Talk:The Phantom

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I've just reverted a large edit by an anonymous user partly because it is unencyclopedic - reading more like an RPG character profile than an encyclopedia entry - but mainly because it is composed largely of uncredited quotations (see [1], [2], [3]), and is therefore problematic from a copyright standpoint (see Wikipedia:Copyrights#Contributors' rights and obligations). --Paul A 04:20, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The kids

The addition "and after their birth there were several episodes of The Phantom changing diapers and looking for lost toys." keeps getting removed by anonymous users. What's the deal here? // Liftarn

I'm the "anonymous user" (only anonymous because I haven't bothered to register yet). It has been common for people who disapproved of the Phantom's marriage and raising a family to claim that "the Phantom is all about diapers and babies now" in a derogatory way. But the fact is that it is an opinion that is very loosely based on fact. To claim that there are "several episodes of The Phantom changing diapers and looking for lost toys." is simply incorrect. There are some stories where the Phantom's family life is mentioned but rarely, if ever, the basis of an entire episode. //AE (soon-to-be-member?)

No, not an entre episode, but there were several episodes where the kids played a part, for instance in one episode The Phantom went back to look for a lost toy and saw some bad guys doing something. In another episode his position was revealed because one of the kids started to cry. So it's correct to say that there were "several episodes of The Phantom changing diapers and looking for lost toys", but the episodes weren't entierly about that. // Liftarn

I would agree that on several occasions the Phantom's family life was featured in the strip after the birth of the twins, but not that there were several "episodes of the Phantom changing diapers" (I can think of only one, and that was in a dream sequence) and "looking for lost toys" (you give one example, and that is the only one I can remember too). If you added something about his family life/raising the twins (and not highlighting diapers and toys) aswell as find some other word than "episode" (which can easily be interpreted as the whole episode) it would be more correct. //AE

Episode lists

I removed the episode lists, since they only show a small portion of the early stories, with no comments about later stories. I find no point in including such a list unless it is complete (300+ daily and Sunday stories) or at least make some sort of reference as to why only the very first stories are listed. AEriksson 08:48, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'll share my thoughts, and let you decide whether to restore the list or not. Ray Moore was the original artist on The Phantom (except for the weeks Lee Falk drew himself) and his stories are arguably the most famous and worth listing (especially the Sky Band stories). I thought I would do the Ray Moore stories, and leave it at that, since a complete list would be too long. I had planned to go back and add the post-war Ray Moore stories, but before I could do that, you deleted the list. Rick Norwood 18:59, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm with Andreas here, it's way too little. And there's nothing called "too much" when it comes to Wikipedia. It could be placed in an article of its own, called "List of daily Phantom stories" or something like that… Jon Harald Søby \ ^{no na} 16:33, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fine by me. Here is the list as far as I carried it. Feel free to add to it, move it, or whatever you like. Rick Norwood 21:36, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say that it is completely subjective whether Moore's episodes were the most famous and worth listing. IMO, both the McCoy and Barry stories could qualify for this aswell. Listing all stories would be a time-consuming but possibly worthwhile project. On the other hand there are plenty of other sources on the net with complete story lists already. Maybe a link to Deep Woods would be enough until someone finds time to do a complete story list here on wikipedia. AEriksson 10:03, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Episode Guide

daily stories

1	The Singh Brotherhood	Moore	17 Feb 1936
2	The Sky Band	Moore	9 Nov 1936
3	The Diamond Hunters	Moore	12 Apr 1937
4	Little Tommy	Moore	20 Sep 1937
5	The Prisoner of the Himalayas	Moore	7 Feb 1938
6	Adventure in Algiers	Moore	20 Jun 1938
7	The Shark's Nest	Moore	25 Jul 1938
8	Fishers of Pearls	Moore	7 Nov 1938
9	The Slave Traders	Moore	30 Jan 1939
10	The Mysterious Girl	Moore	8 May 1939
11	The Golden Circle	Moore	4 Sep 1939
12	The Seahorse	Moore	22 Jan 1940
13	The Game of Alvar	Moore	29 Jul 1940
14	Diana Aviatrix	Moore	16 Dec 1940
15	The Phantom's Treasure	Moore	14 Jul 1941
16	The Phantom Goes to War	Moore/McCoy	2 Feb 1942

