Comic Book Review: The Last Phantom Volume One: Ghostwalk written by Scott Beatty, illustrated by Eduardo Ferigato
The old men still whisper of him in dives and dens across the seamier parts of the world. The Phantom, the Ghost Who Walks, seemingly immortal foe of pirates and criminals. But the Phantom hasn’t been seen in years. Has he finally died, or is he simply sleeping in a world that no longer needs him?
Kitridge Walker was raised to become the next in line of the Phantom dynasty. His father put him through grueling, downright abusive training to become the protector of the African nation of Bengali. But the world had changed over the last few decades. Kit became embarrassed by the “wise white man who uses violence and superstition to protect and guide the natives” part of his heritage. When his father passed on, Kit instead went corporate, forming a non-profit named Walkabout to work on remedying the systemic issues that faced Bengali.
Despite being a non-profit, Walkabout controls significant assets. Wealth and power have tainted the hearts of some within the organization, and they have joined forces with a military junta within Bengali to seize control of that nation. But Kitridge Walker, his family, and their friends, stands in the way of their coup. There’s nothing for it but to kill them all preferably making Kit and the democratically elected prime minister of Bengali’s death look like random terrorism.
Kit survives the bomb, and presumed dead, takes up the family heritage and becomes the Ghost Who Walks. Beware, evildoers! The Phantom lives!
Dynamite Comics managed to get the rights to publish comic books starring the classic Lee Falk Phantom character for a while, and this was an alternate continuity to update the character for the 21st Century. Bengali replaces the traditional “Bangalla”, and Kit married locally rather than travel to find a white woman. He’s been training his son, but not in the over the top way his father trained him. Unfortunately, Kit’s family is murdered in the first few pages, so little use is made of this change.
World War Two must have gone slightly differently in this timeline, or Kit would never have hired a right-hand man named “Quisling.”
Most of this volume is Kit recovering his role as the Phantom, starting with using berry juice and soot to re-create the skullcap and mask look. (It also makes him look like he’s drenched in blood.) His primary opponents are Krieghund, a private military contractor ala Blackwater. (In a flashback to 9/11, it appears that Peter Quisling started with the motive to invest in fighting terrorism but somewhere along the line got distracted by personal greed.) He uses their stealth suit technology to upgrade his own costume.
At the end of this volume, the Phantom arrives in New York City to strike at the heart of what Quisling has turned Walkabout into.
The series struggles with consistency between its grittier elements and the more comic-booky aspects of the Phantom property. Yes, the Phantom has a stealth suit now, but he still uses a skull ring to punch people so he can mark them as evil. The main opponents are modern military contractors…hired by a man named Quisling.
The interior art is okay, but the main art draw is covers by fan favorite Alex Ross. There’s an alternate covers and sketchbook section at the end of the volume.
I am told that this series struggled in sales, and ended before the main plotline was resolved. But this volume has an okay ending point; think of it like the first movie in a planned trilogy that never got finished.
Recommended to Phantom fans who happen to see it in the store or library; it’s not something to spend time tracking down.
