Why Is THE PHANTOM Painted On Tribal Art?!? || Comic Misconceptions || NerdSync 

You know the Phantom is the first costumed superhero in comic books but he doesn't get the love he deserves. Good or bad, I wish for a Phantom movie in the future.

I've been reading the PHANTOM for over fifty years now. Who couldn't love a man who drinks milk, has a pet wolf, and thrashes bullies? Thanks for the post. Great summary.

In 1000 years Ancient Alien theorists will use the stories about The Phantom told by the Waghi as proof that ancient man was visited by aliens. Lol

I quite literally adopted Spiderman as my identity in middle school and it stuck with me though high school. In 5th grade there was a two-story tall cafeteria building where all the various yard balls and footballs ended up. I used to climb the drain pipe to the roof and throw balls down. I climbed all the trees and every building i could. There were very few rooftops I wasn't acquainted with. By the time I was in High School the nickname had taken hold so much that teachers called me Spiderman. On my first job (As a muralist for LA county) no one on the crew knew my real name and I was called Spiderman by my boss until _his_ boss changed the rules and everyone had to call me by my given name. By the time I was 21 the nickname had faded entirely but for about 7 years I WAS Spiderman to most people who knew me.

He also has the moniker of, "The ghost who walks". It's even mention the theme song to Defenders of the Earth.

Those shields would make amazing collectibles.

Superheroes, with their immense popularity, the wide appeal, and the way they empower the characters, even the most unlikely of them, to be strong and heroic, makes them a great tool for representation. Even people who can't appreciate the comics fully because they can't read them, like the Wahgi people, or blind people, can see themselves and feel empowered by characters like The Phantom and Daredevil. There's a big issue among comic book nerds today and for a while, to alienate readers who want to see themselves represented in their favorite heroes. They call those readers 'fake' and call characters or decisions made to represent different groups as 'pandering'. I think examples like The Phantom totally prove this mindset wrong, by showing just how much good representation can do to comics and the image or comic. As for me, I feel most empowered by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, since like myself they are the generation to holocaust survivors (or at least they were until they were retconned).

Here in Sweden The Phantom is a on going comic with 25 issues in the year. I cind of know a guy who ilustreted one issue. His name is Henrik Jonsson he is super good at drawing.

The Phantom is still beeing published in Scandinavia

Thousands of years later, humanity or aliens come to Earth, unknowing of 20th century history, and find the Phantom on tribal art. And so their history is...messed up, to say. And the Phantom is believed to be their god. Oh, history.

I just looked up at the origin of The Phantom and he is from Portsmouth England. That's awesome I'm from the same place as a comicbook charther.

There was also a Phantom movie (mini series) made in 2009 for Syfy

That is just beyond awesome. Shame that the black panther didn't exist back then. They would have loved him.

*FINALLY!* This is the best day of my life! The early days of comics is my favorite precisely because of how much impact comics had back in the day. For well over 40 years starting with the Yellow Kid and Little Nemo up until the end of the Golden Age of comics, comic strips and magazines were so revolutionary, mesmerizing and inspiring filled with imagery and storytelling at a level that was never seen before that they were literally engraved into people's lives in most ways than ever since then. Comics like Little Nemo transported the readers to a place beyond their imagination, I find it very interesting that the art is so reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch yet was available to all puiblic that cared to pay for a newspaper. But then artist like Lee Falk, Hal Foster and Alex Raymond took it to the next level and introduced, in the words of late great Mako Iwamatsu, _the days of high adventure_. *THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SPACE SCOTT. If you don't mind this is one of the videos I want to take to my grave!*

Wahgi Tribe are the best comic fans, confirmed!

Awesome with some phantom love! He was my introduction into comics, he is huge in Sweden. We acctually are one of the biggest producers of phantom comics these days! Cool with more phantom videos, he is really a uniqe hero and im guessing you will be talking a bit about The fact that his costume is in different colors in different countries? In Sweden its blue, in italy its red i think. Was supposed to be gray from the start, but there was something that went wrong when it went to print I think.. Anyhow, really glad to see more phantom videos!

this brings back so many memories of watching a phantom animated movie with my dad

I'm so happy that you talked about *The Phantom* since he is probably my favorite super-hero! :D He is probably my favorite since it's pretty cheap to get Phantom comics here in Sweden and Marvel/DC comics you have to get on Amazon which can also be pretty expensive. The Phantom also has so much great mythology to him, his pet-wolf Devil and his horse Hero are just great companions! :D Great video as always Scott!

