WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Phantom Stranger #0.

Welcome to a collaborative bit I’m doing with Tumblr’s greatest Phantom Stranger authority, ifollowthephantomstranger. IFTPS being an old Stranger pro, and me being a new fan of the character, are both giving our views on his new comic. We’ve agreed to share our thoughts on The Phantom Stranger #0, and may do more of these for subsequent issues of the series in the future. So let’s get into it!

The Premise:

“There is a man… Seek him out. Do what needs to be done. It is time to make amends.”

-The Voice of God(?)

A man, supposedly Judas Iscariot of the Bible, is brought before a court of wizards to be punished for his sin: Betraying his friend and darkening the world. He is turned into an immortal being, forced to walk the Earth in a dark cloak until the day comes that he may pay for his sin. During this walk, he receives a call, leading him to Gotham City, and a man named Jim Corrigan.

The Writing:

The story Dan Didio tells here is good, but the problem he faces is pacing. That’s understandable though. This is a one-shot, and Didio decided to tell not one, but two origin stories: Those of the Phantom Stranger and of the Spectre, and he only has 22 pages to do it. The book definitely suffers for it, just because the second part feels very rushed, especially the end where Corrigan becomes the Spectre. Ideally, Didio could’ve made the origin of the Spectre the first story arc in the book, instead of cramming it into the origin issue, but I honestly don’t know how he could’ve filled the rest of the book with just the Stranger’s origin, as it’s fairly simple. The book is still fun to read, it just leaves you wanting more. Which is good for a first issue, I suppose.

The Art:

There is a standard I hold for superhero comics. I really can’t explain what it is, but there’s just a certain aesthetic that I feel they should meet, a default if they’re not going to do anything special to match the book’s story. And the book’s artists are great. Brent Anderson’s pencils, Scott Hanna’s inking, and Jeromy Cox’s coloring all meet the standard I hold. This is what, to me, superhero comics should look like, and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Final Thoughts:

Tragically, what I’ve found with all the Zero Issues I’ve read this week is that there’s not much to say about them. But they do all capture the feel of the books. As this is an introduction to something brand new, I can say this:

I feel very good about where this book is going. Dan Didio seems to have a big plan for the Phantom Stranger, and I’m really excited to see it. I’ve read a couple of Didio’s other works in the past, and while they haven’t impressed me, this may be the one that makes me a fan of his. Really, Didio had quite a challenge to face here. Not only did he have to give the origin stories of two characters, but he also had to set up the idea for the series as a whole. The book ends with a piece of silver falling from the Stranger’s necklace, after he’s completed the task that the mysterious voice assigns to him.

This comic is going to be a story about redemption. It’s about the supernatural, great power, sacrifice, and more. This isn’t a tale of a mysterious costumed stranger fighting people, this is the tale of an ancient being trying to find an end to his suffering.

And it’s gonna be awesome.