The Phantom Legacy
Moonstone
Story: Ben Raab
Art: Pat Quinn
Colors: Art Lyon

Review by Larry Stanley

To me there are a few things in Comics Mythology that are carved in stone. Superman is Clark Kent, last survivor of a dead planet; the Lone Ranger fights for justice, honor and the rights of all people in the American Wild West and the Phantom is the latest in a long line of men (and one woman) named Kit Walker who protects the helpless, fights for right and has a real mad-on to pirates.
Captain Jack Sparrow is good, but The Phantom could take him, in my humble opinion.
Now Moonstone has given us a truly good looking book re-telling the origin story of the Phantom and how he came to be.
However in doing so Quinn seems to have tried to 'recreate the character' making him more palatable to 'today's fan'. Crap on that just give us a well drawn and very well written Phantom story. That is what today's fan wants. .
As to this issue, Raab uses the Phantom to tell the story from his point of view. Is this supposed to inspire an audience who has never seen the character before? Sure, die-hard Phans of the Phantom will probably buy the book because it is the Phantom.
But, how to attract new sells and new readers is not to simply use another of the tricks from the 'old tricks' school of writing.
The setting for the story are beautiful. As usual, Quinn outdid himself with his art style. But that is not the real issue with this book. Despite the nice binding, great visuals and a story that should be one of the best in the Comic Mythology Pantheon, Raab does not always follow Falk's canon.
Most of the problems are simply but to a Phantom Phan they take on an elaborate puzzle that most of us will think about for quite a while after we put the book down.
According to Diamond, sales of The Phantom are on the decline. They need to turn the character over to someone who is willing to stick with the original concept, not try to put their 'brand' or mark on it and change it to suit what they think the public wants.
The best way to do that is to simply listen to the fans and do what they suggest.