Swedens 1# superhero right there! (Him and Donald Duck...)

The Phantom was one of the first comicbook heroes I knew, and still one of my favourites. I have a ton of comics from him.

Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms yo! Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

Started looking at comic strips like the Phantom, before i could read or even go to school. About the same time I discovered Comic books. This was in 1949-50. The only reason I wanted to learn to read was to be able to read comic strips & books for myself. Long live both the strips & books, I loved them all!

always loved the phantom and defenders of the earth sadly they are not as popular as the mainstream ones . there a lot of compelling story arcs there you all should read

This is probably the coolest comic tidbit I ever learned on youtube.

"The Shadow." Because after all, "The Shadow knows!"

You have the coolest videos. No idea where you find these topics, but I'm glad you put me on to new things.

Glad to know someone is talking about the Phantom

My personal comic book symbol would be Jason Todd's Red Hood. Some people looked down on him and lived a hard life. He had to do so much work to survive. He gained a teacher who brought him his meaning in life and lived his life fighting for that meaning. Along the way, he gained more pain and died. Others would think he would be hopeless but he rose again. This time, he gave himself his own meaning which he still practices to this day. I adore Jason because he represents a tormented hardworker who lives their lives doing what they love and may or may not be hated for it.

this might be my fav episode!

I would love to hear that there is some tribe out there who happened to catch a few episodes of Charles in Charge and now there's a series of shields depicting Scot Baio in his prime.

So does this mean that the Wahgi were some of the first people in comic book history to do fan art?

i love how different this topic is to most of the stuff you tackle, Scott. I can't wait for the mini series about costumes.

I have been unable to tell for years what the heck the design behind the comic misconceptions bumper was...I now realize it is a comic book being flipped. Who'de a thunk it right?

You should definitely do more videos based around The Phantom who is by far one of my all time favorite comic book heroes. But please don't forget the SYFY original movie that was suppose to kick start a Phantom tv series that never got off the ground. When I first saw the movie I thought... oh man they ruined the character... BUT, SYFY actually did a really good job of modernizing the character and the costume, without taking away from it like many updates do. And what makes the character so much more AWESOME is that he pre-dates both Superman and Batman as well as established the signature white eyes in masked comic book heroes. A truly under rated character for sure.

I wish you whould talk about all the hundreds of female superheroes of the Golden age.

Phantom was one of my favourites characters when I was a child, and I am not ashamed to admit that I knew him thanks to the movie. Best "regular man" after Batman. Awesome video!

I wonder of the tribe ever found out about gangam style.

"Thus becoming THE GREEN ARROW" hahahaha

I symbolize myself with Shazam. Such a powerful and mystical character who is only 15 like me

Thank you for making this video scott. The Phantom is one of my favorite childhood heroes. His comic books were passed on from my parents to me, much like The Phantom's oath :)

I love the Phantom. My mom introduced me to it, i love the b/w Phantom comics.

I was thinking you would do something like how can every son of Kit Walker look the same. But this was very intresting. Nerdsync made a Phantom video, now I only have to be featured on the tales from the comments and then I can die a happy man.

It's funny how huge this comic was i Sweden.

Lots of love to you my friend, the phantom is a personal favorite of mine who seems to go unknown. I learned of him from the movie, he was the one hero my father actually liked and we use to watch his movie when I got to go see him during summer vacation.

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH!!!! (defendeeeeers)

In Scandinavia The Phantom has always been one of the more popular masked heroes and at least as i grew up he had a bi weekly book of his own ( still published but i dont know if it is bi weekly still). If i´m not mistaken he is also very popular in Australia. Funny Phantom facts for comic nerds: 1:The Phantom actually had adventures written and drawn on licence in Europe ( = not written by Lee Falk himself ) made directly for the book and not taken from the strip since the 60s. These where also exported. Today the Swedish "Team Fantomen" are also behind the US Phantom strip in the papers. 2: The Phantoms costume is purple with black/blue trunks.Originally it was supposed to be gray i have heard ( Falk sometimes referred to him as "The Gray Ghost") but when Falk returned from vacation the purple costume was already in print (???). In Sweden the costume is actually blue with black/red trunks and in Italy it was ( and might still be?) red with black/green trunks and orange pants. I have heard (true or not) that this had to do with WWII and ink shortages (purple being printed with blue/red "dots").I´m not sure if i belive this entirely though. In Sweden he got the colors he has now in the 50s (though he was light blue before that).In Italy American comics was forbidden during the war though i HAVE heard that The Phantom was still published illegally by Italian artists and writers After all this i even think Falk has said that he should have made the costume green for a hero living in the jungle. 3::Lee Falk also created the magician Mandrake.....who looks a lot like Lee Falk. ;)

