Phantom Stranger #23 (Jan.-Feb., 1973)

Artist Jim Aparo’s dramatic cover for Phantom Stranger #23 depicts a scene that unmistakably calls back to Gaston Leroux’s 1909-10 novel Phantom of the Opera, or one of its several film adaptations; meanwhile, a blurb at the top plugs the opening installment of a new back-up series, “Frankenstein”.  A prospective buyer eyeing this one in the spinner rack back in November, 1972, might well have wondered:  didn’t the comic’s publisher, DC Comics, know that Halloween was last month?  Why were they releasing this kind of Double Creature Feature now, after the spooky season had already passed?

On the other hand, this was the latest issue of Phantom Stranger — and “spooky” was what this comic book title was all about, not just in October, but all year long.  So I suspect most fans probably didn’t think twice about the double dose of classic horror stars, half a century ago; in any event, I’m pretty sure I didn’t, either when I first eyed the cover, or when, after buying the book and taking it home, I finally turned to the first page… 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame?  Um, better forget what I said earlier about a Double Creature Feature, and make that a Triple…

As regular readers of this blog may recall, in the issue immediately preceding this one the Phantom Stranger had become reacquainted with the blind psychic Cassandra Craft (whom he’d first met in issue #17), when the sinister society of sorcerers called the Dark Circle had kidnapped her to use against him.  But though the end of that adventure had seen Cassandra transition from calling our nameless hero “friend” to addressing him as “darling”, PS is clearly still holding his “feelings” at one remove, unwilling to acknowledge (let alone act on) the depth of his affections for Cass… even in Paris.

OK, maybe I’m being too hard on the guy; after all, it’s not like he doesn’t have important work to do, what with the Dark Circle trying to take over the world and all.  So I suppose we can cut him a break for leaving the lovely Ms. Craft alone in their hotel room while he steps out into the Paris evening in search of intel…

Alas, Marcel hasn’t heard the barest whisper about any Dark Circle, and so the Stranger departs his old friend’s shop no wiser than when he entered… though before he does, he magically repairs the “confounded contraption” Marcel has been struggling with, a kind gesture the latter man discovers only after his visitor has gone.

Has the Phantom Stranger been drawn to the Paris Opera house by some mystical premonition?  Or is he there because Cass’ sixth sense picked up on some weird vibes?  One or both of those options would seem to be likely, though Wein doesn’t tell us either way.  As we’ll see on the following page, Cassandra is indeed in attendance; but for all we know, she and PS just decided to have a nice evening out while they waited for the Dark Circle to show its hand.  Nevertheless, whatever the circumstances that led to this moment, it’s on, now, baby.

But by the time the Phantom Stranger finds secure footing on the rooftop, poor Marcel’s murderer has vanished.  The next scene reveals just where “Quasimodo” has gone…

This is Tannarak’s fourth go-round in Phantom Stranger, his having previously shown up in issues #10, #11, and #17 (the latter occasion being where he previously met Cassandra Craft, naturally).  In all three of those appearances, he’d died at the end (or at least had certainly seemed to) — which is sort of fitting, in a way, given that the guy’s whole thing is his neverending quest for immortality.  (I mean really, just based on the evidence, doesn’t it seem like he must already be most of the way there?)  Anyway, you can understand why PS is hardly surprised to find that Tannarak has once again survived their latest encounter…

* This article was originally published here