Phantom Eagle is the name used by two fictional aviator heroes appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s. The first character to use the name was teenaged Mickey Malone, a young aviator who appeared in the 1940s in

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

publications depicting contemporaneous

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

adventures. The second and better-known character, created in the 1960s by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, was Karl Kaufman, the American son of German parents, who became a masked

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ace.

Fawcett Comics

Publication history

The first Phantom Eagle was introduced by uncredited creators in

' ''

Wow Comics ''Wow Comics'' was an ongoing monthly Golden Age comic book anthology series published by Fawcett Comics from winter 1940 to August 1948. From issue #9 to #58, the book's cover features were the solo adventures of Fawcett's Mary Marvel character. ...

'' #6 (

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 1942), during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. Following his debut, the Phantom Eagle appeared in every issue of ''Wow Comics'', and by the final issue, #69 (August 1948) was a sidekick to Commando Yank. His primary writer-artist was

Marc Swayze Marcus Desha Swayze, known as Marc Swayze (July 17, 1913 – October 14, 2012), was an American comic book artist from 1941 to 1953 for Fawcett Comics of New York City. He is best known for his work on Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel ...

.Phantom Eagle
(character, both Fawcett and Marvel versions) at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Fictional character biography

The Phantom Eagle was teenager Mickey Malone, who, though forbidden by superior officer Sergeant Flog at his military airbase in Great Britain, was determined to fight the World War II Axis powers. Donning an aviator-styled costume 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

Publication history

The second Phantom Eagle was an unrelated

hero created by writer

Gary Friedrich Gary Friedrich (; August 21, 1943 – August 29, 2018) was an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'', and, in the following era, for the series '' The Monster of ...

and artist

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on ''The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolver ...

in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #16 (September 1968). As Trimpe described, Marvel production manager

John Verpoorten John Verpoorten (May 15, 1940 – December 15, 1977) was an American comic book artist and editorial worker best known as Marvel Comics' production manager during the latter part of the Silver Age of Comic Books and afterward, during a seminal peri ...

"had been a classmate at SVA. When I got out of the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

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 to

Sol Brodsky Soloman Brodsky (April 22, 1923 – June 4, 1984) was an American comic book artist who, as Marvel Comics' Silver Age production manager, was one of the key architects of the small company's expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate. He ...

, who was Stan ees right-hand man at the time. I said, 'Okay'. Later, while I was in the

photostat The Photostat machine, or Photostat, was an early projection photocopier created in the decade of the 1900s by the Commercial Camera Company, which became the Photostat Corporation. The "Photostat" name, which was originally a trademark of the c ...

department, I did the Phantom Eagle freelance, the first book I penciled. I think". Trimpe in 2002 described the character's creation: The character made few appearances beyond his debut. The first was a time travel story in ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'' (vol. 2) #135 (January 1971). Next came a flashback appearance in ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'' #12 (June 1975), in which the Phantom Eagle, as the cover proclaimed, was a real phantom. ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...

'' #7 (July 1976)

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

the character as a member of the

Freedom's Five The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...

, a newly created World War I team of costumed adventurers never subsequently seen. The Phantom Eagle also appeared for two panels in ''

Thor Corps The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...

'' #3 (November 1993), when the antagonist briefly alters reality. ''Ghost Rider'' #50 (November 1980) contains a page of pinup art by Trimpe that one historian speculates may have been an unused cover of issue #12. In 2014's ''

All-New Invaders ''All-New Invaders'' was a reboot of the classic comic book series '' Invaders'' Publication history The series was published by Marvel Comics between 2014–15. It was created by James Robinson, Mukesh Singh and Steve Pugh. It featured many of ...

'' #12, there's a flashback of Freedom's Five and it is revealed that Phantom Eagle died at the end of the war.

Fictional character biography

In 1914, Karl Kaufman was a skilled American pilot from

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

, whose German parents had returned to their native country. Kaufman had become an expert stunt-pilot and co-owner of a flying circus, by 1917, when the United States entered

, and desired to fight the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

. 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 the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

as a U.S. Army Air Corps test pilot. In his first mission as Phantom Eagle, he successfully led a U.S. fighter squadron against an experimental dirigible aircraft carrier with which German forces attempted to invade New York; however, he witnessed the death of his best friend, Rex Griffin, as a result. At one point the time-traveling dictator

Kang the Conqueror Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is most frequently depicted as an opponent of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. A time-traveling entity, seve ...

sent the simpleminded brute the

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

back to 1917 in an effort to secure a victory for Germany, by preventing the Phantom Eagle from destroying a key German super-weapon. Another time, a brief altering of reality saw the Phantom Eagle's

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

pursued by modern

jet fighter Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domination o ...

s. The Phantom Eagle went on to join the team of costumed adventurers known as

, consisting of himself (the sole American), the Crimson Cavalier, the

Silver Squire The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...

Sir Steel The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...

, and

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

. Kaufman and his parents were later killed together near the end of the war by German pilot Hermann von Reitberger, who strafed both the Phantom Eagle and the two civilians with his machine guns as they fled from Germany into Alsace, France. Swearing vengeance, the Phantom Eagle's spirit haunted and hunted von Reitberger through the years until, after a chance, modern-day encounter with the original

, he battled the aged German in aerial combat. With von Reitberger's death, Kaufman's

vengeful spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

was allowed to pass on. Sometime later, the ghost of the Phantom Eagle's plane assisted Doctor Strange and the Punisher. They were trying to stop a collection of mystically powered mobsters.

Powers and abilities

The Phantom Eagle was a normal man with no superhuman powers. He possessed good hand-to-hand fighting skills, and was an expert stunt-flyer and combat pilot. He customized his own World War I vintage biplane.

Other versions

Counter-Earth Phantom Eagle

Another Phantom Eagle exists on

Counter-Earth The Counter-Earth is a hypothetical body of the Solar System that orbits on the other side of the solar system from Earth. A Counter-Earth or ''Antichthon'' ( el, Ἀντίχθων) was hypothesized by the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Philola ...

, located on the far side of the sun. He is the counterpart of

Nefarius Nefarius (Lloyd Bloch), previously known as Moonstone, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character first appeared in '' Captain America'' #169 (1974) and was created by Stev ...

, the Lloyd Bloch of the main Marvel Universe.

MAX

Writer

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dari ...

and penciller-inker

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...

produced an alternate-reality version of the character in a

-set miniseries, '' War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle'' #1–5 (May–September 2008), published under Marvel's mature-audience MAX

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. This version of the Phantom Eagle reappears in a tie-in to Marvel's 2015 ''

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written ...

'' event, starring in '' Where Monsters Dwell'', a miniseries by

and Russell Braun.

References

External links

* Nevins, Jess
Jess Nevins' The Golden Age Heroes Directory
*Nevins, Jess

and *

{{GoldenAge 1942 comics debuts 1968 comics debuts Aviation comics Characters created by Gary Friedrich Characters created by Herb Trimpe Comics characters introduced in 1942 Comics characters introduced in 1968 Fawcett Comics superheroes Fictional aviators Fictional characters from Wisconsin Fictional fighter pilots Fictional World War I veterans Fictional World War II veterans Marvel Comics military personnel United States-themed superheroes War comics published by Marvel Comics