Valiant!!!!!!

The Awesome thing is,Phantom was my first comic book when i was 6-7 years old, getting deep into the world of comics is a beautiful journey and i'm glad it started with phantom, i'm 21 years old and i still read comics,and answering your question i would incorprate Wolverine or Punisher as my personal symbol...

I'd choose Ironman and Spiderman as my symbols.

The first Phantom I ever saw was in the cartoon show, "Defenders of the Earth," where he was on a team consisting of himself, Flash Gordon, Lothar, and Mandrake. He had a daughter with a pet tiger. It'd make a great "Guardians-Like" feature. The version from the show did have a superpower though. The power to summon the strength of 10 Tigers, as he called it.

Saitama aka OPM all the way.

I went on an Art trip to this store that sold bones and ancient objects for example human skulls, shark teeth, or animal fur. And on of the objects that they had in that store was a wooden shield with Phantom painted on it.

BLACK PANTHER...

YEEESSSS I grew up with Phantom comics! In Swedish, tbh, but still. Very happy to see this guy getting some attention, thanks! :)

The Hulk

It's so weird. I live in Finland, where the only comics you can buy at the store are Donald Duck and The Phantom-comics. I've never seen a single issue of a Superhero comic. I've ordered trades online, but I want to buy one at the store, Phantom is the only one I've been able to find. He's crazy popular here.

I took so much to the Phantom comics that to this day my grandfather still calls me The Ghost who walks.

That whole line of phantoms thing is one of the best origin/identity story is by far one of the best.

Super fascinating stuff. Will have to check out more about this character

Baer Taffy:Doesn't even realise that the party he strategically made is shuffled

Wow great video! Thanks for doing that research Scott. Love this channel

The phantom was actually the first comic book I read as my dad gave his collection to me and my brothers as small children so he will always be special to me.

Great video, I am a big fan of the Phantom. I recently saw 4 Shields in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford on display.

This remains one of my favorite of your videos.

I love the Phantom. I really liked the Billy Zane movie. I even made a point of watching the Defenders of the Earth series when I was younger. He uses my favorite color scheme: Purple, black, & silver. I also love the hero legacy concept, passing the mantle from father to son. Very cool.

I AM SO HAPPY THIS EPISODE WAS MADE! I love the phantom. I have the '96 movie and i'm 4 issues short of having the full run of "the last phantom" by Dynamite

Thanks for the Phantom episode dude! I've always loved The Phantom - he's essentially Batman, Tarzan and Indiana Jones combined which is awesome.

Man, I used to watch the Phantom cartoon every week as a kid. That shit was good.

Bravo Scott, I love the Phantom but had never heard of this tribe. So cool.

Your Phantom videos are much appreciated!

I was exposed to the newspaper strips as a kid back the early '80s. Never went on to read the Phantom, but the imagery and feeling those rudimentary comic strips imprinted on me hasn't gone away. Have a nice statue of the Phantom in my collection for remembrances sake.

I loved this video! I have the weird feeling that I've seen you do this same video before though.... deja vu I guess, can't wait for the videos about costumes! ^^

I think Superman and Wonder Woman are the most fitting to incorporate as symbols, IMO. Superman's S is just so iconic: truth, justice, hope, heroism, and equality all represent the things Superman fights for. Wonder Woman's symbol is very similar but it hits the equality part a little bit better and it looks almost like an eagle spreading it's wings, so the WW symbol looks cool, too. Batman, Captain America, Spider-Man and Aquaman's symbols are also pretty freaking cool.

I really liked this video, I'm definitely looking forward to more of these videos in the future :)

To me the Shadow was always my favorite character. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Only the Shadow knows." Mmmwwwhahahahahaahaha!

