Whatever Happened to? Bob Phantom?

When Kelly Brand was sent from the Shield's Crusader Circle headquarters to a floating space station, she met its loyal protector Bob Phantom. Bob was a teleporting hero from World War II who worked alongside the Shield and others, before disappearing for decades as he was recruited into the governmental agency that would become MLJ led by Dustin Simmons. It was hear, in the transdimensional void protecting Earth-MLJ from various extra-terrestrial threats, that Bob also guarded devices which would replicate the abilities of Fly-Girl for her daughter, Kelly, who would assume her mantle as one of the New Crusaders.

 

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The dimensional plane of Earth-Four, home of the Charlton heroes, is much more obscured following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and so the Phantom's doppleganger's fate is undetermined at this time.

 

 

Team-Up Tuesdays: Crusaders VS Invaders

This would be an epic matchup. Consider the following duels between the Crusaders and Invaders:

• The heat-generating android Human Torch versus circus fire-breather Inferno (not show). The latter took on Steel just as Torch does in the picture. Advantage: Human Torch.
• Two elemental men in Blue Diamond (not shown) versus Steel Sterling. Superstrong and invulnerable, each was a paragon of potent power. Advantage: Steel Sterling.
• High-flying Miss America versus the bird-handler Captain Flag, considering the lady had strength as well she'd take out Flag's pet eagle Yank. Advantage: Miss America.
• The Vision aka Aarkus versus Mister Justice: Although Aarkus could control temperature, illusions and teleport... Justice could  do that and more. Advantage: Mister Justice.
• The Whizzer versus Bob Phantom (not shown): A superspeedster versus a master teleporter. Whizzer was quite fast, but Bob was as fast as thought! Advantage: Bob Phantom.
• Sub-Mariner versus the Wizard (not shown): His world's first mutant, the Mariner would meet his match with the mastermind turned man of might. Advantage: the Wizard.
• Union Jack (not shown) versus Black Jack: Two mighty fine fighters, nevertheless the Battling Brit has the edge with his superhuman lighting powers. Advantage: Union Jack.
• Bucky versus Dusty: The supreme sidekicks of the super-soldiers. In the golden age: As the Boy Detective, Dusty takes this. As a retcon secret agent, Bucky. Advantage: Toss Up.
• The Destroyer (not shown) versus the Web: Both the pinnacles of human perfection, matching physical attributes with tactical minds and great courage. Advantage: Toss Up.
• The Patriot (not show) versus the Hangman: Non-powered but superbly talented second-tier mystery men, the former an optimist and the latter a pessimist. Advantage: Patriot.
• Captain America versus the Shield: Here would be the epic battle of ages. Two twin titans. As his superstrong self, Advantage: the Shield. If he is non-powered, Advantage: Captain America.

Friday Fiends: Foreign Femme Fatales

Our twin masters of materializing, MLJ's minor league hero Bob Phantom and Charlton's major league villain the Ghost, had more in common than teleporting into troublesome situations. Or their flair for capes and cowls.

Both encountered foreign femme fatales that continually plagued their existence and nearly cost them their lives. Matching their mastery of manipulation of men and machines, Phantom and Ghost outsmarted Japan's Ah-Ku and Sunaria's high priestess using a combination of their potent prowess and their persistence patience even in the face of danger.

While the grand advisor of the Sunarian race of warrior women operated behind-the-scenes until the final confrontation between her people's Faceless One (although the Ghost was not, in fact, their legendary leader... he only looked exactly like him for some strange inexplicable reason), Ah-Ku repeatedly quarreled with Bob Phantom over several cases until she was finally defeated by her adversary.

There are a series of tales chronicled elsewhere on the web that preserve this little known fictional fiend for future fans of fabulous fab fighters of freedom. Although, from the picture above, it was Bob Phantom who was the "fiend" in her eyes, much like the Priestess. And, from a certain perspective, that is definitely true as both enigmatic entities were a thorn in the collective sides of our greedy gals and their minions.

Last letters of dying publishers

Of interest are these notes from the last issues of Mighty Crusaders #7 and Thunderbolt #60. Both hint at future plans and greater aspirations for both Charlton and Mighty Comics, that we now know ended abruptly.

 

An actual critical letter posted in a Mighty Comics letter column? Please pinch us, collectively! Dusty's one sole appearance without explanation on his silver age solitude from superheroing was definitely mysterious, and along with Bob Phantom "and Blackjack were sadly neglected in the 60's comics run. THE UNEMPLOYED GUYS" indeed. Looks like all Hangman's "cancelite" worked best on their very own titles.

There is an excellent write up on the Prankster posted elsewhere. Both he and Thunderbolt had tremendous potential (and love their color schemes and style...long lost cousins several times removed, perhaps?),. "The Sentinels didn't click with us, either"...interesting admission. Actually the former Protesters folk singing band could've clicked with better artwork and story pacing, But alas it t'wasn't to be and the big "C" went in a different direction focusing on lisensed characters and mystery. Sigh.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Phenomenal Phantoms

Teams we've previously considered, the Mighty Crusaders as well as Captain Atom with Nightshade, met the key players in this week's post. Two men, Walt Whitney and Alex Rios,  aka Bob Phantom and the Ghost, discovered  the means  to teleport  from place to place instantaneously, seemingly appearing as phantoms when they did appear (hence their aliases). While the Ghost used technology in his glove, Bob Phantom used other means never described, although the end results were the same.

Both worked alongside gangs of confederates, although one was a powerful ally the other was a persistent adversary. This resulted in mixed results when interacting with the superhero set, as can be seen below from April 1966's Mighty Crusaders #4 (and then 1983's Mighty Crusaders #3 v2) in the third panel )and June 1967's Captain Atom #96, respectively:

As you no doubt have observed, this pair never quite got along with their fellow men and women in tights. The latter appearence of Bob Phantom was as mindless replica for the madman Eterno, while Alec Rios inbetween battles with Captain Atom and Nightsshade befriended their civilian identities, none the wiser. Both were social butterflies outside of their longjohns, as Rios was a rich playboy and Whitney was  a gossip columnist on Broadway. This affable nature never quite translated into their costumed lives, however Although the Ghost was soon adopted into an alien tribe of women from Sunaria who believed he was their Faceless One...long ago disappearing, although there are definite visual differences. Which reminds one of Bob Phantom's fellow phantom mystery man, Mister Justice of the Terrific Three, an ancient crusader tied to legends of lore.

Bob Phantom would eventually join the Mighty Crusaders at the dawn of a new century, while Ghost disappeared once his Sunuria kingdom was destroyed by its high priestesss (a tale for another Team-Up Tuesdays).