Writer: Rafael Nieves
Artists: Jerry DeCaire, Tom Mason(c)
Publisher: Moonstone
The Phantom is known for his skull ring. Indeed, this ring cleverly played an important part in the highly recommended film version of the Phantom starring Billy Zane. Not many know that The Phantom often wears two rings and most likely always carries the second ring. The Phantom uses this second ring which sports another design--usually displayed as two crossed swords--to mark those who have done him services that go beyond the normal call of courtesy. Whoever is thusly marked will forever be under the protection of the Phantom. Woe will befall those who seek to molest those under the protection of the Phantom.
It is this ring's symbol that forces the Ghost Who Walks to travel from the mythical land of Bangalla to Chicago. DEA agents one of whom is Diana Walker's cousin discovers a victim who has been branded with the good mark of the Phantom. He naturally calls for the Ghost Who Walks.
There is so much to recommend in this compact first chapter. Rafael Nieves relies upon well-researched Zombie lore and updates the functions of the poor souls while keeping true to the original intent of their creation. He brings to the book the seediness of politics that allow assets to American espionage to conduct with impunity monstrous crimes, but most important he shows how a world with the Phantom does not follow the expected pattern of the bad guys winning and injustice being flagrantly committed. The Houngun will not relish the freedoms of immunity for long because there is the law and then there is justice. The Phantom serves justice.
Nieves balances this heady, enthralling mix of thriller and pulp with a sense of humor provided by the impact of Devil, the Phantom's constant wolf companion, to the modern day. In an amusing fashion, he shows how the junior agents under Diana's cousin's command respond to Devil and how he grows on them. When potentially deadly interagency squabbling threatens to errupt in violence, the growls of the noble beast quell the thoughts of heated exchanges.
For this issue, Jerry DeCaire composes a very powerful, distinctive look for the book. His style is scratchy and more vague than the precise detail seen in comic strip, which is now beautifully illustrated by Paul Ryan and Graham Nolan. Incidentally these strips are available online at King Features home page. So if your paper does not carry the Phantom, he's still always ready to entertain.
DeCaire's art recalls the work of Klaus Jansen and through his shadow-use Mike Mignola. Normally this kind of sketching does not lend itself easily to storycraft, but DeCaire does not fall into obvious pitfalls. DeCaire makes certain that the characters appear to inhabit the same frame of refrence. Despite the look, he imbues a flow to the story. There is a clear build up of tension that climaxes with the revelation of the zombies. Likewise, the Phantom's arrival in his usual dark cheaters, hat and trenchcoat increments to the second spike in the story: where DeCaire reveals him in full costume standing in the shadows to protect his charge. I would also argue that DeCaire's style better suits the mood of horor and corruption that the Phantom will no doubt soon dispel.
Atmospheric and eerie, the latest chapter of the Phantom is a real page-turner that ends far to quickly and whets the appetite for more.
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