You know the Phantom is the first costumed superhero in comic books but he doesn't get the love he deserves. Good or bad, I wish for a Phantom movie in the future.

I've been reading the PHANTOM for over fifty years now. Who couldn't love a man who drinks milk, has a pet wolf, and thrashes bullies? Thanks for the post. Great summary.

In 1000 years Ancient Alien theorists will use the stories about The Phantom told by the Waghi as proof that ancient man was visited by aliens. Lol

He also has the moniker of, "The ghost who walks". It's even mention the theme song to Defenders of the Earth.

Superheroes, with their immense popularity, the wide appeal, and the way they empower the characters, even the most unlikely of them, to be strong and heroic, makes them a great tool for representation. Even people who can't appreciate the comics fully because they can't read them, like the Wahgi people, or blind people, can see themselves and feel empowered by characters like The Phantom and Daredevil. There's a big issue among comic book nerds today and for a while, to alienate readers who want to see themselves represented in their favorite heroes. They call those readers 'fake' and call characters or decisions made to represent different groups as 'pandering'. I think examples like The Phantom totally prove this mindset wrong, by showing just how much good representation can do to comics and the image or comic. As for me, I feel most empowered by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, since like myself they are the generation to holocaust survivors (or at least they were until they were retconned).

I quite literally adopted Spiderman as my identity in middle school and it stuck with me though high school. In 5th grade there was a two-story tall cafeteria building where all the various yard balls and footballs ended up. I used to climb the drain pipe to the roof and throw balls down. I climbed all the trees and every building i could. There were very few rooftops I wasn't acquainted with. By the time I was in High School the nickname had taken hold so much that teachers called me Spiderman. On my first job (As a muralist for LA county) no one on the crew knew my real name and I was called Spiderman by my boss until _his_ boss changed the rules and everyone had to call me by my given name. By the time I was 21 the nickname had faded entirely but for about 7 years I WAS Spiderman to most people who knew me.

Those shields would make amazing collectibles.

Here in Sweden The Phantom is a on going comic with 25 issues in the year. I cind of know a guy who ilustreted one issue. His name is Henrik Jonsson he is super good at drawing.

The Phantom is still beeing published in Scandinavia

Thousands of years later, humanity or aliens come to Earth, unknowing of 20th century history, and find the Phantom on tribal art. And so their history is...messed up, to say. And the Phantom is believed to be their god. Oh, history.

I just looked up at the origin of The Phantom and he is from Portsmouth England. That's awesome I'm from the same place as a comicbook charther.

You have the coolest videos. No idea where you find these topics, but I'm glad you put me on to new things.

Wahgi Tribe are the best comic fans, confirmed!

That is just beyond awesome. Shame that the black panther didn't exist back then. They would have loved him.

Wow great video! Thanks for doing that research Scott. Love this channel

this is really cool, thank you for this Video!

I'm so happy that you talked about *The Phantom* since he is probably my favorite super-hero! :D He is probably my favorite since it's pretty cheap to get Phantom comics here in Sweden and Marvel/DC comics you have to get on Amazon which can also be pretty expensive. The Phantom also has so much great mythology to him, his pet-wolf Devil and his horse Hero are just great companions! :D Great video as always Scott!

There was also a Phantom movie (mini series) made in 2009 for Syfy

Thank you for making this video scott. The Phantom is one of my favorite childhood heroes. His comic books were passed on from my parents to me, much like The Phantom's oath :)

Awesome with some phantom love! He was my introduction into comics, he is huge in Sweden. We acctually are one of the biggest producers of phantom comics these days! Cool with more phantom videos, he is really a uniqe hero and im guessing you will be talking a bit about The fact that his costume is in different colors in different countries? In Sweden its blue, in italy its red i think. Was supposed to be gray from the start, but there was something that went wrong when it went to print I think.. Anyhow, really glad to see more phantom videos!

Swedens 1# superhero right there! (Him and Donald Duck...)

Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms yo! Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

Awesome video Scott!

i love how different this topic is to most of the stuff you tackle, Scott. I can't wait for the mini series about costumes.

this brings back so many memories of watching a phantom animated movie with my dad

Glad to know someone is talking about the Phantom

I loved this video! I have the weird feeling that I've seen you do this same video before though.... deja vu I guess, can't wait for the videos about costumes! ^^

Great video, your videos truly make comics more interesting :)

I love the Phantom. My mom introduced me to it, i love the b/w Phantom comics.