Sunday stories

1	The League of Lost Men	Moore	28 May 1939
2	The Precious Cargo of Colonel Winn	Moore	22 Oct 1939
3	The Fire Goddess	Moore	17 Mar 1940
4	The Beachcomber	Moore	28 Jul 1940
5	The Saboteurs	Moore	5 Jan 1941
6	The Return of the Sky Band	Moore	2 Mar 1941
7	The Impostor	Moore	1 Mar 1942
8	Castle in the Clouds	Moore/McCoy	18 Oct 1942

Message boards

Someone had added the link ipcomic.net which leads to a message board. Am not sure whether it is good enough to be retained. Tintin 13:33, 20 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

2005 Film

Does anyone know anything about this film? [4]

Family tree

I like the idea of the Family Tree, but it takes too long to load. Either a way must be found so it loads faster, or it needs to be deleted, or at least moved to a page of its own, where people can see it if they are willing to wait for several minutes. Rick Norwood 13:40, 29 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Source of the tree

I like the idea too but it should definitely be accompanied by a line stating the source of the information and also that it is not a "strictly followed version", as Lee Falk himself wasn't very consistent about the Phantom's vast history. -- Aman King --221.134.26.129 08:29, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You'll have to fix it, since I cannot load the article since the "family tree" was added. Rick Norwood 14:30, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I love that tree. I am on dial-up with a Windows 98 computer and this page loads no slower than any other, despite all the images. Gotta love those images too. This is certainly one of the better comic strip articles in Wikipedia (although perhaps this has something to do with the "superhero" aspect of it). BayBoy 14:50, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I like the family tree, too, and maybe I am just impatient. It takes about a minute to load -- but a minute seems very long when you are waiting. Rick Norwood 14:55, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The legend

I do not understand the significance of the section "The legend". I feel that either more information should be added or the section removed. -- Aman King --221.134.26.129 08:31, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with your statement. It seems out of place, stuck on perhaps. I took the liberty of placing that section and the family tree section under the "The character" section. BayBoy 14:50, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

C'mon, the Phantom has no personality

I had inserted the following paragraph into the article:

The Phantom has always had something of a one-dimensional personality. In contrast, for example, to the angst-ridden Spider-man or the brroding Batman, the comic-strip Phantom is never seen upset, doubting his abilities, confused, in despair, or, in general, with a less-than-cheery disposition. He rarely, if ever, makes a mistake. He is occasionally shown angry at evil-doers, the only concession to what might be considered a negative emotion. Moreover, readers never see "the man behind the mask": the Phantom is never seen without either his double-diamond mask or his sunglasses.

Rick Norwood completely reverted this, saying that "The Phantom does get angry and upset when Diana is threatened, and is often seen without mask or sunglasses when with his family.) " I did mention that the Phantom gets angry at evil-doers, but would certainly like to see any strip where the Phantom is upset (without being simultaneously angry), confused, the slightest bit sad, doubtful of his abilities, or shows any degree whatsoever of angst. And I know that I've never seen the comic strip Phantom without either the mask or the sunglasses.

At the very least, some mention needs to be made of the Phantom's rather one-dimensional character.

Your thoughts, folks?? BayBoy 04:27, 25 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See this pic for an instance when Phantom is shown without the mask. There are a quite few such (as when he skis on the dolphins in Eden) pictures. Re emotions too, I tend to agree with Rick Norwood but leave it to the experts, as finding one will need too much effort for a novice like me. Tintin (talk) 05:13, 25 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure how much of The Phantom BostonBay has read. Certainly, The Phantom is one-dimensional compared to, say, Hamlet. But I think he has as much character as, for example, Superman. Rick Norwood 15:30, 25 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Having as much personality as Superman is certainly not a ringing endorsement. : )

Regarding the strip that Tintin provides, one still can't see the Phantom's face. I continue to believe that my earlier posting is a correct assessment, but in the interest of consensus, I'll just leave it here on the Talk page. However, I will/did add this sentence: "The Phantom is rarely, if ever, seen without the sunglasses or his trademark double-diamond mask".