dive after the car. The dead man in the car “just happens” to be carrying a letter to Walt asking for Bob Phantom's help. (I know the story's only six pages, but give me a break.) Walt investigates the letter. He is met with what today we politely call mis-information. Walt says good-by, but quickly sneaks back in. (At least he's wearing a green suit this month.) The fresh wardrobe doesn't keep him from receiving a gun butt cranial massage. The bad guys hang him by the neck from an attic rafter, then leave. Instead of popping out Walt performs amazing feats to rescue himself. Soon "I" pop in downstairs to begin pulverizing all the bad guys. This strange little story ends with Walt harassing the cops again

Top-Notch #21 November 1941

Appears unsigned. The splash panel of an ocean liner stateroom contains what some call "good girl art." Not bad unless you mind that she's being shot dead at the time. Walt and Jinx soon peak in the window. Jinx listens as the star dies with a mysterious clue on her lips. Walt & "I" chase, then catch, a suspect. "I" turn him over to the cops and get shot at for my trouble. That suspect is innocent, but Walt breaks the clue. Soon "I'm" pulling the real killer off another departed cruse ship. Decent story. (Times do change. These days Walt's "hands on" approach to Jinx would result in an easily won sexual harassment lawsuit.

Top-Notch #22 December 1941

Unsigned, seems more of the same. Walt sees an impending construction accident. "I" come to the rescue. A rackets big shot is trying to fix the outcome of his trial. Walt follows his lawyer from the courthouse. The mouthpiece leads a bunch of hoods to the same construction site. As they begin to dig, "I" pop up to watch. The clowns end up tied up, but tongue tied, as well. A few tons of dirt from a steam shovel gets them talking. Seems that this is literally where the body is buried. I pop the stiff into the courtroom just in time to keep the charges against rackets king pin from being dismissed.

Top-Notch #23 January 1942

Signed by King. A lend-lease bomber on the way to Brittan crashes. A girl tips off the cops about it. Thinking she is nuts they send Walt after her as a prank. Before the page ends "Bob Phantom" yanks the girl out from under a falling grand piano. Soon Walt and the girl are tied to the shafts of HUGE drills at the factory that made the bomber. Walt gets free without any mysterious help. Good for him. Soon "I'm" saving a departing bomber from a vial of poison gas. With the girl's help the bad guys head for the lockup. Plus Walt lords it over the cops who believed him on a wild goose chase. Somewhat lacking, the art does get the story told

Top-Notch #24 February 1942

Again signed by King. This happens to be the one original issue I hung on to. Captain Casey tries catch Big Nick, The Greek, with one of his night spots operating as a casino. His tip was bogus, or compromised. Soon Casey is framed for corruption. Walt calls him dumb, but honest. His "pal" Bob Phantom takes up the case. What follows pretty much seems a re-do of "my" very first story. I harass Big Nick regularly. Each time I make off with a member of the mob. As I kidnap one thug I call him "Dude." Casey is reinstated with honors. Then I tell him that the mobsters are tied up in his own basement. This story seems about the best introduction to the "Bob Phantom" strip.

Top-Notch #25 March 1942

Jinx, "newspaperwoman," checks out an art exhibit for charity at a major museum. Thieves posing as painters swap out some master pieces for forgeries. As their work truck exits the museum it collides with a bus, and almost Walt Whitney. Walt observes the get-a-way, but takes no action. (Stupid Pills®, again?) Jinx returns to the museum. With masterpieces replaced, ransoms are negotiated. Walt does some real investigating. For once he does not get another concussion out of the deal. Walt, "Bob," and Jinx bounce from place until the case concludes. Less action, but a better plot than usual.

The final panel of this story proclaims, "Every issue of Top-Notch brings another thrilling adventure with Bob Phantom." Did not happen. Two issues later the title changed to "Top-Notch LAUGH." Far as I know To-Notch #25 is the last place "Bob Phantom" appeared for over twenty years. Even with no cover appearances, twenty-five stories seems a pretty good run back then. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that more times than Captain Flag and The Web combined. Maybe adding Black Jack would make it over twenty-five.

I'll have some of "Bob's" fans check this piece for errors.

If a trade paperback should happen, I can provide a few pictures from back in the day. I can even still stuff myself into my original costume. However, that seems much harder today than jumping a few times.

Just let me know,

Best Wishes,

Bob Phantom

the real one

Powers & Weapons:

Bob Phantom can make himself intangible.

Checklist:

MLJ Comics:

Blue Ribbon Comics 2-3

Top-Notch Comics 3-14

Mighty & Radio Comics:

Mighty Crusaders 4