Has This Series Been Cancelled?

[Captain Canuck]

...and it ends on a cliffhanger. Really? The Phantom is going on hiatus for who knows how long, and they end the current series without concluding the storyline? Yeah, I'm a little bit pissed off.

Lol...I just read mine. When you guys said it ended on a cliffhanger, I didn't think it was quite at the level of standing face to face against a deadly enemy. Even if we ever do get a conclusion, it won't be for months.

I couldn't help but laugh. Thankfully, I'm almost done being given the finger by Dynamite. Hornet and Genesis are it, and at least one is ending soon. I'm not even sure I want to bother finishing Genesis. I've been patient with this company for a few years now but nothing ever seems to change and I'm tired of it.

[MikeM]

Finally got a chance to read the last Last Phantom. Not bad but I don't likt that it ended in a cliff hanger. We'll probably never see the outcome. Now i have to go back and check out issue 1 and see who the wife and kids were. I'd assumed it was Diana . Mine are a little buried from lack mof storage space. Can anyone do a quick check?

His wife was not Diana in issue 1. Which now has me totally confused. I always assumed this was the 22nd Phantom, which would have made his sister Heloise and his MOM, Diana Palmer. Ah, screw it. Forget everything I know about the Phantom before this and just go with it. However, I do wish he wasn't married and had his wife and child murdered before meeting Diana.

[positronic]

I've seen a few comments here and there from people who seemed to really like it. OK, then, a challenge to those folks... can you explain it? I'm left with the impression that the series is some sort ot reboot (due to the appearance of an unrecognizable Diana in the last issue) that doesn't really have anything to do with Lee Falk's traditional Phantom. Doesn't seem like there's any way this can be the 22nd Phantom, or even some unspecified later one. ...Anyone?

[MikeM]

I've seen a few comments here and there from people who seemed to really like it. OK, then, a challenge to those folks... can you explain it? I'm left with the impression that the series is some sort ot reboot (due to the appearance of an unrecognizable Diana in the last issue) that doesn't really have anything to do with Lee Falk's traditional Phantom. Doesn't seem like there's any way this can be the 22nd Phantom, or even some unspecified later one. ...Anyone?

Yeah, I think it is a total reboot, but as I was reading it, I was under the assumption it was the 22nd. It wasn't until I saw Diana at the end that I realised it was a reboot.

[Captain Canuck]

I've seen a few comments here and there from people who seemed to really like it. OK, then, a challenge to those folks... can you explain it?

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination a Phantom historian so all the past stuff had no impact on whether or not I enjoyed it. I suspect that not having to consolidate it all is partly why I did enjoy it then. For example, I only vaguely knew of Diana Palmer so for a character of that name to appear as something other than what she usually is did not cause me any confusion.

Judging from the other comments, she's supposed to be #21's love interest, so...could this have been Dynamite's version of 21, not 22?

[positronic]

Ya got me. I haven't the slightest clue why you'd be reading this in the first place, if you really had no prior knowledge of the Phantom. Curiosity, I guess. Or maybe the cool Alex Ross covers. Either way, I can't help but feel sorry for you, this series was indeed a poor introduction to the character.

[General]

I'm with you, positronic. The Last Phantom was such a poor introduction to the Phantom character. But there is hope. Flash Gordon Zeitgeist is a fantastic take on that King Features strip, demonstrating just what Dynamite can do with a classic King character. It pays homage to some previous takes on Flash and then adds some new twists — only this time the twists add to the story without defiling the creator's intentions for the character. If only DE had put as much thought in planning its version of the Phantom!

By coincidence, there is a Phantom cameo in the latest issue of Flash Gordon Zeitgeist (#4)... and it places him in Bangalla, in a more traditional Phantom costume (although in a WW II time frame, so it would be an earlier Phantom). But it was nice to see, even if for that one panel.

C'mon Dynamite, get that new Phantom series on the stands soon, but this time, do right by Lee Falk's creation in the same splendid way you are presenting Alex Raymond's characters. If you can give us a Flash this good, you can also give us a Phantom that doesn't distort, mock, and trash what came before. As one Phantom dies and another takes his place, the jungle cries "The Phantom is dead, long live the Phantom!" Please give us a Phantom series that can make your readers say, "The Last Phantom is dead, long live the Phantom!"

[positronic]

I couldn't have said it any better myself, General. Agree 100%.

[BatHobbit]

I would buy a rebooted "Phantom: Classic" or whatever but I still want to see a conclusion to "The Last Phantom". It might deviate from the source material (but then again so does every hollywood movie) but it's still a great series that deserves a satisfying ending.

[Captain Canuck]

Ya got me. I haven't the slightest clue why you'd be reading this in the first place, if you really had no prior knowledge of the Phantom.

I said I wasn't a Phantom historian, not that I'd never heard of him before. There's a big middle ground there.

This series seemed like a nice place to start getting into the character more because I know that Dynamite generally attempts to modernize characters. In other words, that I wouldn't HAVE to know everything about the character to enjoy him was a positive, not a negative.

And I did like the series, aside from the constant delays and the ridiculous ending. Many of the things that caused some of you grief (Diana Palmer) are not a concern for me.