Number 1946: Phantom Detective: Master of disguise

Considering how long the Phantom Detective appeared in pulp magazines (20 years, 1933-1953), and Ned Pines, the publisher of the Thrilling pulps, had a line of comic books (Nedor/Better/Standard), you would think the Phantom would have had a career in comics as well. But, no. He was featured as a backup feature in Thrilling Comics for 17 episodes, and a one-shot appearance in America’s Best Comics. I haven’t read an explanation as to why he wasn’t a crossover star. Maybe his pulp appeal didn’t work in comic books. The Phantom Detective went about mostly disguised as someone else, unless you count the images of him wearing a domino mask. That probably wouldn’t qualify as a disguise. The Phantom was yet another rich guy using deductive skills to fight crime, a la Sherlock Holmes.

The Grand Comics Database doesn’t guess at a writer, but the artist is Edmond Good, an American born artist who moved to Canada at age 10, then back to America in 1943. He had a career bouncing around various publishers, then went into other art endeavors, including including art director at Tupperware. Good died in 1991 at age 81. There is an interesting 2013 article on Good at the Comic Book Daily site, including a scan of original art Good did for a 1942 Canadian issue of Weird Tales, and other examples of his art.

Edmond Good was the first artist on the long-running Tomahawk feature for DC. Here is the first story, from Star-Spangled Comics #69 (1947):

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