Thinking Out Loud: Phantom Continuity

I'm not a comics fan that is particularly engrossed in the idea of continuity for its own sake, but I do tend to appreciate it when it is left to be neutral or positive. For example, having to read tie-in comics and events to fully enjoy a run of Fantastic Four is tedious and distracts from the fun, but Spider-Man making a joke about clones in The New Avengers is fun, because I only have to know about the Clone Saga to get a little chuckle. Aside from Avengers Infinity War and Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe does a great job of this kind of continuity, with little "hat-tips" like Aaron Davis talking out his nephew (Miles Morales) or Thor offhandedly referencing having been turned into a frog at one point. There is one comic and publication house, however, that has even Marvel and DC beat for continuity, Frew Publications, the people behind the continuing The Phantom comics. Yes, for those that don't know, Frew has kept The Phantom in print continually since 1948, and, what's more, it's all in continuity. No, Really. 

Sadly, The Phantom isn't as popular as it once was, but here in the Asia Pacific region, the character has always had a strong following and is pretty much the only comic that can be purchased at a Newsagent or Milk Bar anymore. I grab the odd issue where I can, especially the wonderful Giantsize volumes which contain comics from the 1940s through to today. I was reading the 2020 Giantsize Annual and was delighted to see Cat-Man, Sir Falcon and The Shadow (more on them later) turn up, and during some exposition there was one of those little boxes explaining a continuity link people may not be aware of. Although this story was first published in 2019, the little box reads "Cat-Man & Kit met Dr. Claux and Brutus in CAT-MAN #10 1958", because the same Cat-Man that appeared in the 1950s is still running around in the 21st century. Now, obviously, the design, tone and writing has changed in 70 years, but the fact that there has never been a "Line-Wide Reboot" at Frew is pretty impressive in its own right. 

The fact that Frew's boom in the 1950s, due to some weird import laws that made American comics pretty much impossible to get in Australia, birthed so many characters that they still use is pretty cool. None of the characters are all that unique at the end of the day, but being the only real Australian comics that have lasted, I have a soft spot for Cat-Man, The Shadow (no, not that one, the other one) and The Raven and I hope they get a shot at being on the big screen one day. C'mon Film Australia, superhero movies are all the rage, and most of these characters are just people in masks! That's money on the table! Cleverman got two seasons and it was dense and slow, Cat-Man could be up and running in a weekend, just rip off Batman stuff no one cares about anymore because it isn't "gritty" enough. If you have the chance to pick up some Frew stuff, give it a go, there's a lot to enjoy, and some editing of the older stories means the racist and sexist elements are downplayed somewhat. At the very least, you may get to read some comics that are vastly different to the typical Marvel and DC fare.