The Phantom 50: You wish to kill me?

The Phantom doesn't realise he has walked into great danger.

On the surface, the two enemies couldn't be more different: one a sly manipulator with an evil power, the other a no-nonsense hero with fists and guns...

But there are similarities. Both were brought up by fathers who trained them in old traditions to lives of great purpose. Both have a commanding influence over the peoples of the jungle.

The difference is that The Phantom has earned his position through goodness and bravery and wisdom.

The drummer has misunderstood the meaning of power. His influence is achieved through deception, cruelty, and voodoo.

Even after he is vanquished, the drummer will still not understand the distinction.

WRITER: Lee Falk
ARTIST: Sy Barry

The Phantom 49: Maybe that masked man isn't dead.

This is a very curious thing about The Ghost Who Walks.
When he removes his disguise, he's wearing a cowl and a mask, a skintight bodysuit and twin guns...
His "disguise" is what makes him pass for one of us. "The Phantom" is who he really is.
He shares this topsy-turvy disguise characteristic with the Man of Steel. However, The Phantom was on the job before Superman made his first appearance, so he can lay claim to it.
Kent is admittedly a far more complex and resounding persona than Walker, but the similarity is there nevertheless.
And why is it so curious? The rest of the long-underwear heroes play dress-up to become their two-fisted alter egos; Superman and The Phantom already are who they are, and sometimes pass for one of us by dressing and acting as we do.

WRITER: Lee Falk
ARTIST: Ray Moore

The Phantom 48: Maybe Mama was right.

Diana has stormed off in a huff, and The Phantom has been left on his own, sitting outside and wondering what happened.

And how did he come to join the ranks of conventional manhood? He didn't say the expected things, and he didn't behave in the approved manner...

So now he has only his confused thoughts and a wolf for company on a romantic moonlit night.

A smooth charmer like Ferdy will fare much better than the bewildered Ghost Who Walks, no doubt...

Aside from all the other unsettling things regarding Diana's scheming mother, one of the most unnerving things about her is her spectacles, which have blank lenses, much in the style of The Phantom's own hoodoo mask.

One wonders why Mama didn't phone ahead to the dance, to warn the hapless Ferdy that a big angry guy and a wolf were on their way; but perhaps she was too shaken by The Phantom's inquisition.

And so all of Mama's manipulations begin to bear fruit... If only The Ghost Who Walks had decided to go to the jungle instead of the dance, all could have gone according to plan.

In all of this, I can't help feeling sorry for Ferdy, who didn't really do anything to deserve a Phantom punch. He was getting a little out of hand -- but I know Diana, and she could have sorted him out herself, had she really needed to.

But there's a silver lining...

See? This is what women really want! They want the quick-tempered he-man to crash a dance, knock down all the other suitors, and carry the woman off into the countryside!

Er... Maybe not.

WRITER: Lee Falk
ARTIST: Wilson McCoy