The Last Phantom #1 - Mobile Edition

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The Last Phantom #1
By Hervé St-Louis
October 7, 2010 - 22:35

Dynamite Entertainment
Writer(s): Scott Beatty
Penciller(s): Eduardo Ferigato
Inker(s): Eduardo Ferigato
Colourist(s): Vinicius Andrade
Letterer(s): Simon Bowland
Cover Artist(s): Alex Ross, Joe Prado, Fabio Neves
$3.99 US

Kitridge Walker works in Africa and wants to convince rich Westerners to invest in the local businesses and project of the community he is part of. These project favour sustainable development and are helpful for the local population. However, his business partner has other ideas and proceeds to destroy Walker’s life and family. Will Walker rise to the challenge and revive the Phantom, the ghost who walks that has been a staple of his family for several generations?

I like the re-imagining of the Phantom. The origin marries the concepts of the old character with new sensibilities, making the hero less the white guy who saves the local helpless natives. Ok, there’s a bit of that too, but one can’t complain about this series having a better edge than it has for a while. I’ve got some of the Lee Falk Phantom archives and they read well enough, albeit being simple stories. Here the Phantom has been upgraded and probably is closer to his Tarzan roots as a dirty jungle warrior rather than a costume hero. Kudos on making the pink costume work! The story is however not as strong or deep enough to make me return for more. We all know how this particular story arc will end and I’m not interested in going through the motion. The writer wasn’t capable of generating enough reasons for me to care about this character and he hasn’t done enough bad ass stuff for me to care all that much.

The art is odd. It’s not bad, but it’s not hot. It’s super detailed with a lot of good visual in the jungle. However, the hero looks like a villain and the action is not very kinetic.

Rating: 7.5/10