The Phantom: A Pirate's Worst Nightmare

Pirates are known to have been relentless adventurers, dedicated to a life of preying on ships laden with treasure or prospective slaves. They were plunderers without fear of anything or anyone, the legend goes, but there was an exception to the pirate legend. For centuries, there has existed one man, a man who is said to live forever, who can't be killed, and that man lives to rid the world of pirates and piracy.

This legendary character has been a part of Americana for a bit over 70 years, a figure unlike any other in the world. He is known in every country on Earth, even though only a handful of people know what he really looks like. To the world at large, he has lived for hundreds of years, unchanged by time. His enemies fear that they will be marked by his rock-hard fists. He comes out of nowhere, metes out justice, then returns to a remote jungle location in Africa until he is needed again.

This is The Phantom, a man immersed in a business that few would like to take on. He almost always works alone, and this makes him harder to pin down and fight. Ask any military strategist, and he'll tell you that a single man is a lot harder to stop than an army. One man can hide where an army can't, and strike before you know he's there.

The Phantom started out as a daily comic strip on February 17, 1936, the product of the fertile imagination of writer Leon (Lee) Falk, who also created Mandrake the Magician. From the start, this was a very innovative character. Clad in a purple skintight suit, he was the first masked crime fighter to wear such an outfit, a style which became the standard for all the super heroes to come. His mask's eye slits were white, making his eyes unseen, yet another costumed hero trait that to this day is a feature on Spider Man.

One thing that sets The Phantom apart from many of today's super heroes is that he has no special powers. He is a normal man, if you consider living in a cave with pygmies for neighbors normal, who relies on his wits, strength, agility, and a secret intelligence network to carry out his mission in life. Being believed to be a supernatural spirit doesn't hurt his cause either.