12 June, 2011

The Phantom 47: All the attractive men are married.



Janice Helm, pretty as a picture and with a figure that makes grown men weak at the knees, receives a call from Colonel Weeks of the Jungle Patrol, whose Supreme Commander just happens to be The Ghost Who Walks.



Janice is staying at the manse of her grandfather, Major Helm, but he has suddenly disappeared after inviting her for a vacation from her school in Paris.
She returned from the cinema to find a handwritten note from the Major telling her he was leaving for Europe.
It doesn't really make much sense to Janice, but she has no choice but to accept it, and now finds herself alone at her grandfather's residence, isolated and bored...



According to Janice, all the attractive men are married (and who am I to argue?), but while she is waiting for someone "marvellous" and "exciting" to show up, a couple of unattractive men arrive (unmarried, no doubt) to take her to her grandfather.





Janice gets high marks for moxie -- but, in hindsight, she could have hidden all doubt about the note, feigned acquiescence, announced she was going to get dressed so as to accompany her grandfather's emissaries, then come up with a strategy for getting help or getting away.


As it is, her angry resistance provokes the men, and things are going badly until The Phantom appears in the garden and makes short work of the two thugs.



A third man, the driver, gets away -- so whoever is after Janice will soon know his hirelings failed.
However, despite the danger she is in, she has become distracted by the appearance and manner of her strange rescuer...



Janice is convinced that a man who wears a mask must be up to no good, but she also convinces herself that he is her dream man, having finally arrived to save her from boredom...

Unfortunately for Janice, she is headed for bitter disappointment and heartbreak, as The Ghost Who Walks is spoken for -- and by adventure's end he will have denounced her as a "foolish child".



WRITER: Lee Falk
ARTIST: Sy Barry

4 comments:

  1. I love the word "burgle".
    For some reason, my mind makes "gargle" and hilarity ensues!

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  2. You got a nice blog,Anthony!!It's quite a conincidence that today I've redirected to your blog and saw this post on Janice from old classic 'Island of Dogs',and just yesterday I was re-reading that strip!!:)
    Keep such posts coming!!

    Cheers,
    Hojo

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  3. One of the great Phantom stories...

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  4. Thank you, Hojo! I'm very glad you like the blog. It's a labour of love for me... So, yes, I will keep them coming.

    Jermayn - yes, and thanks.

    ReplyDelete