Two-in-One Review: The Phantom Randy and Don take a look at The Phantom: The Ghost Killer from Moonstone Books, as the Ghost Who Walks comes back to comics. Randy: He's been the star of radio serials, comic strips, several comic-books, a movie and, unless I'm mistaken, a TV show or two... the Phantom is not exactly an unknown property. Given their attention to other media properties, such as White Wolf's World of Darkness, Kolchak the Night Stalker and Robin Hood, the Phantom seems an ideal match for Moonstone Books. Don: As is the case with their White Wolf comics, this is a self-contained graphic novella, really. It's a nice, light read, and a thoroughly accessible one; those readers who might be unfamiliar with the title character or just need a refresher course will learn just about all they need to know about the Phantom. I think we might have had a stronger story overall had this book been longer, or if the story had been spread out over three or four issues. The Phantom: The Ghost Killer #1 published by Moonstone Books written by Ben Raab illustrated by Fernando Blanco colors by Paul Mounts letters by Terri Boyle edited by Garrett Anderson & Joe Gentile Don: The Ghost Killer finds the Phantom married with two children, but after sending his family back to the United States, he remains in the African nation of Bangalla as its protector. He continues to intercept illegal arms shipments, drawing the ire of black-market merchant Mr. Bishop. As the Phantom's wife learns of some key information back home, Bishop sends a lovely but lethal killer after the legendary Ghost Who Walks. Randy: The Phantom is an action hero more than a super-hero, a masked man more in the tradition of the Lone Ranger or the Green Hornet than Superman or even Batman. Raab tells a story here that makes good use of the Phantom's unusual "power," his reputation for being a ghost, and the basic idea of an assassin who is hired to kill this unkillable spirit is a great hook. Unfortunately, I felt like much of the premise was wasted, and instead we got a fairly bland and standard action story. The assassin came off as woefully unprepared and unprofessional, never really seeming a threat to the Phantom, and neat ideas like weapons dubbed "ghost killers" because they made their users invisible to satellite detection never really went anywhere. There were any number of opportunities to make this more than just a standard "good guy beats bad guys" story, but none of them were seized upon. Don: I have to agree. After establishing La Castillana as the deadliest assassin in the world, the lacklustre confrontation with the Phantom was a let-down. I think the fault doesn't lie so much with the creators, though, as the format. By the time the two characters were face-to-face, Raab really didn't have a lot of space to dedicate to the encounter, and the quick resolution ended up being predictable and even unimpressive. Raab also turns to coincidence far too much to advance his story or develop connection between story elements. The guns just happen to be called "ghost killers." The Phantom's wife just happens to work down the hallway from someone involved in the arms smuggling operation. Furthermore, given a revelation near the end of the book, it seems as though the Phantom was never really needed to resolve the problem. Randy: I did enjoy several elements of the story, however. I was particularly appreciative of how Diana, the Phantom's wife, was a very capable heroine in her own right, although it did seem that her prowess disappeared the second her husband re-appeared on the page. One of the most interesting elements of the script for me in general, though, was the idea of a family man who was also a crimefighter. Diana's teasing of Kit Walker about fax technology, or her work at the UN being helpful to the Phantom, was very enjoyable. I was reminded of the relationship shared by Dian and Wes in Sandman Mystery Theatre, conveying a believable relationship that was complicated by elements of secret identities and heroic legacies. On the art side of things, I found the work to be an equally mixed bag. Blanco's storytelling skills are pretty solid, and although I thought the action sequences could have been opened up a little, in general I found the story easy to follow and visually engaging. His anatomy and character design, however, was a bit uneven. I was reminded of some of Bart Sears's work, with strong musculature but a look that was sometimes overly exaggerated. I thought the artwork was good, but I would have preferred slightly more realistic anatomy and facial structure. Don: I don't think I enjoyed the art quite as much as Randy did. Though the story is certainly told clearly, I found the characters to be rendered a bit too inconsistently. Even Paul Mounts's colors didn't strike me as vibrant and as textured as they usually are. Don't me wrong... the book isn't ugly by any means, but the visuals didn't really grab me either. Nevertheless, I remain impressed with Moonstone's approach to comics publishing. They've got some solid properties at their disposal, and some solid, experienced talent as well. Ultimately, though, I think this book was trapped in a purgatory between a normal limited series format and a full-blown graphic novel. A solid story was lost in that storytelling limbo. For more information about Moonstone Books, visit www.moonstonebooks.com. 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