"The Shadow." Because after all, "The Shadow knows!"

*FINALLY!* This is the best day of my life! The early days of comics is my favorite precisely because of how much impact comics had back in the day. For well over 40 years starting with the Yellow Kid and Little Nemo up until the end of the Golden Age of comics, comic strips and magazines were so revolutionary, mesmerizing and inspiring filled with imagery and storytelling at a level that was never seen before that they were literally engraved into people's lives in most ways than ever since then. Comics like Little Nemo transported the readers to a place beyond their imagination, I find it very interesting that the art is so reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch yet was available to all puiblic that cared to pay for a newspaper. But then artist like Lee Falk, Hal Foster and Alex Raymond took it to the next level and introduced, in the words of late great Mako Iwamatsu, _the days of high adventure_. *THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SPACE SCOTT. If you don't mind this is one of the videos I want to take to my grave!*

I really liked this video, I'm definitely looking forward to more of these videos in the future :)

always loved the phantom and defenders of the earth sadly they are not as popular as the mainstream ones . there a lot of compelling story arcs there you all should read

this might be my fav episode!

Your Phantom videos are much appreciated!

Wow, thank you very much for this video! :D

I have been unable to tell for years what the heck the design behind the comic misconceptions bumper was...I now realize it is a comic book being flipped. Who'de a thunk it right?

So does this mean that the Wahgi were some of the first people in comic book history to do fan art?

Good to see a video on the Phantom!

This remains one of my favorite of your videos.

I wonder of the tribe ever found out about gangam style.

I wish you whould talk about all the hundreds of female superheroes of the Golden age.

excellent piece of information

Really good pick for a comic misconception keep em coming.

I symbolize myself with Shazam. Such a powerful and mystical character who is only 15 like me

Valiant!!!!!!

Lots of love to you my friend, the phantom is a personal favorite of mine who seems to go unknown. I learned of him from the movie, he was the one hero my father actually liked and we use to watch his movie when I got to go see him during summer vacation.

Great video, I am a big fan of the Phantom. I recently saw 4 Shields in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford on display.

It's funny how huge this comic was i Sweden.

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH!!!! (defendeeeeers)

Hey Scott, I binge watch your show......love it. Could you do a series on the Milestone imprint ?

Super fascinating stuff. Will have to check out more about this character

I'd choose Ironman and Spiderman as my symbols.

The Hulk

Amazing video! Never knew about all of this, as well as a lot of topics covered on this channel. Like you have said yourself, it really helps enhance my comic book reading experience. I would probably have Black Panther on my shield.

This was a really cool video! It's awesome how comic culture isn't soley based in first world countries but spreads across the world. Also Spider-man is definetly the character I'd associate myself with. He's funny, smart, and has a great sense of style Lol.

Saitama aka OPM all the way.

BLACK PANTHER...

YEEESSSS I grew up with Phantom comics! In Swedish, tbh, but still. Very happy to see this guy getting some attention, thanks! :)

The Phantom was one of the first comicbook heroes I knew, and still one of my favourites. I have a ton of comics from him.

I was thinking you would do something like how can every son of Kit Walker look the same. But this was very intresting. Nerdsync made a Phantom video, now I only have to be featured on the tales from the comments and then I can die a happy man.

loved the intro Scott

thats why you rock. at first it was the turtles, Daredevil connection now this, just when I thought I knew everything about comics you end up revealing something new. again awesome work keep it up. in response to your question I am a Batman fan through and through. Question since you are keeping off the topic of Dc and marvel subject any plans on characters like the Shadow. and the lone Ranger.

That was quite interesting ! I didn't know sh*t about the Phantom, and I'm excited for the new videos to come ! Because capes, "ouside underwears" (uperwears ? ^^), spandex are stuff that we take for granted and I'm pretty sure the reason why they wear these is more relevent than saying : "well it was the 40s bro !". And I got to say that if I had to choose a superhero so that he could be my symbol I would chose... *originality incoming* BATMAAAN TADADADADA BATMAN ! He is already on 50% of my shirts so.. I guess that makes sense !

best episode yet!

