The Fantom of the Fair is one of the earliest published
Golden Age
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superhero
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es. He debuted in
Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications (also known as Centaur Comics) was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing-Man.
History Comics Magazine Co ...
cover-date
The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
d July 1939), the overall 11th issue of that title. He premiered, according to cover dates, the same month as
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
'
Sandman
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,
Fox Publications
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Paul Gustavson
Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the An ...
, who had previously created the
Arrow
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for Centaur.
His early adventures are set fighting threats at the 1939 New York World's Fair. He lives in a subterranean chamber under the Fair, and he travels via secret trap doors placed around the fairgrounds. He spots criminals by using his "crimetracking televisor". During the time between the 1939 and 1940 Fair seasons, he travels in a series of stories set outside the Fair. He was often shown during these outside stories in a simple suit, with a hat brim hiding his features.
He was originally clad in an all-black hood and bodysuit, with a purple cape, but soon adopted an open-faced cowl and red cape around the close of the 1939 Fair season. The Fantom was seldom displayed with overt powers, but demonstrated the ability to tamper with people's memories and displayed incredible strength in his initial appearance. His first adventure showed an ancient book that indicated that the Fantom had lived in Iceland 1000 years ago.
The Fantom of the Fair appeared through ''Amazing Mystery Comics'' vol. 3, #8 (Sept. 1940). In this final issue, he was called Fantoman, because by this time the World's Fair had ended.
His adventures were reprinted in ''Amazing Adventure Funnies'' #1 (June 1940) and in ''Fantoman'' #2–4 (Aug.-Dec. 1940). Other artists on the series included Frank Thomas,
Harry Sahle
Harry Frank Sahle (April 18, 1912 – September 22, 1950) was an American comic book artist who drew for such publishers as Archie Comics—helping create the defined look of Archie Comics' breakout character, Archie Andrews—Quality Comics and t ...
Malibu Comics
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revived the character under the name Gravestone. Little is known about the mysterious Gravestone other than that he appears to be hundreds, possibly thousands, of years old. He comes and goes at will, favoring the cloaking shelter of night and shadows."Who's Who in the Protectors" A murderous "Phantom of the Fair" appeared as a villain in ''
Sandman Mystery Theatre
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Don Markstein's Toonopedia
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