Broken Frontier

Before Batman, before The Shadow, before The Green Hornet, before The Lone Ranger, comics’ first masked mystery-man hero donned a purple suit and a black mask to strike fear into the hearts of men.

He was, is, and always will be, The Phantom.

Now, 70 years later, The Phantom continues to evolve, and a new creative team is sending the timeless hero into a new direction.

For writer Mike Bullock and artist Gabriel Rearte, this could be their biggest challenge to date, as they take on The Ghost Who Walks!

Jason Berek-Lewis: Gabriel, welcome to Industrial Evolution and Broken Frontier. Mike, welcome back. I hope you don’t mind the renovations...

Starting off, could you both tell me how you found yourselves working at Moonstone and tackling the legend of The Phantom?

Gabriel Rearte: For me, it is the achievement of an aspiration. Thanks to Joe Gentile’s confidence in my work, I can say this aspiration is now a reality.

Mike Bullock: I went to Joe Gentile with the intention of soliciting some work on Kolchak for a writer friend of mine that I feel would be perfect to write the Night Stalker’s tales.

Joe listened patiently for several minutes, and when I was done giving him the sales pitch for my friend, he said, “That sounds great. Now, how about you writing some Kolchak stuff for us?”

I paused for a second, as this took me slightly off guard. After what seemed like fifteen minutes (and was really only about three seconds) of mulling this over, I told him Kolchak wasn't really my thing, as I’m much more interested in writing action stories.

Joe accepted that and then asked, “Well, what do you want to write for us?”

With about one millionth the response time I'd given the Kolchak offer, I replied, “The Phantom!” Joe then told me they already had Ben Raab set up as the ongoing writer, but they would need a fill-in issue soon and would I be willing to pen one. Before he could finish the sentence, I was already plotting out a story in my mind.

About a month later, after I'd finished the story and we were waiting for approval from the licensor, King Features, Joe called me up and told me Ben Raab had regretfully ended his run on the book and, if I wanted it, the book was now mine.

Once again, before he could finish his sentence, I was formulating plots and watching mental movies of the Phantom doing his thing. Now, I have three stories done, I’m working on the next two and I’ve already plotted out three beyond that.

The Phantom is a character, or a set of characters, that has maintained broad appeal over an extraordinarily long time. Do you have a theory on why that is?

Mike: The Phantom is the perfect archetype of what a hero should be. He embodies nobility, self sacrifice and honor while exuding strength, fortitude and all the other ingredients it takes to make a real hero shine. Combine that with charm, charisma, a great legacy and the unique nature of his “immortality”, and you get a character that works in any age, any situation, making him someone people of all different cultures can relate to, no matter their personal circumstances.

Gabriel: That “appeal”—I think of it as “magic”—consists of a heavy combination of identity and determination. The Phantom is not only a strong example of values like courage, chivalry, justice or truth, but he embodies all the traits of humanity that allow all generations and walks of life to relate to him: willpower and daring live together with contradictions and innocence.

Maybe it’s this dynamic range of personality that allows new people to discover him time and time again.

Mike, in one sense, the character’s long legacy and well-defined universe is a boon for a new writer. On the other hand, it could be a curse. Care to give your thoughts on that?

Mike: I certainly don’t see it as a curse. It’s more like a giant sandbox that stretches beyond the horizon. I have roughly sixty-five years of Lee Falk-authored stories to read to ensure I always follow what has come before. So far, I’ve digested about twenty-five years worth of stuff. And you’d think that with so many Phantom stories already having been told, the opportunities for new tales would be limited, but actually, they just add more wrinkles to explore, more settings to travel in and more situations the Phantom can tackle.

Gabriel, so many artists before you, legendary figures in the world of comics, have had the opportunity to put their stamp on The Phantom. How have you gone about trying to render the character in your own style, while still maintaining the design we all know so well. Has that been a challenge?

Gabriel: It’s always a challenge to bring your own interpretation to an iconic character. In this case there is, too, certain distance/respect born in memories and experience (in my case, both are associated with the influence of Sy Barry’s first years on the character). The work is touched by that initial emotional memory, like an attempt to re-experience the original feeling, to play classical chords with a modern sensibility.

Mike, you come on board on issue #12 of the book. Can I get you to give just a little bit away? What is the premise of your first story arc?

