The manga was originally serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shōnen Jump under the title JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1 Jonathan Joestar: His Youth (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 第一部 ジョナサン·ジョースター ―その青春―, JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken Dai Ichi Bu Jonasan Jōsutā -Sono Seishun) and was collected in five volumes; a three-volume collection was released by Shueisha in Japan in 2002, and by Viz Media in North America in 2014.

Using an ancient stone mask, Dio transforms himself into a vampire, and Jonathan learns the sunlight-based martial arts technique of Hamon[c] to fight him.

Araki described the themes of the story as "being alive" and "an affirmation that humanity is wonderful", with characters growing and overcoming problems through their own actions.

[25] Jonathan uses the last of his Hamon to manipulate the body of Dio's servant Wang Chan into obstructing the ship's paddle wheel, setting it to explode.

Rescued near the Canary Islands two days later, Erina vows to pass on the truth of Jonathan's life to her unborn child and the generations to follow.

[27] Prior to working on the series, he created a manga that resembled the works of Hisashi Eguchi, an artist known for his art of female characters; Araki's editor, Ryōsuke Kabashima, angrily told Araki to never draw something as derivative again, which led him to take another direction with his art, and the creation of Phantom Blood.

[28] Due to the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone at the time, Araki designed characters with muscular body types.

[29] The character posing, which Araki considers a distinctive aspect of his art, was influenced by a trip to Italy just before the serialization of Phantom Blood, where he went to the Galleria Borghese in Rome and saw Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture Apollo and Daphne.

Seeing it in person from different angles had a large influence on him; he described it as overwhelmingly beautiful and intense, and unlike sculptures in Japanese museums and the figure posing of most manga artists.

[30] Phantom Blood was created using a ki-shō-ten-ketsu structure – introduction (ki), development (shō), twist (ten), and resolution (ketsu) – along with the rule of rising and falling, in which the hero must grow over time in relation to their starting point in the beginning of the story, and not stagnate or regress.

He explained the latter as a description for humanity's ability to grow and overcome hardships through one's strength and spirit; this is a recurring theme that has been used in all following parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, portrayed through people succeeding in fights through their own actions, without relying on machines or gods.

[29] This theme, along with the passing of the torch, was influenced by Araki's grandfather's death near the start of the serialization, and his thoughts about how people leave parts of themselves behind for the next generation when they die.

[41] The main supporting character of Phantom Blood, Zeppeli, was created as a "silly teacher" in the style of the martial art masters from Jackie Chan's films and The Karate Kid, with a charm in the contrast between how they appear and who they are inside.

[42] Phantom Blood was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump under the title JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1 Jonathan Joestar: His Youth.

[57] The owarai duo Speedwagon (Jun Itoda and Kazuhiro Ozawa), who took their name from the Phantom Blood character, make cameo appearances in the film as Dario Brando and Wang Chen.

[59] In 2023, a stage musical adaptation produced by Toho was announced, which was to be directed by Ney Hasegawa with the script written by Tsuneyasu Motoyoshi.

The musical debuted in February 2024 with Yuya Matsushita and Shotaro Arisawa starring as Jonathan Joestar alongside Mamoru Miyano as Dio Brando.

[76] Joseph Luster at Otaku USA called Phantom Blood "a treat" for both new and old readers of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, but thought that it feels slow-paced compared to Stardust Crusaders.

[77] Ziah Grace and Clair Napier of ComicsAlliance were very critical of the series, calling it "meaningless junk" that should not have been republished in 2015, and recommended readers to read a plot summary of Phantom Blood and start with Battle Tendency instead.

[77] Kory Cerjak at The Fandom Post enjoyed the artwork, however, calling it "straight out of the 80s", giving the series a similar feeling to watching a good action film from that time period.