Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Phantom and Hellcat in: "Phantom in Training!"



Billy Zane was great as The Phantom in the criminally underrated 90's film.  I was always disappointed that movie did not do well enough to warrant sequels, I would have loved to have seen follow up installments.  I did get a big kick (and laugh) out of Zane's cameo on Amazon Prime's new streaming show The Boys recently.

Kit and Patsy walker were first revealed to be cousins in STF #2548...

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am glad somebody else said it. The Phantom of the 90s was really enjoyable.

Maybe one day you will do a promotional comic for the movie that never was, where he teams up with the cinematic Rocketeer or Shadow.

det_Tobor said...

Hero, Devil & Hellcat. A lot more than tag-a-longs. I miss the comic strips that showed Diana having twins and seeing their growth. Not many heroes got married let alone had children.

That painted cover was always a sweet spot for me. Gives a real Life quality to the page, and kit Walker deserves it. Ross, you honor it!

Not fond of all the replacements some publishers have done on who the Phantom is "now" or where Kit and Diana are "now".

How's it look for a Phantom, Animal Man & Vixen get together?

MarchHareSupreme said...

@Ross; don't know how much of a comics nerd you may be to know this tidbit but many moons ago pre-Hellcat Patsy Walker asked the then grey-furred Hank McCoy for a formula to make her into a hero. He refused so I guess it's a good thing she was already part of a heroic dynasty.

Anonymous said...

Det Tobor said...
". I miss the comic strips that showed Diana having twins and seeing their growth. Not many heroes got married let alone had children"

The adventures continue, now written by Tony de Paul. The twins are now in their mid-teens (comics book time is slower than real life) and studying away from home. You can read it online at https://www.comicskingdom.com/phantom, in some newspapers, or collected in comic books such as https://www.phantomcomic.com.au/products/copy-of-issue-1828-christmas-special-2018?_pos=3&_sid=7fefc1086&_ss=r

Bob Greenwade said...

YES! I did suggest at the time (in the comments for #2548) that Patsy could be recolored to match Kit's costume. She's HellPhantom! Now if we can just find a way to team her up with Iron Beetle, I could be a Very Happy Camper.

I'm one of those that didn't care so much for the 90s Phantom movie -- not that I think it's bad, per se, but just that I didn't find it particularly appealing.

I'm among those who are rather unhappy with how Marvel Studios has treated its television division, particularly Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Netflix shows. I've mentioned before that Hellcat and Diamondback would be great for a Suicide Squad-esque take on the Thunderbolts, but if the Netflix shows are being tossed aside that's not likely to happen.

DombÄs-Fantomet said...

Awesome!

Jay Johnson said...

I've always thought that so many of the pre- MCU / Arrowverse movies (Zane's Phantom, Baldwin's Shadow, Ely's Doc Savage, Beatty's Dick Tracy, The Spirit, etc.) were ahead of their time (and technical / budget ratios). I'd like to see what NetFlix, et.al. could do with (mostly) the same scripts (faithful to the pulps' vibe) and that caliber of actors today, either in movie or short-series TV form.

A Marvelous Knight said...

Patsy won't be the first female Phantom. A past generation twin did that. Could she be a Phantom in the Savage Land? She could work anywhere.

And with Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk Shows Ordered at Disney, she may do a lot of guest starring roles. https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ms-marvel-moon-knight-and-she-hulk-shows-ordered-at-disney/ar-AAGf5hJ?ocid=AMZN
This means Marvel should be giving more care for their shows if they want to grow them into movie properties. DC WB take note.

ShadowWing Tronix said...

I also enjoyed the live-action movie, and I've only seen the old serials once but I remember enjoying it. As far as replacement Phantoms they have yet to outdo Phantom 2040.

Bob Greenwade said...

@Marvelous Knight: Despite the earliest announcements, Marvel Studios has basically been treating the Netflix shows like they exist in another universe from the MCU, and the shows' producers seem to be responding in kind. (Note how the final seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones, as well as the sixth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the second season of Cloak & Dagger on Freeform, took place after Thanos' Snap, but not a single reference, directly or otherwise, was made to it on any of those shows.) Thus, it's very unlikely that we'll ever get to see the situations at the end of Luke Cage's and Iron Fist's respective second seasons resolved with the same sort of satisfaction that we got at the end of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher.

So if Patsy Walker is a character on any of the new Disney+ shows, don't expect her to be played by Rachael Taylor, nor to have any of the Jessica Jones series in her background.

Carycomic said...

One has to wonder if The Sengh Pirate Brotherhood has been reorganized and rearmed by A.I.M. via Madripoor?

Anonymous said...

@det_Tobor: Isn't Mrs. Kit Walker (nee Diana Palmer) also a romance novelist in the comic strips?

Anonymous said...

Above Anon, Diana Palmer-Walker works for UN (Human Rights) in the comic strips.

Carycomic said...

I'm reminded of an old poetic spoof that goes:

"I've never seen a purple cat.
I never hope to see one.
But, from the litter box I've just cleaned,
There certainly must be one!"

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous1045: ooooooh! I was probably thinking of the real-world Diana Palmer (who does write romance novels).

Carycomic said...

P.S.---the two of them fighting alongside Zen the Intergalactic Ninja would be awesome! Maybe while surrounded by xenomorphs and just above the following title...

"Purple People Eaters."

Comment deleted said...

Why does Patsy look like she's riding in a mini invisible plane?

Carycomic said...

She's wearing the Siamese cat-looking exo-skeleton that was first worn by Greer Grant-Nelson before the latter became Tigra. Said exo-skeleton having been designed to give its female wearer the proportionate abilities of a feline (sans radioactive bite)!

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