The Phantom The Complete Series: The Charlton Years Volume 5 (PHANTOM COMP SERIES HC CHARLTON YEARS) Hardcover – July 5, 2016

Great adventure with an old time Phantom. Enjoyed the whole bunch of adventures. You will enjoy this as well. Have fun, tough to put down,

Long overdue, this collects the classic Don Newton run that ended the Charlton Phantom run. Even with the atrocious printing of the original books (which is about 50% better in the Hermes Press volume), Newton's art shone with elegance and passion. The Phantom's meeting with Ben Franklin is one of my favorite bits of storytelling from that era.Chronic complaint: Amazon listed this WAY early compared to its ultimate release date. I placed my order in March and got the book in late June, when it was finally published and distributed. This tends to happen with Amazon listings. Why not just list the proper date instead of constantly pushing back the ship date? I just want my order, I don't need to play guessing games.That aside, this is a welcome addition to my library!

Classic book. The first superhero. The Phantom was created in 1936. Every thing that followed is a rip off. I could say more,but I'm not going to bore you. If you want more info about the Phantom,go search it out. The Phantom books are still being made today. Buy this book. Buy every thing about the Phantom. Thank you.

Great collection but print quality is poor.

This 256 paged hardcover collection reprints the final 10 issues of "The Phantom" comic book series published by Charlton Comics from 1975-1977. It is the concluding edition of Hermes Press' ambitious multi-volume archival book series of creator Lee Falk's famous character, first realized as a newspaper comic strip hero in 1936 and brought to the comic book page with original stories by Gold Key Comics in 1962. Within this book, the reader will find the talents of writers John Clark, Nicola Cuti, Joe Gill, Ben S. Parillo, Bill Pearson; and art contributions by Frank Bolle and Don Sherwood. But the major attraction of this collection is the reprinting of the illustrative work of a great comic book artist, the late Don Newton.As explained in this book's introduction, which is also a biographical tribute, Mr. Newton (1934-1984) worked in the comic industry for an all too brief 10 year period, but created a distinctive body of art featuring his interpretations of such iconic characters as "The Batman," "Aquaman," Captain Marvel," and "The New Gods," for DC Comics, and a memorable version of "The Avengers" (from "Avengers Annual" #9, published in 1979) for Marvel Comics. Decades later, Mr. Newton's artistic gifts are still "fondly remembered" by longtime comic fans, this reviewer included. His talents included a rich illustrative style, a lush mastery of black and white rendering technique, and a powerful depiction of the human form. As readers of this tome will quickly discover, Mr. Newton's work truly stands out from the other artistic adventures of the fabled "Ghost Who Walks" featured in this collection.The father of "The Phantom," Lee Falk, pioneered the modern superhero archetype with his seemingly immortal hero. The first fictional costumed guardian of justice, "The Man Who Cannot Die," is part of a dynasty of heroes dating back 5 centuries. Their sacred generations-long mission is to protect Bengali, the African country of the Bandar people. Each of "The Phantoms" take the "Oath of the Skull" and devote their lives "to the destruction of piracy, greed and cruelty." The adventures showcased in this collection center on the exploits of the 21st "Phantom," Kit Walker, as he and his beautiful American wife, Diana Palmer, defend their home from criminals, ex-Nazis, were beasts, treasure hunters, assassins and others cursed with evil intent. The book is highlighted by the stories illustrated by Mr. Newton, which include: "Triumph of Evil," in which Kit Walker recalls how he came to inherit the masked mantle of "The Phantom" from his father; "Mystery of the Mali Ibex," a tale that pays tribute to the films of movie icon Humphrey Bogart; and "The Phantom of 1776," a story of "The Ghost Who Walks" battling slavery during the early days of America. Mr. Newton drew a total of 6 tales of "The Phantom" and painted 7 striking covers depicting the great "Guardian of the Eastern Dark." They display a then true emerging artistic talent.Charlton Comics, during the time these stories were first published, was known as a small comic company that fostered rising talent, like Don Newton. Other gifted comic creators, like Jim Aparo (DC Comics' "Aquaman" and "The Brave and the Bold"), John Byrne (Marvel Comics' "Uncanny X-Men" and DC Comics' "Superman"), Dick Giordano (DC Comics' "Batman" and "Detective Comics"), and Mike Zeck (Marvel Comics' "Master of Kung Fu" and "Captain America"), were first introduced to comic fans through their work at this company. Unfortunately, Charlton was also known for an infamous printing quality in its comic publications; and while Hermes Press advertises this volume as being "digitally remastered to look better than the original books," the final product showcased in this collection, specifically too many of the richly rendered pages of artwork done by Mr. Newton, are disappointingly muddy in their reproduction. This flaw lessens the full enjoyment of these entertaining adventure stories.Still, this reviewer commends Hermes Press for its continued commitment to bring comic series like this to new and old fans of this creative medium. Despite the faults in some of the artistic reproduction of these vintage tales of "The Ghost Who Walks," this book provides the reader with a special opportunity to enter the world of a classic comic character and discover the work of a very special comic artist, Don Newton.It comes very recommended.

terrific looking book in great condition

Nice book.

This collection of volumes brings a classic hero to a new generation of readers but a lot of the stories have not aged well nor has the art. It's worth a look but some readers might not find it edgy or graphic enough compared to what is offered now- unless they grew up with it or want something more tame than most graphic art fare. As opposed to books put out since Dark Knight and Watchmen the setting for these Phantom stories isn't exactly in a realistic or relatable setting for example; so if you're into Urban type fantasy these collections might not be for you- unless you want a switch from that sort of thing.

I am so glad that I have this full series of comics. This is the final volume of the Charlton Series. See below for more details on Hermes Press' compilations. The Phantom has always been and will always be an enigmatic character for me. I have my reasons for being in love with this character since childhood where I used to borrow comics from friends who had them. Lee Falk, the creator of this iconic character and so many others have contributed to The Phantom Legend over time that is both wonderful as well as charismatic. It's The Ghost Who Walks!!!The Gold Key Years, The King Years and The Charlton Years totally comprise of 73 issues.The Gold Key Years : 1 to 17.The King Years : 18 to 28 (there is no issue #29).The Charlton Years : 30 to 74.

Best Volume out of all... Absolutely stunning art and Charlton days nostalgia ... !!