This was a really cool video! It's awesome how comic culture isn't soley based in first world countries but spreads across the world. Also Spider-man is definetly the character I'd associate myself with. He's funny, smart, and has a great sense of style Lol.

Man i'm a big Phantom comic fan before and im from Papua New Guinea. You know PNG well and also the Highlands people. Thumbs up 👍👍👍

Deadpool tribal shield would be nice. Love the Phantom video. Big fan of him when I was young

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate your feedback and I am a huge fan of your show.

Hey Scott, I binge watch your show......love it. Could you do a series on the Milestone imprint ?

I remember watching this cartoon show where he was alongside Mandrake the magician and Flash Gordon (i know, pretty old). According to the show he had the hability to call forth the power of ten tigers. I think he was also able to communicate with animals. The other show I liked a lot was "The Phantom 2040". In this storyline the main guy was the 24th Phantom and he had a bunch of tech which helped him to fight crime.

I loved reading the phantom as a kid. My grandpa was a huge comic collector so when I went over to his house we would read all sorts of different comics. The phantom was one of my favourites. I think it's cool that like the phantom character his comics can be passed down from father to son.

This is the most amazing comic story I’ve ever heard!

Even though the Phantom may not be a household name in America, he is still pretty big here in Scandinavia. I remember as a kid I visited an amusement park here in Sweden and had my picture taken with the Phantom on his throne inside the skull cave. He has been used as marketing material on things like milk cartons, and still has his own comic book here where many of the writers and artists are scandinavians themselves. Something that is very unique for an american comic book hero. Fun fact, here his costume is blue instead of purple, but I'm guessing that is something you might get into in your costumes videos.

Green Lantern is who I'd adopt as my own personal symbol. The power of ones mind made physical is an artists very definition, and as an artist this is what draws me to the Green Lantern. Now I have my reason on why GL, but Hal Jordan isn't my favorite Green Lantern but rather it's Kyle Rayner. Kyle is my favorite for several reasons; he's an artist, he was a goof who worked hard at life, he represented the last of a line of warriors for a time, and he had relatable experiences within the comics. Now as to why GL; the bearer of the ring lives by a code and rules while having the most powerful weapon in the universe. My father was a cop and my grandfather an honorable man so these values meant a lot to me and seeing a hero also had these qualities along with a temper spoke to me in my youth. And that's why GL is who I'd adopt as my own personal symbol.

Good to see a video on the Phantom!

This is a surprisingly wholesome story

6:40 Because they look amazing!

Awesome video Scott!

Nightwing for the symbol and Aquaman is one of my favorites #respect

best episode yet!

great video! the phantom also had a couple of cartoons (the phantom 2040 was amazing) and im pretty sure the sci-fi channel shot a pilot that was an updated version of the character in which he did parkor and had a high tech suit (it wasnt that great)

For me, the super hero that would become my symbol is a tricky one. I honestly feel I relate most with Raven in many ways, but no hero really feels like they fit everything that I'd need.

You forgot to mention the awesome Phantom cartoon series. (Man I wish I could find that series again, I loved it)

You got to do an episode on Spring Heeled Jack!

Great video, your videos truly make comics more interesting :)

Dude that is so cool! Makes me wanna read a phantom comic now

The Phantom still continues to be printed and reprinted in Australia by Free Publications, now owned by Glenn Ford and Rene White. It became very popular here during the 1940's US Comic import ban. They are now printing the 22nd Phantom.

After Periscope last night, I can't unsee Scott's eyes looking at the script. Damnit. Looking forward to the series for the rest of the month! Definitely gonna say Cap for me.

I would say my comic book hero would be Nightwing, or just Grayson now. There has been a lot of crap in his life but he takes it in strides, never giving up the idea that eventualy things will work out and get better. Life is nothing but a rollarcoaster of ups and downs after all. He is cheerful and optomistic as opposed to his mentor's brooding pesamisum, he has willpower in spades, and is a hero out of a sence of duty and pride rather than vengince. He is extreamly loyal to Bruce and the family as well as his friends and can rally all the heroes together when need be. I can see myself in that with my 'It can't be helped so let's not waste time worrieing and being angry' aditude to difficult situations and work on solving the problum at hand. That and we are both prone to the witty and clever one-liner that just magicly appears in our heads at just the right time.