Prince Valiant! (: Great video.

this is so amazing super cool

great video! the phantom also had a couple of cartoons (the phantom 2040 was amazing) and im pretty sure the sci-fi channel shot a pilot that was an updated version of the character in which he did parkor and had a high tech suit (it wasnt that great)

Started looking at comic strips like the Phantom, before i could read or even go to school. About the same time I discovered Comic books. This was in 1949-50. The only reason I wanted to learn to read was to be able to read comic strips & books for myself. Long live both the strips & books, I loved them all!

This is the most amazing comic story I’ve ever heard!

omg, this is amazing, super interesting, good job scott

This is probably the coolest comic tidbit I ever learned on youtube.

You should definitely do more videos based around The Phantom who is by far one of my all time favorite comic book heroes. But please don't forget the SYFY original movie that was suppose to kick start a Phantom tv series that never got off the ground. When I first saw the movie I thought... oh man they ruined the character... BUT, SYFY actually did a really good job of modernizing the character and the costume, without taking away from it like many updates do. And what makes the character so much more AWESOME is that he pre-dates both Superman and Batman as well as established the signature white eyes in masked comic book heroes. A truly under rated character for sure.

this is awesome.

This video deserves way more views.

this is really cool

This is really cool.

Man i'm a big Phantom comic fan before and im from Papua New Guinea. You know PNG well and also the Highlands people. Thumbs up 👍👍👍

This somehow became my favorite video. its awesome to see unique ways a fictional character can effect a culture.

great vid,

Interesting video Scott! I quite enjoyed it! The Phantom looks like an interesting character! Are phantom comics still in print today?

Dude that is so cool! Makes me wanna read a phantom comic now

its ok scott because you make comic's more awesom! this comet is not sponsored by nirdsync, I ame just that much of a fan.

I love the Phantom. I really liked the Billy Zane movie. I even made a point of watching the Defenders of the Earth series when I was younger. He uses my favorite color scheme: Purple, black, & silver. I also love the hero legacy concept, passing the mantle from father to son. Very cool.

Bravo Scott, I love the Phantom but had never heard of this tribe. So cool.

My personal icon or symbol would be Daredevil. I wrote about this exact topic before in my blog, so I'm just going to repost that below. One of DD's best known elements (and what makes him especially well written and human) is his romantic life. No other comic hero has loved and lost as much as Matt Murdock: Mary. Natasha. Milla. Kirsten. Elektra...Karen....alternating waves of happiness and loneliness are what define him as a person. In all of these cases, he missed out on love because of the mask. He either made a choice to be Daredevil instead of Matt Murdock, or the choice was made for him. To steal from his pal Spidey, he recognized that with great power came great responsibility, and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of Matt Murdock. So he sacrifices happiness because Hell's Kitchen needs him. And yes, sometimes he uses crime fighting as catharsis for getting through the pain. We are all like Daredevil in that regard; we invest ourselves in a hobby, a video game, any kind of escape from the crushing heartbreak. For me, I've always tried to be the best father and provider I could be, sacrificing myself and my own personal wants for my family. If I get up everyday and go to a job I didn't want to be at so I could put a roof over our heads and food on our table, I decided I would put my personal happiness aside. I just wanted to survive and take the burden of sorting out the finances on myself, so my family wouldn't have to know. So they could be happy. Of course, just like with Ol' Hornhead this backfired on me. I drove the people I loved away. What I thought I was doing to help them wasn't what they needed. Another love gone. And as I was trying to process that loss, for a moment I thought that maybe I could be Daredevil and Matt Murdck both, that I deserved to be happy. No, I offered my heart to someone who didn't want it. More pain. So now I am putting the mask back on. My mask is "Dad", I will fight for the happiness of the only person I can right now, my daughter. I will accept that me as an individual doesn't get an opportunity to be happy right now, that it's not his time, because there is work to do. One thing I admire Daredevil for is that, even through all the pain and knowing it will likely the end the same as all the others, he doesn't close his heart off to the possibility of love. He doesn't go looking for it, but he of all people recognizes how especially rare and sacred it is, so when it knocks he answers. I'm not sure I'm as strong as he, at least not right now. I just want to keep my mask on for the next 10 years, until maybe my little girl doesn't need protecting anymore. If love were to be at my doorstep tomorrow, I don't think I would open that door. Not because I don't want it, but because I'm too afraid. I don't want to risk feeling the pain of the loss for a chance to feel fleeting joy. I am going to wear the mask.

this was really interesting.

