[5] Following McCoy's death in 1961, Carmine Infantino and Bill Lignante (who would later draw several Phantom stories directly for comic books) filled in before Sy Barry was chosen as a successor.

[13] One issue featured a pin-up by the original two Spider-Man signature artists, Ditko and John Romita Sr. Beginning in 2002, Moonstone Books published five Phantom graphic novels, written by Tom DeFalco, Ben Raab, and Ron Goulart.

In 2003, Moonstone debuted a Phantom comic-book series written by Raab, Rafael Nieves, and Chuck Dixon, and drawn by artists including Pat Quinn, Jerry DeCaire, Nick Derington, Rich Burchett, and EricJ.

After 11 issues, Mike Bullock took over scripting, with Gabriel Rearte and Carlos Magno creating the artwork before Silvestre Szilagyi became the regular artist in 2007.

[15] That same year, Moonstone launched the 21 issue series Phantom Generations, with each of the 21 Phantoms spotlighted in his own story, by different creative teams including writers Ben Raab, Tom DeFalco, Tony Bedard, Will Murray, and Mike Bullock, and artists including Pat Quinn, Alex Saviuk, Don Hudson, Scott Brooks, and Zeu.

[citation needed] In August 2010, Dynamite Entertainment debuted the monthly series The Last Phantom, by writer Scott Beatty and artist Eduardo Ferigato, with covers painted by Alex Ross.

The story, written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Marc Laming, saw the Phantom teaming up with Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician to fight Ming the Merciless and prevent his attempt to take over the planet.

[21] In the jungles of the fictional African country of Bangalla,[22] there is a myth featuring The Ghost Who Walks, a powerful and indestructible guardian of the innocent and fighter of all types of injustice.

Unlike most costumed heroes, he has no superhuman powers, relying only on his wits, physical strength, skill with his weapons, and fearsome reputation to fight crime.

He was the sole survivor and was washed ashore on a Bengalla beach, where he was found by pygmies of the Bandar tribe, who nursed him back to health and took care of him.

[35] His base is in the Deep Woods of Bengali (originally "Bengalla", or "Bangalla" and renamed Denkali in the Indian edition[36]), a fictional country initially said to be set in Asia, near India, but depicted as in Africa during and after the 1960s.

His mother, Maud Thorne McPatrick, who had previously worked as Rita Hayworth's stunt double, was born in Mississippi, where Kit was sent to study when he was 12 years old, living with his aunt Lucy and uncle Jasper in the town of Clarksville, Missouri.

Despite the opportunity to choose practically any career he wanted, Kit faithfully returned to Bengalla to take over the role of the Phantom when he received word from Guran that his father was dying from a knife wound.

The 21st Phantom eventually found him and reclaimed the belt at the island of Gullique, but before he could avenge his father and bring the killer to jail, the desperate Rama blew up his lair, killing himself and his henchmen in the process.

This is because "Singh" is a common name in India, and Falk wished to avoid offending Indian readers by implying that the organization originated in that country.

[49] Frequent antagonists of successive Phantoms are the depraved inhabitants of the "Eastern Dark" region (also known as "Dakk") who carry out human sacrifice and drug trafficking.

Antagonists in the Team Fantomen stories include larcenous art collector Jason Parnassos,[50] thief Vasti Riba,[53] dictator Prince Grigor,[50] murderous treasure hunter Bail, and Goldhand, named for his prosthetic hand made of solid gold.

In 2006, the books The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks and The Veiled Lady were released as audiobooks in Norway and Sweden, as part of the celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the character.

[61] In 2007, Moonstone Books released The Phantom Chronicles, a collection of short stories written by authors Mike Bullock, Ron Fortier, Jim Alexander, David Michelinie, Craig Shaw Gardner, CJ Henderson, Clay and Susan Griffith, Will Murray, Mike Oliveri, Nancy Kilpatrick, Ed Rhoades, David Bishop, Grant Suave, Trina Robbins, Richard Dean Starr, Dan Wickline, and Martin Powell.

[65] A 15-episode, 240-minute movie serial, starring Tom Tyler in the title role, was made in 1943 by Columbia Pictures and directed by action specialist B. Reeves Eason, featuring Jeanne Bates as Diana Palmer, Frank Shannon as her uncle Professor Davidson, and Ace the Wonder Dog as Devil.

The story shows the 21st Phantom's first mission after taking over the mantle of the Ghost Who Walks from his murdered father: to find the Lost City of Zoloz and prevent the evil Dr. Bremmer, played by Kenneth MacDonald, from building a secret airbase in the jungle.

[67] In 1955, when Columbia's serial producer Sam Katzman was making low-budget remakes of older cliffhangers, he cast John Hart in a sequel, filmed as Return of the Phantom.

Katzman, unwilling to meet the rights holder's high price, reshot much of the action with Hart in a vaguely similar costume (helmet, mask, sweater, and riding breeches) to match the old footage with Tom Tyler.

It was directed by Simon Wincer, after director Joe Dante and producer Michael Douglas dropped out of the project,[69] and was written by Jeffrey Boam, who also wrote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

[72] The movie was filmed on location in Australia, Thailand, and Los Angeles, and featured the Phantom in his attempt to stop madman Xander Drax (Treat Williams) from obtaining a weapon of doom, the legendary "Skulls of Touganda".

[73] In 2008, syndicated gossip columnist Liz Smith claimed that Paramount was putting a sequel into development, with Zane returning to play the title role, because of the good VHS and DVD sales of the first film.

[88] In Defenders of the Earth, the Phantom was able to use supernatural means to give himself increased strength and speed, by saying the incantation: "By jungle law, the ghost who walks calls forth the power of ten tigers!"

In 2017, Australian comedian Sammy J began touring with a new show, Hero Complex, in which he pays tribute to what he says is the role the Phantom has played in his life: "a chance encounter set off a chain of events that led to me meeting my wife and ended with police searching my attic".

The result was that the myth was "busted", in that hitting a person in the face hard enough to leave a ring imprint on the skin required more than enough force to crush a human skull.

[108][109] Curated by Peter Kingston, "The Phantom Show" opened in Sydney in 2014 and travelled across Australia, stopping in Wollongong, Mackay, Toowoomba and Broken Hill.