At the time, there were a lot of characters with the name of Phantom and some kind of qualifier: Phantom Magician, Phantom Detective, Phantom Reporter, Phantom Fed, Phantom of the Fair/Fantoman, Phantom Bullet. Some like the Phantom Reporter were referred to as just the Phantom in-story. Admittedly, Bob predates 90% of them so his taking a first name is a bit odd. But, he's such an early entry into superherodom, how much of that might be just the fact that the bulk of characters AFTER him didn't? It seems odd to us looking back through the thousands of later characters. A lot of your non-masked action characters were often identified with a half-name/half nick-name monikers, possibly growing out of the Dime-Novel and early serial traditions of Buffalo Bill, Dead-Eye Dick, Spring-Heeled Jack, Burn 'Em Up Barnes as well as DC's Congo Bill and Slam Bradley. Even Doc Savage has that informal/formal pairing up though it's a title and his last name. From that side of the equation, maybe the name didn't seem as being an oddity. Had Bob Phantom come just a year or two later, maybe he'd have realized that it was pairing of colors with your name that was the inside track to success as a comic book superhero. Look out world here comes Green Bob! Maybe not.
What's also surprising is that he may not have been the first Bob Phantom! In doing research, I had come across a reference to another one, though I've not been able to verify the character at this time. Quoting from my site: According to a Ron Goulart piece on the history of MLJ (Comics Collector, Winter 1984), there was an even earlier Bob Phantom, a mustached magician (Shades of Mandrake!) that appeared in Harry "A" Chesler's Star Comics #1, 1937.
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Posted by: Prankster
Posted on: 2008-05-15 at 07:49:00 PM
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And many years later, Alan Moore created a character called Jack Phantom (actually a woman) for the cast of Top Ten.
I feel as though there may have been a few other superheroes with first names, especially "Jack ___" or "Johnny ___" but, except for Johnny Thunder (does he count as a superhero?) I'm drawing a blank.
I feel as though there may have been a few other superheroes with first names, especially "Jack ___" or "Johnny ___" but, except for Johnny Thunder (does he count as a superhero?) I'm drawing a blank.
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Posted by: Don Markstein
Posted on: 2008-05-16 at 05:13:33 AM
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Wow! An even earlier Bob Phantom! I'll keep my eye out for him.
Of course, the fact that so many other characters used "Phantom" as part of their names, without the incongruity of giving him an ordinary first name. merely adds to the oddballness of it, if you ask me.
Interesting post. Thanks for dropping by, Ed.
Quack, Don
Of course, the fact that so many other characters used "Phantom" as part of their names, without the incongruity of giving him an ordinary first name. merely adds to the oddballness of it, if you ask me.
Interesting post. Thanks for dropping by, Ed.
Quack, Don
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Posted by: Don Markstein
Posted on: 2008-05-16 at 05:22:05 AM
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Sorry I missed you first time around, Prankster.
You're right -- a first name isn't absolutely unique in superherodom. Johnny Quick is a good example. (And yes, I think Johnny Thunder, the first one at least, qualifies as a superhero -- in fact, I may have called him a "plainclothes" superhero in his article. But Johnny and Jack (there were at least a couple called Jack Frost) sound kind of snappy and superheroey. Bob just makes him sound like an ordinary guy. I really doubt there's another one who chose "Bob" as part of his superhero name.
(That's somebody's cue to chime in with another example, to show I'm not as smart as I make out. Heh heh. Thus do I goose discussion on the board.)
Quack, Don
You're right -- a first name isn't absolutely unique in superherodom. Johnny Quick is a good example. (And yes, I think Johnny Thunder, the first one at least, qualifies as a superhero -- in fact, I may have called him a "plainclothes" superhero in his article. But Johnny and Jack (there were at least a couple called Jack Frost) sound kind of snappy and superheroey. Bob just makes him sound like an ordinary guy. I really doubt there's another one who chose "Bob" as part of his superhero name.
(That's somebody's cue to chime in with another example, to show I'm not as smart as I make out. Heh heh. Thus do I goose discussion on the board.)
Quack, Don
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Posted by: Don Markstein
Posted on: 2008-05-16 at 05:26:07 AM
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Now that I think about it, one of the spate of short-lived superheroes Harvey published in the '60s was Jack Frost, and on the cover, at least, he was called Jack Q. (for "Quick") Frost. Surely, he must be the only superhero with a middle initial.
Hmm -- sounds like a good excuse to write an article about him, mentioning that fact.
Quack, Don
Hmm -- sounds like a good excuse to write an article about him, mentioning that fact.
Quack, Don
