Earlier this month, fans of The Phantom, created by Lee Falk, celebrated to mark the 90th anniversary since the strip was first published – including a team assembled by Ireland’s TASQ Art.
In Ireland, TASQ Art produced a commemorative motion comic illustrated by Joel Folda, narrated and audio mixed by Matt Sheedy of Media Vibe and animated by Eoin McAuley. It adapts the opening of The Phantom Avon novels published in the 1970s.
“We’ve been publishing ‘The Phantom’ strips here in Ireland with a local paper, but anyone anywhere in the world can read the strips, in continuous publication to this day, via the Comics Kingdom website,” Eoin tells us.
The fan made film is just one in TASQ’s “Creator in Conversation” releases, the official podcast of Ireland’s premiere academy dedicated to sequential art, design and production.
This video is a fan made production, adapted from an older work. Do note it contains, or may contain, outdated cultural viewpoints, stereotypes, and language that are considered offensive by modern standards. These materials are preserved for educational and research purposes, reflecting the context in which they were created. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement of the views expressed therein. Viewer discretion is advised.
• TASQ’s “Creator in Conversation” on YouTube
• You can listen to the TASQ podcast on the go on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
• Find out about upcoming classes and events with TASQ Art here: tasqart.com
Meet The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip, created by Lee Falk (who had previously created “Mandrake the Magician”), first published in February 1936. Falk wrote and drew the first fortnight of strips, with Ray Moore then taking over art duties.
Today, the masked adventurer is often considered as a precursor (or perhaps even a prototype) of the modern superhero.
The main character, the Phantom, a fictional costumed crime-fighter operating from an equally fictional African country, Bangalla, has been adapted for television, film and video games.
The series began with a daily newspaper strip on 17th February 1936, the Phantom making his first appearance in the strip published on 21st February, followed by a colour Sunday strip on 28th May 1939. Both are still running as of 2026. At its peak, it’s estimated the strip was read by over 100 million people daily, worldwide.
By the mid-1960s, it was being promoted by King Features Syndicate as the “number one adventure strip” in the world.
Over a period of more than eighty years the adventures of the Phantom have been adapted into comic books, novelisations, animation, video games and live action media.
Artists drawing the non-powered superhero – one bearing the mantle in a long line of Phantoms, stretching back centuries – include Ray Moore, who Falk felt got closest to his own vision of the Phantom. “He was outstanding in rendering mystery to his drawings,” he commented in an interview with Ulf Granberg in 1985.
He has also been drawn by Wilson McCoy, Bill Lignante, Sy Barry, George Olesen, Keith Williams, Fred Fredericks, Graham Nolan, Eduardo Barreto, Paul Ryan, and Terry Beatty.
Falk worked on The Phantom until his unexpected death in 1999, Tony DePaul then taking over as writer. Since 2016, the strip has been drawn by Mike Manley (Monday–Saturday) and, since 2017, Jeff Weigel (Sunday).
Hermes Press have been publishing collections of the strip since 2010, The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies Volume 1: 1936-1938 available here as a digital edition (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Last year, Mad Cave Studios launched a new The Phantom comic series, written by Ray Fawkes with art by UK-based Russell Mark Olson, creator of the brilliant Gateway City.
When a violent gang of smugglers stubbles on an idyllic Bandar village, the peace that the Phantom has brought to the African nation of Bangalla will suddenly shatter. It will take all of the Phantom’s many skills – and allies – to restore it…
A collection is due for release in May and available to preorder now. (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Head downthetubes for…
• The Phantom on Comics Kingdom
• Comic Book Historians: ‘The Phantom – The Lee Falk Version’ Part One (1936 – 1969) – by Rosco M
• Comic Book Historians ‘The Phantom – The Lee Falk Version’ Part Two (1970 – 1999) – by Rosco M
The Phantom and all related characters © 2026 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ™ Hearst holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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