Blonde Phantom
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The Blonde Phantom (Louise Grant Mason) is a fictional masked crimefighter from the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Syd Shores for Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, in All-Select Comics #11 (Fall 1946).
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[edit] Publication history
As superheroes began to fade out of fashion in the post-war era, comic book publishers scrambled to explore new types of stories, characters, and audiences. In an attempt to appeal to young female readers, comics companies began introducing some of the first significant superheroines since Wonder Woman (created for one of DC Comics' predecessors, All-American Publications). These new female leads would include Timely's Golden Girl, Miss America, Namora, Sun Girl, and Venus, and its teen-humor star Millie the Model; Fox Comics' revival of Quality Comics' Phantom Lady; and DC's Black Canary.
All Select Comics became Blonde Phantom Comics the following issue. The series lasted a little over two years (from #12-22, Winter 1946 to March 1949), during which time the lissome and evidently very popular crimefighter also appeared as a backup feature in:
- Marvel Mystery Comics #84-91 (Oct. 1947 - April 1949)
- All Winners Comics #1 (Aug. 1948)
- Sub-Mariner Comics #25-28 & 30 (Spring - Oct. 1948 & Feb. 1949)
- all three issues of Blackstone the Magician (#2-4, May-Sept. 1948)
- Namora #2 (Oct. 1948)
- Sun Girl #2-3 (Oct.-Dec. 1948).
The character was the province of no one artist, and aside from originator Shores, her adventures in this wide variety of comics were pencilled by Vince Alascia, Ken Bald, Allen Bellman, Carl Burgos, Vernon Henkel, Mike Sekowsky, Ed Winiarski, the pseudonymous Charles Nicholas, and others. When the pencilers weren't inking themselves, their embellishers included Al Avison, Jack Binder, and Harry Sahle.
Blonde Phantom Comics changed titles and formats completely to become the anthological romance comic Lovers with issue #23 (May 1949).
[edit] Fictional character biography
Louise Grant. born in Hoboken, New Jersey, was secretary to private detective Mark Mason. Enamored with her boss and wanting to help him break cases, she surreptitiously donned a black domino mask and a sexy, skintight, slit-leg red evening gown and high heels, and ventured out at night fighting crime. Highly athletic and seemingly trained in martial arts, the Blonde Phantom also carried a .45 caliber pistol. In a distaff echo of Superman and Lois Lane, Mason had a crush on the Blonde Phantom, but not on Louise.
Comics historians have noted that, as the Blonde Phantom had no specific origin story, Louise Grant may have been inspired by Marvel-universe model Millie Collins, who appeared at a fancy-dress ball as a masked mystery woman called the Blonde Phantom, in a publicity stunt for General Cosmetics[1].
Louise returned in the modern age in The Sensational She-Hulk #4 (July 1989), in which characters self-reflexively were aware they in a comic book and often broke the fourth wall to address the reader directly. Now the widowed Louise Grant Mason — having left crimefighting to marry Mark in 1949 and give birth to their daughter, Wanda — she was the book's generally voice-of-reason supporting character. Secretary to District Attorney Blake Tower, for whom lawyer Jennifer Walters, publicly known as the She-Hulk, worked, the former Blonde Phantom would find herself more or less willingly pulled into the She-Hulk's surreal adventures, and occasionally vice-versa. The return of a Golden Age character in issue #4 is an homage to The Avengers #4, in which the Golden Age Captain America returns, and The Fantastic Four #4, in which the Sub-Mariner returns.
During the course of She-Hulk, Louise — affectionately nicknamed "Weezi" — began a romantic relationship with Jennifer's father, Morris Walters; saw daughter Wanda become the costumed crimefighter the Phantom Blonde; exchanged bodies with a none-too-pleased Jennifer; and, after being kidnapped by the Mole Man, was exposed to a revivifying liquid that restored her body to that of her Golden Age self. In addition, issue #22 (Dec. 1990) retconned the Blonde Phantom as having had an adventure with Timely's post-war superhero team, the All-Winners Squad, in a flashback set after the events of (the unhyphenated) All Winners Comics #21 (Winter 1946/47). Louise's daughter, Wanda Grant, briefly followed her mother's crimefighter legacy, becoming the Phantom Blonde in issue #23 (Jan. 1991).
[edit] References
- Don Markstein's Toonpedia: The Blonde Phantom
- Atlas Tales: Blonde Phantom Comics
- Jess Nevins' "A Guide To Marvel's Golden Age Characters: The Blonde Phantom (I) and The Blonde Phantom (II)
- International Hero: The Blonde Phantom
- International Hero: Millie the Model
- The Grand Comics Database
