Golden Age Idol--Bob Phantom!!

As we continue our quest to find Golden Age characters who need to be revived, sometimes we here at Slay Monstrobot stumble across a gold mine, so to speak. Some characters were so mysterious, so unexplained, such a blank slate that they are begging for a revival.

Whom am I rambling about this time??

Of course, I refer to Bob Phantom, Scourge Of The Underworld.

Who?

So who, exactly, is this "Bob Phantom?" Why the odd name? What is his origin? What powers does he have? What's the story with that goofy costume??

That's the beauty part, we just don't know.

Bob Phantom first appeared in MLJ's Blue Ribbon Comics #2 (1939), created by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick(!). He was the first of the costumed "Archie heroes" (or second, depending upon how you count The Wizard, who just wore a tux and a domino mask in his initial appearances).

Now, in 1939, the rules were hardly set in stone...and things like origins, and explanations, and motivation weren't considered mandatory for your mystery men. So when we first meet Bob Phantom, well, we already know as much as we're ever going to.

Apparently (because there's never any explanation) his powers include teleportation, as he just bamfs in front of a truck carrying a guy about to be offed by the mob (said victim literally wearing cement shoes!!)

And Bob Phantom keeps popping up...

...eventually saving the victim...

...and then vanishing.


He confronts the gang, but bullets don't seem to hurt him:


The mob boss decides to hide in a locked room...

...which doesn't really help against a teleporter:

And that is it. We never really get his powers spelled out--not for the entirety of his nearly three year run. Obviously he's an early version of Nightcrawler. But can Bob Phantom do anything else? Sometimes he seems like he can walk through walls...but that's probably just his bamfing. Sometimes he seems super strong...but that could just be the Golden Age at work, where heroes are always much stronger than thugs. He always seems to be aware of what the bad guys plans are, where their hideout is, etc. Telepathy? Lazy writing? He's always followed around by this dense yellow cloud--like Nightcrawler's "brimstone?" Or digestive problems?

We do learn Bob Phantom's secret identity. He's Walt Whitney, who write a gossip column about Broadway for an unnamed newspaper:

Now, maybe it's just me, or maybe it's 1939, but you don't really expect to see a Broadway gossip column passing along crime stories, or mocking the police for not being able to catch crooks:


Anyway, lest you think I'm editing away useful information here, this is literally all we ever know about our hero. We never find out how or why Walt Whitney gets his power(s). We never learn why he chooses the odd name of "Bob Phantom" (as opposed to Joe Phantom, or Ernst Phantom, or Horatio Phantom, or...). We never learn the story of his goofy, hodgepodge costume...which seems mainly designed to constantly display Bob's...uh..."little phantom."


What a complete cipher of a character!!

Mark Waid and Alan Kupperberg did sort of bring back Bob Phantom in DC's Impact line back in the early 1990s: Bob Brooks was a reporter who adopted a fake superhero identity in order to get close to the Comet for an interview:

He had no powers, was a real klutz, and kept getting into trouble and/or capturing low level bad guys by accident.

Now, you might say, that is nothing like the original Bob Phantom, and I would say: you're exactly right. That's the beauty part: Bob was an empty vessel, into which a creative team can pour anything they want. The guy had no origin, no explanation of his power set, nothing. You don't need a retcon to bring him back, because there's nothing to retcon away!!!

So, as DC continues to run out the clock on the "Red Circle" characters before cancellation (what's the over/under? 6 months??), somebody there please revive the original Bob Phantom, and do something with him. Because you can do anything with him!! No limits!! Infinite potential!!

Simon approved:

All panels from Blue Ribbon Comics #2 (1939) or #3 (1940), except the "modern" Bob Phantom from Comet #7 (1992).