Summary
- Blonde Phantom’s unexpected popularity led to her appearing in multiple Timely comic book titles, a rare feat for a new character.
- At her peak, Blonde Phantom was appearing in seven titles at once
- Despite a strong start, Blonde Phantom soon faded into comic book limbo as Timely’s superhero sales declined in 1949.
Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me. Today, we look at how Blonde Phantom was briefly a really popular character for Marvel, appearing in multiple books all around the same time.
As you have no doubt noticed by now, one of the tried and true ways for comic book companies to help increase sales on its comic books has been to guest star its most popular superheroes in other comic book titles. In fact, I recently did a bit about how Marvel used to use Spider-Man in the first issue of a new series to help promote the new book (DC, amusingly enough, not only used Superman in a number of first issues, but DC had Superman specifically INTRODUCE the new characters on the covers of their comics in an interesting riff on the idea of using a famous character to promote a new book).
It wasn’t just first issues, though, of course. A while back, I looked to see how many months in a row that Wolverine guest-starred in at least one-non-X-Men title for Marvel, and the results were shocking, with Wolverine not getting a month off from August 1990 through mid-1993!!! Of course, while Wolverine is an extreme example, comic book companies have long tried to make the most of its most popular characters, all the way back to the days of giving Superman his own comic book series instead of just appearing in Action Comics (a character having their own title was seen as a big risk at the time, and DC even only intended for Superman #1 to be a one-shot). That brings us to an interesting period in the late 1940s where an unlikely Marvel superhero, the Blonde Phantom, went on her own mini Wolverine-esque streak for Marvel.
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Who was the Blonde Phantom?
Released in September 1946, All-Select Comics #11 introduced the Blonde Phantom in a story drawn by Syd Shores. Louise Grant is the secretary for detective Mark Mason, but she then dresses up as the Blonde Phantom and helps him on cases…
According to an interview with the always informative Jim Amash in TwoMorrows’ Alter Ego #104, longtime Timely staffer, Albert “Al” Sulman, who was a script editor at the company, but also did freelance writing, created the Blonde Phantom when Stan Lee told him that the company could use a female superhero. As I wrote in a recent Comic Book Legends Revealed, I think Sulman, who, as the script editor was reading all of the scripts at the time, used a name that was a joke character in a then-recent Millie the Model story as the impetus for this new superhero, and so the Blonde Phantom was born.
She was an instant smash, to the point where Marvel (I’m using “Marvel” to describe the name of the comic book company that Martin Goodman owned at the time. Goodman didn’t really use a regular name until Marvel became famous in the 1960s, but people typically refer to this era at Marvel as “Timely Comics”) quickly changed the name of All-Select Comics to Blonde Phantom Comics with the following issue…
It’s important to note that Timely’s entire superhero line was going through some sales problems heading in 1948, so when a new superhero showed up that seemed popular, Timely was jumping on the hero with all they had.
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What was Blonde Phantom’s peak guest appearance period?
Within a few issues of her solo series, Blonde Phantom then joined the pages of Timely’s main anthology series, Marvel Mystery Comics, the comic that first introduced Human Torch and Namor with its first issue all the way back in 1939…
In 1948, Timely decided that Blonde Phantom’s success might mean that the audience wanted female superheroes, so Timely went in for a BIG push for female superheroes in 1948 (I talked about it in a Look Back last year), and as a result, Blonde Phantom now started also making back-up appearances in various Timely comics, like Sub-Mariner Comics #25…
While still appearing in back-ups in Sub-Mariner Comics (as well as her own solo feature, and her Marvel Mystery Comics feature), in March, Blonde Phantom also started appearing in guest spots in Blackstone the Magician #3…
These comics weren’t all monthly, of course, but still, this was remarkable how pervasive Blonde Phantom was now in Timely’s superhero comic book line. She was now appearing as a regular feature in FOUR titles!
In mid-1948, Timely re-launched its superhero anthology title, All-Winners Comics, with a new volume, and instead of Captain America, Namor or Human Torch being the spotlight of the cover, it is Blonde Phantom who towers over her fellow superheroes…
So she was now in FIVE comic book titles!
She then began appearing in back-ups in two of the new female superhero titles, Namor and Sun Girl. So the Blonde Phantom was now in SEVEN DIFFERENT COMIC BOOK TITLES!
However, just like Icarus, I suppose she flew too close to the sun, as in 1949, with Timely really struggling with its superhero sales, Blonde Phantom disappeared from the comic book shelves, and went into comic book limbo (forty years later she would make a comeback in the pages of Sensational She-Hulk, but that’s a story for another day).
It’s fascinating that Timely would lean into this new hero so heavily, but not even feature her in the covers of all of these magazines, and then just uncermoniously drop her in 1949. Fascinating stuff.
If anyone has suggestions about interesting pieces of comic book history, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].
