[4][5] Previous artists on the newspaper strip include Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Bill Lignante, Sy Barry, George Olesen, Keith Williams, Fred Fredericks, Graham Nolan, Eduardo Barreto, Paul Ryan, and Terry Beatty.

In the strip, the Phantom was 21st in a line of crime-fighters which began in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed during a pirate attack.

[6] Unlike many other superheroes, the Phantom has no superpowers; he relies on his strength, intelligence, skill at arms (he carries two holstered handguns, a revolver and a 1911 .45 autopistol, one on each hip, and is an expert marksman with both), and the myth of his immortality to take action against the forces of evil.

The 21st Phantom is married to Diana Palmer; they met while he studied in the United States and they have two children, Kit and Heloise.

He incorrectly believed that ancient Greek busts had no pupils (they were painted on originally and faded with time), which he said gave them an "inhuman, awe-inspiring appearance.

"[9] In an interview for Comic Book Marketplace, Falk said the Phantom's skin-tight costume was inspired by Robin Hood, who wore tights in films and onstage.

[16] The Phantom began as a daily strip on February 17, 1936[17] with "The Singh Brotherhood",[18] written by Falk and drawn by him for two weeks and then by Ray Moore (assistant to artist Phil Davis on Mandrake the Magician).

Carmine Infantino and Bill Lignante (who later drew several Phantom stories for comic books) filled in before a successor was found in Sy Barry.

Principal Phantom artists during this period were Bill Lignante, Don Newton, Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette.

The initial May–August 1988 miniseries was written by Peter David, penciled by Joe Orlando, and inked by Dennis Janke.

In 1987, Marvel Comics published a four-issue miniseries written by Stan Lee and based on the Defenders of the Earth TV series.

Marvel later released a four-part miniseries (May–August 1995), pencilled by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, based on the Phantom 2040 TV series.

Five books, written by Tom DeFalco, Ben Raab and Ron Goulart with art by Mike Collins were published.

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

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

In a 2007 three-part story arc, "Invisible Children", the Phantom fights a fictional warlord called "Him" (loosely based on Joseph Kony).

The aim was to make the comic darker, grittier and more realistic, similar to the 1930s stories by Lee Falk and Ray Moore.

In the series, written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Marc Laming, the Phantom joins Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician to fight Ming the Merciless and prevent his attempt to take over the planet.

In 2014, Hermes Press announced that it would publish a Phantom comic-book miniseries with new content, written by Peter David and illustrated by Sal Velluto,[36] scheduled for publication in November 2014.

Artists and writers who have created stories for Fantomen include Dick Giordano, Donne Avenell, Heiner Bade, David Bishop, Dai Darell,[41] Georges Bess, Jaime Vallvé, Joan Boix, Tony DePaul, Ulf Granberg, Ben Raab, Rolf Gohs, Scott Goodall, Eirik Ildahl, Kari Leppänen, Hans Lindahl, Janne Lundström, Cesar Spadari, Bob McLeod, Jean-Yves Mitton, Lennart Moberg, Claes Reimerthi, Paul Ryan, Alex Saviuk, Graham Nolan, Romano Felmang and Norman Worker, and they have been nicknamed "Team Fantomen".

Frew's The Phantom is the longest-running comic-book series with the character in the world,[47] and Australia's bestselling comic book.

[51] In 2013, publisher Jim Shepherd, who had bought the rights from the original owners during the late 1980s, died of a heart attack.

Shepherd had taken over the company and introduced some minor changes to placate King Features, which had become unhappy at Frew's treatment of its character.

[55] The Telugu regional daily Eenadu published translated versions of Phantom comics during the early days of its Sunday supplements.

Italian publisher Nerbini reprinted the Phantom strip in its weekly comic newspaper L’Avventuroso, starting in issue 101, September 13, 1936.

[56] Italian publisher Fratelli Spada produced original Phantom stories for their L'Uomo Mascherato (The Masked Man) series of comic books during the 1960s and 1970s.

[57] Contributing artists included Raul Buzzelli, Mario Caria, Umberto Sammarini ("Usam"), Germano Ferri, Senio Pratesi, Angelo R. Todaro, and Romano Felmang.

[62] Also in 1939, the Phantom appeared in Turkey as "Kizilmaske", which translates to "Red Mask" in Turkish, by publishers Tay Yayinlari.

As the alter ego of Kit Walker had not yet been introduced in the comic strip, the serial uses the moniker Geoffrey Prescott.

The 1986 animated series Defenders of the Earth is a team-up between The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician (another hero by Lee Falk) and Flash Gordon.