Phantom Lady #1: Review!

As always, the writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray deliver a fresh take on two iconic Quality Comics characters, Phantom Lady and Doll Man. Amanda Conner's gorgeous cover drawing really channels the spirit of this heroine, but the interior art by Cat Staggs though competent, does little to elevate Phantom Lady's legend as a sex symbol (a lost opportunity for DC; there's a lot of fandom surrounding this character).

Robert Bender murders Jennifer's parents. From Phantom Lady #1 (2012). Art by Cat Staggs and Tom Derenick.

The new heroes are Jennifer Knight (originally Sandra Knight) and Dane Maxwell (originally Darrel Dane). Their personal lives are intertwined, having known each other since childhood. And they share a romantic connection (so no Doll Girls on the horizon here!).

Jennifer's story is similarly tied into that of her father's, Harry Knight, a renown writer for the Daily Planet. When Jen was six, Knight's stories about Robert Bender, head of the Bender crime family, earned him and his wife a ticket to early graves.

Quality Comics Indicia: Early indicators

When I was writing the book, no copy of Quality's first issue, Feature Funnies #1 (Oct. 1937), was available to me. Well it still isn't available, but a gracious collector, Todd Warren, has hooked me up with another collector who was willing to take a solid picture of its indicia! (Incidentally, I just provided my coverless paper scan of issue #2 to the DCM. Now to get my issue of Uncle Sam Quarterly uploaded!)

Indicia from Feature Funnies #1 (Oct. 1937)

There is something curious about the indicia in the first line, where it inexplicably reads "VOL. 9." This seems too deliberate to be a typo. Volume numbers were used regularly by periodicals of the time and reliably counted the years of publication. This would have meant that whatever "predecessor" would have begun in 1929.

What's interesting is that this year is the same in which George Delacorte launched Dell's The Funnies. That book actually continued in publication through 1939 and there are no similarities in the content between it and Feature Funnies (in fact, some of the strips in Dell's book later moved into National's). Famous Funnies by Eastern Color ran from 1934–1955.

The same volume designation appears in Feature Funnies #2. This opens up a whole lot of questions, especially because of something Will Eisner said, which nags me to this day. Eisner stated,

Phantom Lady Preview is Up!

Out this week! DC Comics has released a preview of this mini-series:

When she was very young, Jennifer Knight watched her parents get killed by Metropolis’ oldest and strongest crime family: The Benders. Cut to years later and an adult Jennifer is following in her father’s footsteps by taking on the crime world as a reporter … and as a super hero! Phantom Lady to be exact. But will she experience the same fate as her parents when she tries to infiltrate the next generation of Benders? And don’t miss the astonishing origin of the diminutive hero Doll Man!

Featuring a cover by Amanda Conner with Paul Mounts, PHANTOM LADY #1 is written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and is illustrated by Cat Staggs and Tom Derenick.

The description reveals the change in her alter ego's name from Sandra or Stormy, to Jennifer. It remains to be seen whether she has any personal scientific connection to her powers and gear. The original Phantom Lady was the inventor of her fantastic powers, which came from her "black light wristbands." 

The preview's pages reveal that this Phantom Lady uses special goggles for night vision and "3-D relay vision, and can "shadow slide," or transport herself via shadows. This is a change that echoes the super-powers of Nightshade and Obsidian (neither of whom have a DCnU presence as of yet). 

SIDE NOTE: Notice the awesome logo for Doll Man, which riffs of the original Quality logo!

Original Logo

Logo from Phantom Lady #1

More here...

National Comics: Eternity #1 (Sept. 2012)

Wow! Go and read this right away!

I'm becoming a devotee of Jeff Lemire's writing. This one-shot reads like a teleplay. I wouldn't be the first to speculate that for Warner Bros., DC functions as a sort of R&D lab. If so, this comic book is a great pilot. By the time you're done, you want this to be a TV show.

In a recent interview at Comic Book Resources, Jeff Lemire gave up some surprising tidbits concerning the nature of the DCnU, saying:

"As far as I know, and I might be corrected on this, the "National Comics" titles are out of continuity because I know that there is a Madame Xanadu one and it has nothing to do with the New 52 Madame Xanadu. So no, I don't make any reference to any other DC Universe character. It is a self-contained, totally out-of-continuity take on the character. We just kept the original name and stuff."

Also, he'd originally wanted to include Eternity in his Justice League Dark title.

Keep reading...

