Heroes Lore 4 Phantasmal Mask Jar
Ingrid Abriola
While there had been masked crime fighters like the costumed Zorro, The Shadow, or the business-suited The Clock, the Phantom was the first fictional character to wear the skintight costume and eyes with no visible pupils that has become a trademark of superheroes. Creator Lee Falk had originally envisioned a gray costume and even considered naming his creation "The Gray Ghost". It was not until the Phantom Sunday strip debuted in 1939 that the costume was shown to be purple. Falk, however, continued to refer to the costume as gray in the text of the strip on several occasions afterward, but finally accepted the purple color.[45] In a Sunday strip story published in the 1960s it was shown that the first Phantom chose the costume based on the appearance of a jungle idol, and colored the cloth with purple jungle berries.
The Phantom was the first fictional hero to wear the skintight costume which has become a hallmark of comic-book superheroes, and was the first shown in a mask with no visible pupils (another superhero standard).[6][7] Comics historian Peter Coogan has described the Phantom as a "transitional" figure, since the Phantom has some of the characteristics of pulp magazine heroes such as The Shadow and the Spider and earlier jungle heroes such as Tarzan, as well as anticipating the features of comic book heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Captain America.[6]
Also in 1939, the Phantom appeared in Turkey as "Kizilmaske", which translates to "Red Mask" in Turkish, by publishers Tay Yayinlari.[citation needed] Originally, the publishers colored the hero's costume in red on the covers, and decided to stay with that color throughout the history of the comic in Turkey, rather than use the original purple coloring.[citation needed] Under the name "Kizilmaske" and with color covers drawn by Turkish artists, older Lee Falk stories of the Phantom has since appeared in Turkish comic books primarily in black and white.[citation needed]
The Phantom is credited as being the first "costumed superhero", i.e. the first crimefighter to wear the skintight costume attributed to comic book superheroes, and being the first hero to have white eyes behind his mask, a phenomenon very common with superheroes. Previous fictional crime fighters, such as Zorro and Doc Savage, were not designed especially for newspaper comics.
The Phantom wears a black mask and a purple skintight costume. Creator Lee Falk had originally envisioned a grey costume and even considered naming his creation "The Grey Ghost" before settling on "The Phantom". It was not until the Phantom Sunday strip debuted in 1939 that the costume was shown to be purple, something that apparently was a printing mistake and Lee Falk himself did not approve beforehand. Lee Falk wanted the costume to be gray, but the colorist while coloring the strip decided that Phantom would look better in purple. Although this was never corrected, Falk continued to refer to the costume as grey in the text of the strip on several occasions after this, but finally accepted the purple costume. In a retcon it was shown that the first Phantom chose the costume based on the appearance of a jungle idol, and colored the cloth with purple jungle berries.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts realize that society forces people to wear masks to protect their inner vulnerabilities, and by literally ripping off their protective mask and confronting their inner selves do the heroes awaken their inner power, and using it to help those in need.
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