This may be more of a plea to read The Last Phanton than an actual review, but I’m hoping the iFanboy community will try and give this comic a chance.  Now that it’s back on a more regular schedule, that will help to draw more readers on board.  Up to reading The Last Phantom, the only exposure I’ve had to the character is my father’s recollections from comic strips of the 1930’s.  I always skipped over The Phantom in our Sunday paper. He never really appealed to me.  Scott Beatty’s Last Phantom, I’m glad to say, does.  

First of all, it’s a downright shame that the cover to this month’s issue wasn’t included.  Another fantastic cover by Alex Ross.  To be honest, he isn’t always my favorite artist, but each cover of this series has been bang on.  He manages to capture the mystery and dynamic flair of the Phantom….so much so, in fact, it’s a shame he isn’t doing the interiors as well.  If there were no other reason to give the Last Phantom a shot, check it out for the covers.

Scott Beatty’s story has introduced (or maybe re-introduced) the Phantom to a brand new audience.  We’re able to glimpse the character’s past, while being thrown into a classic (although maybe cliched) confrontation between our hero Kit Walker/the Phantom and the traitorous Quisling (great reference, and a good vocabulary builder there).  For me, the story seems to borrow from the original run of Jon Sable Freelance, particularly with the political intrigues set in Africa.  But, the story is interesting enough in it’s own right.  The issue, closing in on the first arc, draws Walker/the Phantom and Quisling closer to a climactic meeting that will either end in Quisling’s defeat, or set in motion a prolonged battle between these two former friends.  On a side note, Beatty does a nice job or explaining how the Phantom’s ring leaves an imprint on it’s victims as not to ignore the laws of physics.

The art, by Eduardo Ferigato, is definitely adequate, but not my personal style.  Ferigato’s panel work tells the story well.  His rendering, however, doesn’t seem to match the character.  I feel like I might be watching a Saturday morning cartoon, rather than reading a comic.  The Last Phantom might benefit from a grittier artistic style like Aaron Campbell’s on Green Hornet: Year One.

All in all, I would recommend this title, and this particular issue.  Dynamite has the potential to have a hit on it’s hands if they can manage to make the Phantom accessable for 21st century readers.  There’s enough history to draw from, and enough lack of familiarity with said history, to bring in a new generation of Phantom fans.