Mike: The first issue is sort of an introduction to the mystique of the Phantom. I’m introducing a new villain, Manuel Ortega, who will be rather instrumental in many of my upcoming stories, but by the end of the story, the reader is left with more questions about him and his link to the Phantom than they had going in. Issue thirteen will reveal the “origin” of Manuel's hatred for the purple guy, and set the stage for some ongoing confrontations that will resonate through many future issues.

Can you tell us about the new villain(s) you will be introducing?

Mike: No.

Mike: Just kidding! I can tell you this: in the Phantom’s world, there are very few men who can match up to him physically. The Phantom knocked out the boxing world heavyweight champion when he was still in college, so that should give you a basis for how tough he is. But, Manuel would have mopped the floor with that boxer, and he intends to do so with the Phantom.

Gabriel, what has been your involvement in developing the story? How have you worked with Mike to bring his vision to the page?

Gabriel: In general terms, I respect the writers’ vision, but in this case, reading the script, I seem to share a special affinity with the particular point of view brought by Mike. His script conveys classical dynamics with a modern approach, a crisp and new vision and, at the same time, a legitimate new chapter in the cycle of The Ghost Who Walks.

Mike, this is one of your first major work-for-hire contracts. How different is this to writing Lions, Tigers and Bears or The Light Knights? I understand that it is a different character, a different story for a different audience, but could you explain how you have approached the story, and whether there is any difference in your creative process for The Phantom as opposed to your own stories?

Mike: To some extent, I’m writing for a different audience. Lions, Tigers and Bears is aimed at families, The Light Knights is aimed at younger readers, the same with Gimoles. I have two other creator-owned books that I’m still looking for artists to work on, and both of those are mature stories.

With the Phantom, he needs to be mature without being “R” rated. So, that’s obviously a different target reader than any of my other stuff. With that in mind, I just try my best to be true to what Mr. Falk created and have fun doing it. Another wrinkle is that, with this being an ongoing series, I can lay plot seeds in issue twelve that will sprout in issue fifteen, nineteen and beyond, versus LTB or Gimoles, where the three stories were all contained in four-issue series.

Hopefully, the “Phans” will enjoy this as much as I am and I can settle in for a nice, long run.

Gabriel, forgive me, but I am not familiar with your work. Could you fill us in on your other work in the world of comics?

Gabriel: My career began in Editorial Columba, from Argentina (my country).

Later, Image published my first works for the North American market, Stone and the mini-series Jinn. I then worked Stan Winston’s Realm of the Claw for Image as well, before moving over to DC, where I worked on Wonder Woman. 

Harris had me do two miniseries of  Vampirella and Vampi. I then worked on the serial Pandora: Brimstone for Avatar Press, along with the still unpublished maxi-series Strange Kin and 150º West.

My first collaboration for Moonstone was the one-shot Lone Wolf a few years ago, and we've kept in touch ever since.  

To round this up, I have a confession to make. It has probably been almost 20 years since I read a Phantom comic. Why should readers who are not that familiar with the character pick up your arc?

Gabriel: This arc not only will satisfy the taste of traditional readers, but also is a magnificent introduction for those that pick up a Phantom comic for the first time, because the story includes all the thrills and excitement that define him.

In my opinion, The Phantom character was conceived for the long haul, confirmed by the solid stories marked by bold adventures and adrenalin-charged action in the classical and more long-lasting sense, along with a rhythmic pace that allows in-depth studies of the characters, and the progressive identification with them.

Mike: We’ve set it up as a great place to climb aboard for those who came in late. Issue twelve marks a new beginning for the book, so much so that Moonstone actually considered re-launching the tile at #1 again. We have Joe “Rann/Thanagar War” Prado doing covers. We have recognized US Phantom expert Ed Rhoades writing a column to bring new readers up to speed on Lee Falk and his purple visions. A contest to win a page of Gabriel’s gorgeous artwork in the back, and a few other goodies that should really entice new readers to hop on with issue twelve.

In addition, you won’t need to have ever read any previous Phantom stories, but we hope when you’re done with ours, you’ll want to hunt them all down and read every one you can find.

Thanks, Gabriel, for dropping by. Mike, it was wonderful to have you back in these pages!

Gabriel: Thank you, Jason.

Mike: Thanks, J. I love the new curtains you put in. ;)