- Phantom Eagle
Phantom Eagle is the name used by three fictional
comic book aviator heroes. The first was introduced during the 1930s-1940sGolden Age of comic books byFawcett Comics . The other two have appeared sporadically in various series published byMarvel Comics .Fawcett Comics
Publication history
The first Phantom Eagle was introduced by uncredited creators in Fawcett Comics' "
Wow Comics " #6 (July 1942). Following his debut, the Golden Age Phantom Eagle appeared in every issue of "Wow" through the final issue, #69 (August 1948). His primarywriter -artist wasMarc Swayze .Fictional character biography
The Phantom Eagle was teenager Mickey Malone, who, though forbidden by superior officer Sergeant Flogg at his
military airbase inGreat Britain , was determined to fight theWorld War II Axis powers . Donning an aviator-styledcostume and building his own airplane, he takes the name Phantom Eagle and becomes a secret ace. He later forms the Phoenix Squadron, a group of fellow teen pilots. During the post-war period, Malone formed a charter airline and searched for the Golden Chalice, a lost artifact upon which is inscribed the "Formula for Peace".Marvel Comics
Superherobox|
caption=The Phantom Eagle's debut. Art by Herb Trimpe.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Phantom Eagle (Marvel Comics)
real_name=Karl Kaufman
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Marvel Super-Heroes" #16 (Sept. 1968)
creators=Gary Friedrich &Herb Trimpe
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=Freedom's Five
aliase=
powers=None: Ace World War I pilot|Publication history
The second Phantom Eagle was an unrelated
World War I hero created by writerGary Friedrich and artistHerb Trimpe in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #16 (Sept. 1968). As Trimpe described, Marvel production mangerJohn Verpoorten "had been a classmate at SVA. When I got out of the Air Force in October 1966, he worked in the production department at Marvel. He said they were hiring freelance people, and I should come up to the office and show my work toSol Brodsky , who was [Stan Lee|Stan [Lee] 's] right-hand man at the time. I said, 'Okay'. Later, while I was in thephotostat department, I did the Phantom Eagle freelance, the first book I penciled. I think". [ [http://www.geocities.com/jonhulkholt/trimpe.interview.1.html Green Skin's Grab-Bag: "An Interview with Herb Trimpe" (no date)] . Note: Trimpe had actually made his professional penciling debut with twoKid Colt Western stories, in "Kid Colt, Outlaw" #134-135 (May & July 1967).]The character has made few appearances beyond his debut. The first was a
time travel story in "The Incredible Hulk " #135 (Jan. 1971). Next came aflashback appearance in "Ghost Rider" #12 (June 1975), in which the Phantom Eagle, as the cover proclaimed, was a real phantom. "The Invaders" #7 (July 1976)retconned the character as a member of theFreedom's Five , a newly created WWI team of costumed adventurers never subsequently seen. The Phantom Eagle also appeared for two panels in "Thor Corps" #3 (Nov. 1993), when the antagonist briefly alters reality."Ghost Rider" #50 (Nov. 1980) contains a page of pinup art by Trimpe that one historian speculates [ [http://comics.org/details.lasso?id=34844#4 Grand Comics Database: "Ghost Rider" #50] ] may have been an unused cover of issue #12.
Fictional character biography
In 1914, three years before the
United States enteredWorld War I , Karl Kaufman, a skilled American pilot fromOshkosh, Wisconsin — whose German parents had returned to their native country — desired to fight theCentral Powers . Concealing his identity so as not to risk reprisals against his parents, he devised a stylized aviator uniform with darkened goggles and a cape, and joined the European conflict to become an ace on the side of theAllies . At one point the time-traveling dictatorKang the Conqueror sent the simpleminded brute the Hulk to WWI in an effort to secure a victory for Germany, by preventing the Phantom Eagle from destroying a key German weapon. Another time, a brief altering of reality saw the Phantom Eagle'sbiplane pursued by modernjet fighter s.The Phantom Eagle went on to join the team of costumed adventurers known as
Freedom's Five , consisting of himself (the sole American), theCrimson Cavalier , theSilver Squire ,Sir Steel , and Union Jack.Kaufman and his parents were later killed together in Germany near the end of the war by German pilot Hermann von Reitberger, who strafed both the Phantom Eagle and the two civilians. Swearing vengeance, the Phantom Eagle's spirit haunted and hunted von Reitberger through the years until, after a chance, modern-day encounter with the Ghost Rider, he battled the aged German in a dogfight. With von Reitberger's death, Kaufman's vengeful spirit was allowed to pass on. ["Ghost Rider" #12 (June 1975)]
Other versions
Counter-Earth Phantom Eagle
An issue of "Thunderbolts" revealed another Phantom Eagle existing in the
Marvel Universe 's Counter-Earth, located on the far side of the sun. He is the counterpart to our Earth's Lloyd Bloch, a.k.a. Nefarius, and lost his Moonstone to Karla Sofen, a.k.a. Moonstone, when the reformed-supervillain team the Thunderbolts were stranded on Counter-Earth.MAX
Writer
Garth Ennis and penciler-inkerHoward Chaykin produced analternate-reality version of the character in aWorld War I -set miniseries, "War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle" #1-5 (May-Sept. 2008), published under Marvel's mature-audience MAXimprint . [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=142228 Nick Lowe on Marvel Max's "War is Hell" series] ,Newsarama , January 7, 2008] Laura Hudson, [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6533463.html Ennis Moves from Punisher to Phantom Eagle] , " [Publishers Weekly] ", February 19, 2008.]Footnotes
References
* [http://ratmmjess.tripod.com/ga/goldp.html Jess Nevins' The Golden Age Heroes Directory]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/comics/eternity0/phantombio.html The Captain Marvel's (sic) Homepage: Phantom Eagle Bio]
* [http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/p/phantomeagle.htm Marvel Directory: Phantom Eagle]
* [http://www.geocities.com/ratmmjess/phantomeagle.html Jess Nevins' A Guide to Marvel's Pre-"FF" #1 Heroes: Phantom Eagle]
* [http://www.geocities.com/ratmmjess/five.html Jess Nevins' A Guide to Marvel's Pre-"FF" #1 Heroes: Freedom's Five]
* [http://comics.org/ The Grand Comics Database]External links
* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/phantomeagle.htm The Appendix to the Handobok of the Marvel Universe: Phantom Eagle]
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