New Things Quality

A few things to note…

Women of the DC Universe:
Phantom Lady Bust

1. Quality Collectibles!

I started a page at Cosmic Teams devoted to collectibles based on Quality characters. See it here!

2. Kid Eternity news!

There's a new interview at Comic Book Resources with Jeff Lemire, who is penning the return of Kid Eternity! Lemire gives up some surprising tidbits concerning the nature of the DCnU, saying:

"As far as I know, and I might be corrected on this, the "National Comics" titles are out of continuity because I know that there is a Madame Xanadu one and it has nothing to do with the New 52 Madame Xanadu. So no, I don't make any reference to any other DC Universe character. It is a self-contained, totally out-of-continuity take on the character. We just kept the original name and stuff."

 Also, he'd originally wanted to include Eternity in his Justice League Dark title.

I'm sensing a theme...
Classic Photography #1 (Autumn 1956)

3. Arnold Magazines!

I've been quietly adding to this section, which focuses at length on Arnold Publications, the offshoot of Quality Comics by Busy Arnold that limped along when the comics ended, from 1956-1958. I daresay it's the most complete list yet, although I'm still missing a few cover scans.

The rarest of all are the pulp digests, which never appear on ebay. I found two on Amazon.

I'll publicize it more when I've written it more fully, but it already contains lots of notable scans from the issues I've acquired:

• Introduction
• The Sweats
• The Pin-Ups
• The Digests

Protoplasman (Big Bang Comics)

Plastic Man was parodied lovingly by Big Bang Comics, a publisher who specializes in that sort of story. Created by Gary Carlson, Protoplasman was more about channeling the magic of Jack Cole than simply renaming a popular character. These stories are a lot of fun, and while the art doesn't capture Cole's unbridled sense of composition, it's a solid homage. The first issue of Big Bang Presents (2006) also contained editorial comment about the road to Proto. Carlson had many proposals to do a Big Bang version of Plastic Man, but found them all lacking until meeting artist Mort Todd. Todd's drawing style mimicked both Cole's early Plastic Man style, and the later horror style of the pre-Code 1950s. The first issue jumped right into his story, and the origin was told in his second appearance, Big Bang Presents #3…

Covers of Big Bang Presents #1, 3, 4 (2006–07). Art by Mort Todd.

DCnU Quality Watch 5: Phantom Lady!

DC is finally putting the horse in front of the cart by showcasing one of their most fan-favorite properties—Phantom Lady! (Go ahead and Google her; there's some kind of untapped potential there.)

Phantom Lady #1, will be written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. The cover art is by a personal favorite, Amanda Conner, though sadly she does not illustrate the interiors. That's being done by Cat Staggs and Rich Perotta. Out August 29.

What's more, "joining her will be her partner-in-crimefighting, the diminutive dynamo known as Doll Man."

I'm a tad disappointed—but not surprised—that there's no real homage to the look of the Quality heroes here. Will these be Stormy or Sandra Knight? And is that Darrel Dane or Lester Colt? (Their Ray did not recycle any previous alter egos.) But hopefully this will sell well enough to warrant what seems to be in the works: another Freedom Fighters revival. 

As DC puts it:

“Phantom Lady and Doll Man is an exciting return to the roots of the characters as pulpy, street level crime fighters with a few new twists and some heavy sci-fi overtones,” Justin Gray told THE SOURCE. “We took the best of their original core concepts and updated them with no relation to our previous work on Phantom Lady and Doll Man in the Freedom Fighters. You're getting in on the ground floor of the origin story of two people whose lives intersect and a common threat that transforms them into pretty amazing and engaging superheroes.”

“I have to say I am really enjoying what Jimmy and Justin have created,” said Cat Staggs. “It is a wonderful take on a classic character. The story itself leans towards a gritty crime noir, which is something I am a huge fan of. Getting to draw this on a daily basis is a dream! I can’t wait for fans to see it!”

It all started with Matt Baker's original
reinterpretation of the heroine in 1947.

Gray and Palmiotti are rather becoming veterans at reimagining the body Quality. They most recently reinvented the Ray, and updated the Freedom Fighters within the last decade. This mini-series will also follow the relaunch of Kid Eternity in National Comics #1, out July 25.

Phantom Lady gained fans and notoriety in the late '40s/mid-'50s when Jerry Iger (she was created in his studio for Quality) took her to Fox then Ajax. Her original Quality adventures were short-lived. They ran from Police Comics #1-23 (August 1941–October 1943).

READ MORE at Cosmic Teams!

• Phantom Lady
• Doll Man
• The Ray
• Freedom Fighters
• Kid Eternity