Wow this is really awesome! Taking an anthropology class right now and we just recently talked about cargo cults. Might bring this up in class next time. On the topic of what superhero I'd choose as my symbol, well, I kinda already use Harley Quinn as my "symbol." Got tons of her merchandise sitting around my room, and I rock a Harley tattoo lol. Though I've always used a black panther as a sort of symbol too... Maybe I should use Black Panther the hero to go along with the normal panther. XD

Thanks for the Phantom episode dude! I've always loved The Phantom - he's essentially Batman, Tarzan and Indiana Jones combined which is awesome.

MANDRAKE! (another Lee Falk) Was my favorite outside regular superhero comics.

Wow this was really a great video. I didn't realize that both Marvel and DC Printed Phantom comics. I thought the character was owned by King Features along with Mandrake and Lothar because I remember that animated series Defenders of the Earth that features all of these characters. That bit of history you included about the Wagi and how they integrated the character into their tribal art was really interesting and fascinating and I had never even heard of the pop tribal art concept before. The character is really interesting and their is a great television film that was made a few years ago about the Phantom in a contemporary setting. You always do such a great job with your videos; kudos. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about the television film if you want to review it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_(miniseries)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_(miniseries) Again, great job, thanks for another great video

"Thus becoming THE GREEN ARROW" hahahaha

In Scandinavia The Phantom has always been one of the more popular masked heroes and at least as i grew up he had a bi weekly book of his own ( still published but i dont know if it is bi weekly still). If i´m not mistaken he is also very popular in Australia. Funny Phantom facts for comic nerds: 1:The Phantom actually had adventures written and drawn on licence in Europe ( = not written by Lee Falk himself ) made directly for the book and not taken from the strip since the 60s. These where also exported. Today the Swedish "Team Fantomen" are also behind the US Phantom strip in the papers. 2: The Phantoms costume is purple with black/blue trunks.Originally it was supposed to be gray i have heard ( Falk sometimes referred to him as "The Gray Ghost") but when Falk returned from vacation the purple costume was already in print (???). In Sweden the costume is actually blue with black/red trunks and in Italy it was ( and might still be?) red with black/green trunks and orange pants. I have heard (true or not) that this had to do with WWII and ink shortages (purple being printed with blue/red "dots").I´m not sure if i belive this entirely though. In Sweden he got the colors he has now in the 50s (though he was light blue before that).In Italy American comics was forbidden during the war though i HAVE heard that The Phantom was still published illegally by Italian artists and writers After all this i even think Falk has said that he should have made the costume green for a hero living in the jungle. 3::Lee Falk also created the magician Mandrake.....who looks a lot like Lee Falk. ;)

I AM SO HAPPY THIS EPISODE WAS MADE! I love the phantom. I have the '96 movie and i'm 4 issues short of having the full run of "the last phantom" by Dynamite

I would love to hear that there is some tribe out there who happened to catch a few episodes of Charles in Charge and now there's a series of shields depicting Scot Baio in his prime.

The first Phantom I ever saw was in the cartoon show, "Defenders of the Earth," where he was on a team consisting of himself, Flash Gordon, Lothar, and Mandrake. He had a daughter with a pet tiger. It'd make a great "Guardians-Like" feature. The version from the show did have a superpower though. The power to summon the strength of 10 Tigers, as he called it.

It's so weird. I live in Finland, where the only comics you can buy at the store are Donald Duck and The Phantom-comics. I've never seen a single issue of a Superhero comic. I've ordered trades online, but I want to buy one at the store, Phantom is the only one I've been able to find. He's crazy popular here.

Phantom was one of my favourites characters when I was a child, and I am not ashamed to admit that I knew him thanks to the movie. Best "regular man" after Batman. Awesome video!

That's awesome.

This is a surprisingly wholesome story